A wide-ranging and up-to-date survey of the leading ideas and debates in political philosophy

Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals introduces core topics within the field by engaging students in seminal works in both contemporary philosophy and the history of political thought. Requiring no previous background in the subject, this clear and comprehensible textbook equips readers with the necessary context for understanding different philosophical perspectives.

Through eight succinct chapters, Thom Brooks highlights important contributions made from political philosophers from the past and present to connect the history of political thought with ongoing debates. Readers gain insights into various conceptions about the nature of freedom, different ways of understanding equality, longstanding debates over punishment, questions concerning the value of human rights, issues of global justice and severe poverty, approaches to handling climate change and much more.

Helping readers develop informed opinions on central issues, Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals:

• Discusses divergent views about the different forms and limits of freedom that philosophers have defended over time
• Provides a historical perspective of contemporary understandings of human rights and their origins in natural law and natural rights
• Illustrates the multiple ways that freedom has been understood, including commonalities and differences
• Examines various ways of implementing equality and assessing their merits
• Covers influential work by John Rawls that envisions a well-ordered society governed by principles of justice

Featuring carefully selected further readings in each chapter, Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals is essential reading for undergraduate students and general readers interested in the historical development and present-day debates over political ideas and institutions.

Thom Brooks is Professor of Law and Government at Durham University and Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School. His edited publications include Global Justice: An Introduction, Climate Change for an Endangered World, Rawls’s Political Liberalism and The Global Justice Reader, Revised Edition.