Classics of Moral and Political Theory

I ordered this book online for a class since it saved me about $20 than waiting to pay for it at the bookstore. It came within a week, was packaged well, great condition, fast and easy. Would do business again.

I have received the book via international shipment on time and in good condition as it was promissed.

If you are interested in an anthology of selected writings in social and political theories, this is an excellent edition, whether you are a student or a teacher, or interested in philosophical writings. Highly recommended for those who are cutting their teeth on social and political theories and do not need whole original texts for all of the writings in this volume, (although some are complete).

A good collection of important texts. Everything here is essential. But prepare to supplement this volume with more purchases, because not everything essential is here. No Burke, no Tocqueville, no Federalist Papers, no Montesquieu. In other words, most of the authors that the Right likes aren't here...it isn't very balanced. Perhaps the editor would be better off doing separate collections for moral theory/ethics and political theory so he would have room to include more texts.

CLASSICS should be required reading for every high school and college student, because it grounds one in the fundamental theories that have shaped, and continue to shape, our world. No one can afford NOT to read this book; it's subject matter is too important. After you read this book you'll appreciate why we have it so great in America, because America has actually applied the political ideals that other countries only talk about. In CLASSICS you are able to read the most famous works of the world's most famous philosophers; a word about each is due: Plato, the Father of Philosophy, the Jewel in the Crown, still my very favorite philosopher. Learn that doing right is the path to happiness. Learn about justice, moderation, courage, and wisdom; Aristotle: learn about the importance of moderation in everything, and the importance of establishing, and preserving, a middle class; Epicurus: no comment; Epictetus: the father of Stoicism, a great philosophy for ignoring the world but if you live by this philosophy, don't be surprised if you wake up one day completely disenfranchised!; Augustine: no comment; Machiavelli: always a pleasure to read; learn how the world really is, as opposed to the way we'd like it to be; Hobbes: this guy must have been paid by the word, because he took several hundred pages to say what could have been surmised in one sentence: man is always at war. Locke: a brilliant discussion of the origin of property-a must read!; Hume: not very impressive; Rousseau: excellent; shows that civilization, rather than being the solution, may actually be the problem!; Kant: difficult to comprehend; Mill: excellent insights on liberty; I personally think Thomas Paine did a better job discussing liberty; Marx: hard to believe that people bought the Manifesto, but desperate times called for desperate measures; you can't leave people scrapping for crumbs and expect to reign for long; "On the Jewish Question" is an excellent essay on the importance of having a wall of separation between church and state; Nietzsche: understand why Hitler employed his philosophy so effectively to burn books, and then to burn people. Learn that living is appropriating, and understand the difference between slave morality and master morality. After you read this fantastic book, you'll see the world, and especially the forces that shape it, in a way you could not have imagined previously! Read it, for your sake, and for the sake of both this great country and the greater world we live in!