Colin Bird - An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

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Colin Bird 2006, 2019

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This book has two aims: first, to stimulate critical reflection on political institutions and practices, and on the various arguments that might be offered for and against them; and second, to give readers an appreciation of the most provocative historical and contemporary contributions to political philosophy. The book could be used as a free-standing text in an introductory course, or in conjunction with assigned readings from some of the major texts discussed (Plato, Hobbes, Rawls, and others). Although I have aimed for wide coverage, the immense scope of the field necessitates some selection, and this book does not pretend to be comprehensive or exhaustive.

The topics addressed in this second edition differ from those included in the first. The extensive discussions of the problem of political obligation and of the value of toleration that formed ). I have introduced these topics because they are of increasing relevance both in public discussion and within academic political philosophy.

Although they cover much the same ground as their counterparts in the old edition, the remaining chapters have also been revised, in some cases extensively. , on freedom, has been restructured and now includes a discussion of sweatshops as a test case.

As with the first edition, I have not attempted to provide extensive or comprehensive references to the large and growing academic literatures on these topics. Such websites as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy give students today unprecedentedly easy access to bibliographic databases on any number of topics. These online resources effectively supplant the textbook as a source of bibliographic information and, because they are regularly updated as new literature emerges, they perform that function rather more effectively than a book published at a particular moment ever could. Accordingly, I have written the book, not to reproduce academic resources already available online, but to orient readers to the central philosophical problems raised by various political questions, hopefully in a fresh, efficient, and provocative way. It will have succeeded if it provides them with reliable, and critically aware, frameworks to guide them as they venture into the dauntingly vast academic literatures on these subjects, and as they reflect for themselves on the adequacy of the political practices and structures that surround them.

For related reasons, I have tried as far as possible to steer clear of excessive technical jargon, and of those contemporary debates that seem to me to have become boringly scholastic (e.g. equality of resources vs. equality of welfare; individualism vs. communitarianism, and so on). Although I have not avoided all references to schools of thought, I have also deliberately chosen not to organize the book around ideological worldviews like liberalism, libertarianism, socialism, feminism, or conservatism. The most interesting arguments too often flow between these various positions. Moreover, I have found that emphasizing them encourages the false view that these ideological fixtures are natural kinds when in fact they reflect highly parochial political divisions. Focusing on them also implies that political philosophers are servants of ideologies, helping to make them more plausible, systematic, and rhetorically effective. We should discourage this perception. Political philosophers need not be loyal to particular ideological positions or movements and define their activities in these terms. Of course, there are many who today write in this vein a liberal theory of this, a feminist theory of that, a libertarian defense of such and so but I think this is clearly the wrong way to make philosophy politically relevant. I hope this book helps readers to see a better way.