There is a long line, running from antiquity to the present day, which unites all those who believe in an open society. This school of thought bases the demand for liberty on the recognition of human ignorance; we need to be free because we are ignorant and fallible. Free social co-operation permits us to mobilize our knowledge and develop methods of discovery through which we can explore the unknown and continually correct our errors. To assent to free co-operation is to accept critical discussion, democracy and the market, and in this way we are able to increase our rationality and further...

"Pareto and Political Theory" offers a much-needed reappraisal of Vilfredo Pareto's often ignored or misunderstood contribution to the theory and philosophy of politics.
Joseph V. Femia disputes the depiction of Pareto as a proto-fascist and locates him in a clear tradition of 'sceptical liberalism', which eschews metaphysical abstractions and adopts a 'realist' approach to practical politics

This book combines philosophical, intellectual-historical and political-theoretical methodologies to provide a new synoptic reading of the history of German political philosophy. Incorporating chapters on the political ideas of Luther and Zwingli, on the politics of the early Enlightenment, on Idealism, on Historicism and Lukacs, on early Twentieth-Century political theology, on the Frankfurt School, and on Habermas and Luhmann, the book sets out both a broad and a detailed discussion of German political reflection from the Reformation to the present. In doing so, it explains how the...

Theodor W. Adorno and Jnrgen Habermas both champion the goal of a rational society. However, they differ significantly about what this society should look like and how best to achieve it. Exploring the premises shared by both critical theorists, along with their profound disagreements about social conditions today, this book defends Adorno against Habermas' influential criticisms of his account of Western society and prospects for achieving reasonable conditions of human life. The book begins with an overview of these critical theories of Western society. Both Adorno and Habermas follow Georg...

Stephen Ingle is Professor at the Politics Department, University of Stirling. His main academic interests are in the relationship between politics and literature and in adversarial (two party) politics, especially in the UK.

When Adam Smith published his celebrated writings on economics and moral philosophy he famously referred to the operation of an 'invisible hand'. Adam Smith s Political Philosophy makes visible this hand by examining its significance in Smith s political philosophy and relating it to similar concepts used by other philosophers, thus revealing a distinctive approach to social theory that stresses the importance of the unintended consequences of human action.

The first book to examine the history of Smith s political philosophy from this perspective, this work introduces greater...

During his campaign against racism in South Africa and his involvement in the Congress-led nationalist struggle against British colonial rule in India, Mahatma Gandhi developed a new form of political struggle based on the idea of satyagraha or non-violent protest. He ushered in a new era of nationalism in India by articulating the nationalist protest in the language of non-violence or ahisma that galvanized the masses into action.
"Social and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi "focuses on the principles of satyagraha and non-violence, and the evolution of these precepts in the context...

Michael Oakeshott was a leading Political theorist described by The Telegraph in 1990 as "the greatest political philosopher in the Anglo-Saxon tradition since Mill - or even Burke." There has been sustained interest in his work, and a developing body of literature, over recent years. This book offers a clearly written and accessible critical analysis: it presents complex theories and concepts in a way that will introduce new readers to Oakeshott's work, and at the same time offers a fresh approach for those already familiar with his philosophy.

The Politics and...

Can social science contribute to the settlement of conflicts while the field is divided by intellectual conflicts? The contributors, whilst themselves coming from distinct areas of the social sciences, all share the basic assumption that conflicts in social science must be worked out at the level of the individual social scientific disciplines rather than at the level of philosophy. Through a range of detailed case studies, they look at the different ways in which social scientists deal with the tension implied by being at the same time both party to a conflict and a contributor to the...

Governmentality, Biopower, and Everyday Life synthesizes and extends the disparate strands of scholarship on Foucault's notions of governmentality and biopower and grounds them in familiar social contexts including the private realm, the market, and the state/military. Topics include public health, genomics, behavioral genetics, neoliberal market logics and technologies, philanthropy, and the war on terror.

This book is designed for readers interested in a rigorous, comprehensive introduction to the wide array of interdisciplinary work focusing on Foucault, biopower...