eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
Political Questions is a collection of original contributions from a distinguished score of the world's most prominent and influential political philosophers. They deal with questions such as what drew them towards the area; how they view their own contribution to the field; and what the future of political philosophy looks like.
In this enhanced edition, Larry Arnhart continues to ask thought-provoking questions that illuminate the philosophies of some of the most prominent political thinkers throughout history. This clear, well-written guide is an ideal supplement to the original texts he recommends at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to his analysis of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Rawls, the author’s well-organized and insightful approach provides an even more comprehensive overview than the earlier editions: • Supplementing the discussion of Leviathan, the chapter on Thomas Hobbes covers Behemoth. • The chapter on John Locke includes his Letter Concerning Toleration as well as the original discussion of Second Treatise of Government. • A chapter on Adam Smith has been added, which discusses Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations. • Leo Strauss is featured, with an examination of Persecution and the Art of Writing and Natural Right and History. • A final chapter analyzes Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Focusing on strong pro and con viewpoints of controversial political issues, this introduction to politics uses a debate format that encourages discussion of the issues addressed. It examines 26 controversial issues of great complexity and importance - some of long-standing concern, and some of more recent relevance - including the questions, "Is government avoidable?", "Is Socialism better than Capitalism?", "Does TV news have a unique impact on public opinion?", "Should the West redistribute its wealth to Third World countries?" For historians and political scientists.
What if we've been wrong when reading Agamben? Mathew Abbott argues that Agamben's thought is misunderstood when read in terms of critical theory or traditional political philosophy. Instead, he shows that it engages with political ontology: studying the political stakes of the question of being. Abbot demonstrates the crucial influence of Martin Heidegger on Agamben's work, locating it in the post-Heideggerian tradition of the critique of metaphysics. As he clarifies it, Abbott links Agamben's philosophy with Wittgenstein's picture theory and Heidegger's concept of the world-picture, showing the importance of this for understanding - and potentially overcoming - the forms of alienation characteristic of the society of the spectacle.
The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations offers a comprehensive overview of research processes in social science — from the ideation and design of research projects, through the construction of theoretical arguments, to conceptualization, measurement, & data collection, and quantitative & qualitative empirical analysis — exposited through 65 major new contributions from leading international methodologists. Each chapter surveys, builds upon, and extends the modern state of the art in its area. Following through its six-part organization, undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and practicing academics will be guided through the design, methods, and analysis of issues in Political Science and International Relations: Part One: Formulating Good Research Questions & Designing Good Research Projects Part Two: Methods of Theoretical Argumentation Part Three: Conceptualization & Measurement Part Four: Large-Scale Data Collection & Representation Methods Part Five: Quantitative-Empirical Methods Part Six: Qualitative & "Mixed" Methods
Fully revised and extended, the new edition of this innovative and engaging textbook introduces the central elements of political theory from an applied perspective. Focusing on 12 high-profile contemporary social and political case studies, both domestic and global, this text shows how political theory illuminates and helps makes sense of important debates in public life. This is the perfect introduction for students interested in how political theory can be used to help us solve the political questions of our time, whether at a beginner's level, or building upon an introduction to theories and concepts. New to this Edition: - Draws on an even wider range of contemporary and historical political thinkers from different philosophical traditions - Updated to take recent important cases and controversies into account - Includes a new chapter which examines leaking classified information
This collection of essays by noted philosopher Samuel Scheffler combines discussion of abstract questions in moral and political theory with attention to the normative dimension of current social and political controversies. In addition to chapters on more abstract issues such as the nature of human valuing, the role of partiality in ethics, and the significance of the distinction between doing and allowing, the volume also includes essays on immigration, terrorism, toleration, political equality, and the normative significance of tradition. Uniting the essays is a shared preoccupation with questions about human value and values. The volume opens with an essay that considers the general question of what it is to value something - as opposed, say, to wanting it, wanting to want it, or thinking that it is valuable. Other essays explore particular values, such as equality, whose meaning and content are contested. Still others consider the tensions that arise, both within and among individuals, in consequence of the diversity of human values. One of the overarching aims of the book is to illuminate the different ways in which liberal political theory attempts to resolve conflicts of both of these kinds.
Like previous editions, the Third Edition of Arnharts engaging treatment of political thought is organized around a series of enduring and provocative political questions. It features the work of thirteen philosophers ranging in scope from antiquity to the present: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche (new to this edition), and Rawls. The questions presented are designed to illuminate issues in American politics while encouraging students to examine the nature and substance of their own political beliefs. Ideas from the natural and social sciences are introduced and applied to classic philosophical texts. Adopted as a course text at over 300 colleges and universities, Political Questions has become one of the leading textbooks in political philosophy.
Since it was first published more than twenty-five years ago, Asking Questions has become a classic guide for designing questionnaires3⁄4the most widely used method for collecting information about people?s attitudes and behavior. An essential tool for market researchers advertisers, pollsters, and social scientists, this thoroughly updated and definitive work combines time-proven techniques with the most current research, findings, and methods. The book presents a cognitive approach to questionnaire design and includes timely information on the Internet and electronic resources. Comprehensive and concise, Asking Questions can be used to design questionnaires for any subject area, whether administered by telephone, online, mail, in groups, or face-to-face. The book describes the design process from start to finish and is filled with illustrative examples from actual surveys.
When Trump became president, much of the country was repelled by what they saw as the vulgar spectacle of his ascent, a perversion of the highest office in the land. In his bold, innovative book, Political Perversion, rhetorician Joshua Gunn argues that this “mean-spirited turn” in American politics (of which Trump is the paragon) is best understood as a structural perversion in our common culture, on a continuum with infantile and “gotcha” forms of entertainment meant to engender provocation and sadistic enjoyment. Drawing on insights from critical theory, media ecology, and psychoanalysis, Gunn argues that perverse rhetorics dominate not only the political sphere but also our daily interactions with others, in person and online. From sexting to campaign rhetoric, Gunn advances a new way to interpret our contemporary political context that explains why so many of us have difficulty deciphering the appeal of aberrant public figures. In this book, Trump is only the tip of a sinister, rapidly growing iceberg, one to which we ourselves unwittingly contribute on a daily basis.
