Research Catalog

Title

Readings in political philosophy, by Francis William Coker.

Author

Coker, Francis W. (Francis William), 1878-1963.

Publication

New York, Macmillan Co., 1938.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 717 pages; 22 cm

Summary

Selections from Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, Cicero, St. Augustine, John of Salisbury, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Marsiglio of Padua, Nicholas of Cusa, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, the Vindiciæ contra tyrannos, Bodin, Hooker, Grotius, Milton, Hobbes, Harrington, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Paine, and Bentham.

Alternative Title

Political philosophy

Subject

• Political science
• State, The
• Filosofia

Note

• Selections from Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, Cicero, St. Augustine, John of Salisbury, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Marsiglio of Padua, Nicholas of Cusa, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, the Vindiciae contra tyrannos, Bodin, Hooker, Grotius, Milton, Hobbes, Harrington, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Paine, and Bentham.

Bibliography (note)

• "General histories of political thought": page xvi: "Selected bibliography" at end of each chapter.

Contents

Introduction -- I. Plato (427-347 B.C.) : Readings from the Republic : 1. The origin of the state ; 2. The governors and the protectors of the state ; 3. The three classes of the state ; 4. Communism ; 5. Government by philosophers -- II. Aristotle (364-322 B.C.) : Readings from The politics : 1. The nature, end, and origin of the state ; 2. The definition of citizenship ; 3. The supreme power in the state ; 4. Forms of state ; 5. The organs of government ; 6. Whether property should be held in common ; 7. Material conditions of the ideal state ; 8. The cause and prevention of revolution -- III. Polybius (204-122 B.C.) : Readings from The histories : 1. The forms of government and the cycle of constitutional revolution ; 2. The system of checks and balances -- IV. Cicero (106-45 B.C.) : Readings from The republic and the laws : 1. The qualifications and duties of statesmanship ; 2. The nature of a commonwealth and of the different forms of government ; 3. The cycle of governments ; 4. The nature of law -- V. St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) : Readings from The city of God : 1. The two cities ; 2. The nature of earthly rule -- VI. John of Salisbury (c. 1120-1180) : Readings from The policraticus : 1. The character of the true prince as opposed to a tyrant ; 2. The rights of subjects against tyrants -- VII. St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1126-1274) : Readings from Summa theologica and De regimine principum : 1. The definition of law ; 2. The nature and duties of royal authority -- VIII. Dante (1265-1321) : Readings from De monarchia : 1. The end of state ; 2. Universal empire ; 3. The divine basis of temporal authority -- IX. Marsiglio of Padua (c. 1274-c. 1343) : Readings from Defensor pacis : 1. The purpose of the state ; 2. The "people" as legislator ; 3. The relation between legislator and government -- X. Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) : Readings from De concordantia catholica : 1. The basis of authority in law and consent : 2. Representative councils and the election of an emperor -- XI. Machiavelli (1469-1527) : Readings from The prince : 1. The conduct of a successful ruler -- XII. Martin Luther (1483-1546) Readings from Concerning good works, open letter to the Christian nobility of the German nation, and concerning secular authority : 1. The duty of obedience to secular authority ; 2. The relation of secular to spiritual authority ; 3. The nature and the scope of secular authority -- XII. John Calvin (1509-1564) : Readings from The Institutes of the Christian religion : 1. The nature and function of civil government ; 2. The duties of magistrates ; 3. The obedience due to civil rulers -- XIV. Vindiclae Contra Tyrannos (1579) : Readings from The vindiciae : 1. The institution of the king by the people ; 2. The superiority of the people to the king ; 3. The contractual basis of royal authority ; 4. The right of resistance to tyrants -- XV. Jean Bodin (1530-1596) : Readings from Six books concerning the state : 1. The definition of the state and of citizenship ; 2. The nature and functions of sovereignty -- XVI. Richard Hooker (1553-1600) Readings from The laws of ecclesiastical polity : 1. The ground and origin of political society ; 2. The nature, authority, and kinds of law -- XVII. Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) : Readings from De jure belli ac pacis : 1. The rational basis of international law ; 2. The law of nature ; 3. The state and sovereignty -- XVIII. John Milton (1608-1674) : Readings from the political essays of Milton: The tenure of kings and magistrates, areopagitica, and ready and Ready and easy way to establish a free commonwealth : 1. The origin of government and the source and limits of its authority ; 2. Rational liberty ; 3. The character of free government -- XIX. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) : Readings from Leviathan : 1. The state of nature and the laws of nature ; 2. The origin and nature of the state ; 3. Sovereignty ; 4. The kinds of state ; 5. Liberty ; 6. Civil laws -- XX. James Harrington (1611-1677) : Readings from Oceana : 1. Principles of political power ; 2. Principles of political authority ; 3. The essential organs of government ; 4. Institutions for safeguarding the state -- XXI. John Locke (1632-1704) : Readings from Two treatises of government : 1. The state of nature ; 2. The rational basis of private property ; 3. Political society ; 4. Limitations upon government ; 5. The separations of powers in government ; 6. The right of revolution -- XXII. Montesquieu (1689-1755) : Readings from The spirit of the laws : 1. The nature of laws ; 2. The nature of the forms of government ; 3. The principles of the forms of government ; 4. Political liberty -- XXIII. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) : Readings from The social contract : 1. The problem of political philosophy ; 2. The social contract ; 3. Sovereignty and law ; 4. Government: its nature and forms ; 5. The subordination of government to sovereign -- XXIV. Thomas Paine (1737-1809) : Readings from Common sense and The rights of man : 1. The rights of man ; 2. The origin and sphere of government ; 3. The character of a republic -- XXV. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) : Readings from A fragment on government : 1. The distinction between political and natural society : 2. The utilitarian basis of political society ; 3. The character of free governm

LCCN

38010976

OCLC

• ocm00193657
• 193657
• SCSB-124092

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library