Author: Christopher Lynch
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2016-03-01
Total Pages: 400
ISBN-13: 1438461267
DOWNLOAD EBOOKReflections on principle and prudence in the thoughts and actions of great thinkers and statesmen. Discussions of the place of moral principle in political practice are haunted by the abstract and misleading distinction between realism and its various principled or “idealist” alternatives. This volume argues that such discussions must be recast in terms of the relationship between principle and prudence: as Nathan Tarcov maintains, that relationship is “not dichotomous but complementary.” In a substantive introduction, the editors investigate Leo Strauss’s attack on contemporary political thought for its failure to account for both principle and prudence in politics. Leading commentators then reflect on principle and prudence in the writings of great thinkers such as Homer, Machiavelli, and Hegel, and in the thoughts and actions of great statesmen such as Pericles, Jefferson, and Lincoln. In a concluding section, contributors reassess Strauss’s own approach to principle and prudence in the history of political philosophy. Christopher Lynch is Professor of Political Science at Carthage College and the translator and editor of Machiavelli’s Art of War. Jonathan Marks is Professor of Politics at Ursinus College and the author of Perfection and Disharmony in the Thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Book Synopsis Principle and Prudence in Western Political Thought by : Christopher Lynch
Download or read book Principle and Prudence in Western Political Thought written by Christopher Lynch and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reflections on principle and prudence in the thoughts and actions of great thinkers and statesmen. Discussions of the place of moral principle in political practice are haunted by the abstract and misleading distinction between realism and its various principled or “idealist” alternatives. This volume argues that such discussions must be recast in terms of the relationship between principle and prudence: as Nathan Tarcov maintains, that relationship is “not dichotomous but complementary.” In a substantive introduction, the editors investigate Leo Strauss’s attack on contemporary political thought for its failure to account for both principle and prudence in politics. Leading commentators then reflect on principle and prudence in the writings of great thinkers such as Homer, Machiavelli, and Hegel, and in the thoughts and actions of great statesmen such as Pericles, Jefferson, and Lincoln. In a concluding section, contributors reassess Strauss’s own approach to principle and prudence in the history of political philosophy. Christopher Lynch is Professor of Political Science at Carthage College and the translator and editor of Machiavelli’s Art of War. Jonathan Marks is Professor of Politics at Ursinus College and the author of Perfection and Disharmony in the Thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.