A History of Modern Political Thought

The Question of Interpretation

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book A History of Modern Political Thought by Gary Browning, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gary Browning ISBN: 9780192508362
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: October 13, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Gary Browning
ISBN: 9780192508362
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: October 13, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

How are we to understand past political thinkers? Is it a matter simply of reading their texts again and again? Do we have to relate past texts of political thought to the contexts in which ideas were composed and in which the aims of past thinkers were formulated? Or should past political theories be deconstructed so as to uncover not what their authors maintain, but what the texts reveal? In this book, theories of interpreting past political thinkers are examined and the interpretive methods of a range of theories are reviewed, including those of Hegel, Marx, Oakeshott, Collingwood, the Cambridge School, Foucault, Derrida and Gadamer. The application of these theories of interpretation to notable modern political theorists, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Bentham, Mill, Nietzsche and Beauvoir is then used as a way of understanding modern political thought and of assessing interpretive theories of past political thought. The result is a book which sees the history of modern political thought as more than a procession of political theories but rather as a reflection on the meaning of past political thought and its interpretation. It provides a way of reading the history of modern political thought, in which the question of interpretation matters both for understanding how we interpret the past but also for considering what it means to undertake political thinking.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How are we to understand past political thinkers? Is it a matter simply of reading their texts again and again? Do we have to relate past texts of political thought to the contexts in which ideas were composed and in which the aims of past thinkers were formulated? Or should past political theories be deconstructed so as to uncover not what their authors maintain, but what the texts reveal? In this book, theories of interpreting past political thinkers are examined and the interpretive methods of a range of theories are reviewed, including those of Hegel, Marx, Oakeshott, Collingwood, the Cambridge School, Foucault, Derrida and Gadamer. The application of these theories of interpretation to notable modern political theorists, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Bentham, Mill, Nietzsche and Beauvoir is then used as a way of understanding modern political thought and of assessing interpretive theories of past political thought. The result is a book which sees the history of modern political thought as more than a procession of political theories but rather as a reflection on the meaning of past political thought and its interpretation. It provides a way of reading the history of modern political thought, in which the question of interpretation matters both for understanding how we interpret the past but also for considering what it means to undertake political thinking.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book James Joyce and the Phenomenology of Film by Gary Browning
Cover of the book The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Quantitative Ecology and Evolutionary Biology by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Advanced Training in Anaesthesia by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Milton's Complex Words by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Annotated Companies Legislation by Gary Browning
Cover of the book The Elements: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Aid and Development by Gary Browning
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of European Islam by Gary Browning
Cover of the book The Judicialization of International Law by Gary Browning
Cover of the book The Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Expedited Corporate Debt Restructuring in the EU by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Petroleum Contracts by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Rights and Demands by Gary Browning
Cover of the book Letters written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Gary Browning
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy