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List of contents
Preface; Introduction; Part I. The State: 1.1 Political associations; 1.2 Violence, coercion, and power; 1.3 The concept of the state; 1.4 The concept of legitimacy; 1.5 Authority; 1.6 Weber's 'modern' state; 1.7 History and the concept of the state; 1.8 Anarchy and the state; 1.9 The legitimacy of the state; Part II. Liberalism: 2.1 The context; 2.2 Toleration; 2.3 Freedom; 2.4 Individualism; 2.5 Limited, unlimited, and discretionary power; Part III. Democracy and Rights: 3.1 Democracy: description and interpretation; 3.2 Democracy: evaluation; 3.3 Popular control and the state; 3.4 Legal rights; 3.5 Human rights; 3.6 Rights and politics; 4. Conclusion; Index.
About the author
Raymond Geuss is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He has taught widely in Germany and the United States, and has been an editor of the series of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought since its inception. His previous books include The Idea of a Critical Theory (Cambridge, 1981, ISBN 0521 284228), Morality, Culture, and History (Cambridge, 1999, ISBN 0 521 635683), and Public Goods, Private Goods (Princeton, 2001). He has also published a collection of classical verse in his own English translations, Parrots, Poets, and Philosophers & Good Advice (London, 1999).
Summary
The distinguished political philosopher Raymond Geuss examines critically the central topics in western political thought, including the state, authority, toleration, democracy, freedom and human rights. This is a profound and concise essay on the basic structure of contemporary politics, written throughout in a voice that is sceptical, engaged, and clear.
