Contains the text that called for Americans to revolt against British rule and converted millions to the cause of independence, setting out a vision of a just society free from corruption and cronyism.

Intended for scholars in the fields of political theory, and the history of political thought, this two-volume examines David Hume's Political Thought (1711-1776) and that of his contemporaries, including Smith, Blackstone, Burke and Robertson.  This book is unified by its temporal focus on the middle and later decades of the eighteenth century and hence on what is usually taken to be the core period of the Enlightenment, a somewhat problematic term. Covering topics such as property, contract and resistance theory, religious establishments, the law of nations, the balance of power, demography, and the role of unintended consequences in social life, Frederick G. Whelan convincingly conveys the diversity--and creativity--of the intellectual engagements of even a limited set of Enlightenment thinkers in contrast to dismissive attitudes, in some quarters, toward the Enlightenment and its supposed unitary project. Political Thought of Hume and his Contemporaries: Enlightenment Projects Vol. 2 contains six in-depth studies of eighteenth-century political thought, including both normative issues and examples of Enlightenment social science, including international relations and law, the problem of double standards, political economy, demography, and the causes of imperial decline. The central figure is David Hume, with substantial attention to William Robertson, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, Malthus, and others.

Product Description: This volume on Hume's politics brings together essays that have been formative of the scholarly and more general debate about Hume's political thought. Unlike many theorists who express their thought in terms of system, Hume uses the incidental genre of the essay as the vehicle for his writing and his mode of presentation is a reflection, indeed an expression, of his belief in the limited power of reason to give any over-all shape to human life...read more

Product Description: The Secular Contract seeks to defend the European Enlightenment's secularization of political philosophy by promoting an understanding of Enlightenment secular liberalism and extending it to contemporary issues.The work proposes that the Enlightenment united the secularizing trends that occurred at the time across all areas of knowledge into a "secular contract" for modern politics...read more

Product Description: What connects a movie star, an archaeologist, a French maid, a prime minister, a wealthy dowager, and an Italian count? Crime, of course - and the master crime-solver, Hercule Poirot. Half of them have fallen victim to a terrible crime; the others have fallen under suspicion...read more

Product Description: Common sense has always been a cornerstone of American politics. In 1776, Tom Paine’s vital pamphlet with that title sparked the American Revolution. And today, common sense—the wisdom of ordinary people, knowledge so self-evident that it is beyond debate—remains a powerful political ideal, utilized alike by George W...read more

Product Description: This concise, thoughtful introduction to the work of Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense and Rights of Man, explores the impact of one of the most influential minds of the American and French Revolutions and the sources from which his thinking evolved...read more

Product Description: Few books or pamphlets have had as much influence on the course of human history as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. The Declaration of Independence severed political bonds with England, but it was Paine’s dynamic pamphlet that conceptualized the idea of unity and freedom months before Thomas Jefferson put pen to parchment...read more

The core of J.G. Herder's philosophy of nationalism lies in the conviction that human creativity must be embedded in the particular culture of a communal language. While he acknowledged that this cultural particular must be integrated into a more universal humanity, he insisted that each culture should preserve its incommensurable distinctiveness. He also called for a new method of enquiry regarding history, one that demands empathetic sensitivity toward the uniquely individual while realizing that there are few gains without losses. F.M. Barnard demonstrates that Herder, despite his innovative work on the idea of nationality, was fully aware of the dangers of ethnic fanaticism, but also of the hazards of what is now know as globalization, recognizing that these must be tempered by a sense of universal humanity.Barnard shows that Herder anticipated modern theories of the dynamics of cultures and traditions through the problematic interplay of persistence and change and that his speculations on cultural and political pluralism, on language as a democratic bond, and on the possible fusion of communitarian and liberal dimensions of public life remain relevant to contemporary debates.

Product Description: The radical pamphlet that helped incite the American RevolutionPenguin presents a series of six portable, accessible, and—above all—essential reads from American political history, selected by leading scholars. Series editor Richard Beeman, author of The Penguin Guide to the U...read more

Product Description: Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was the modern father of utilitarian moral and political philosophy and positivism jurisprudence. In recent years the foundations of his thought have been reassessed. These two volumes gather the most influential contributions to this reassessment, including both classic articulations of orthodox interpretations and radical challenges to this orthodoxy...read more

Product Description: "These are the times that try men's souls" is the immortal line from Common Sense, the document that inspired The Declaration of Independence. And, Rights of Man established the platform for many of today's key political debates. Thus, we have two indispensable classics of the American Revolution, world literature, and political history...read more

Product Description: The Enlightenment is an authoritative anthology of the key political writings from "the best and most hopeful episode in the history of mankind." The texts are supported by a lucid introduction exploring their moral, philosophical, political and economic background...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The rise of modern science created a crisis for Western moral and political philosophy, which had theretofore relied either on Christian theology or Aristotelian natural teleology as guarantors of an objective standard for "the good life...read more

Product Description: This work enables all students of political ideas to gain a fuller appreciation of the great works which form the foundation of the subject. It spans from the turbulent era of the American and French Revolutions through to the calmer waters of the nineteenth century...read more

Product Description: The Spirit of Modern Republicanism sets forth a radical reinterpretation of the foundations on which the American regime was constructed. Thomas L. Pangle argues that the Founders had a dramatically new vision of civic virtue, religious faith, and intellectual life, rooted in an unprecedented commitment to private and economic liberties...read more

Product Description: Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) has been called the German Rousseau. Yet while Rousseau is recognized as a political thinker, Herder is not. This book explores each thinker's ideas--on nature and culture, selfhood and mutuality, paternalism, freedom, and autonomy--and compares their conceptions of legitimate statehood...read more

Product Description: Book by Riley, Patrick