Provides comprehensive coverage of political philosophy, extending from antiquity to contemporary philosophers
Half the length of the longer version
Unlike competitors, Cahn`s book includes philosophers from the 20th century, such as Rawls, Nozick, Foucault, Herbermas, and Nussbaum

Ideal for survey courses in social and political philosophy, this volume is a substantially abridged and slightly altered version of Steven M. Cahn`s Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy (OUP, 2001). Offering coverage from antiquity to the present, Political Philosophy: The Essential Texts is a historically organized collection of the most significant works from nearly 2,500 years of political philosophy. It moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle) through the medieval period (Aquinas) to modern perspectives (Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Adam Smith, Hamilton and Madison, Kant). The book includes work from major nineteenth-century thinkers (Hegel, Marx and Engels, Mill) and twentieth-century theorists (Rawls, Nozick, Foucault, Habermas, Nussbaum) and also presents a variety of notable documents and addresses, including the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. The readings are substantial or complete texts, not fragments.
An especially valuable feature of this volume is that the works of each author are introduced with an engaging essay by a leading contemporary authority. These introductions include Richard Kraut on Plato and Aristotle; Paul J. Weithman on Aquinas; Roger D. Masters on Machiavelli; Jean Hampton on Hobbes; A. John Simmons on Locke; Joshua Cohen on Rousseau and Rawls; Donald W. Livingston on Hume; Charles L. Griswold, Jr., on Adam Smith; Bernard E. Brown on Hamilton and Madison; Paul Guyer on Kant; Steven B. Smith on Hegel; Richard Miller on Marx and Engels; Jeremy Waldron on Mill; Thomas Christiano on Nozick; Thomas A. McCarthy on Foucault and Habermas; and Eva Feder Kittay on Nussbaum.

Contents
* Unabridged selections

Preface
PLATO

Introduction , Richard Kraut
* Defence of Socrates
* Crito
Republic
ARISTOTLE

Introduction , Richard Kraut
Politics
THOMAS AQUINAS

Introduction , Paul J. Weithman
Summa Theologiae
NICCOLÓ MACHIAVELLI

Introduction , Roger D. Masters
The Prince
Discourses
THOMAS HOBBES

Introduction , Jean Hampton
Leviathan
JOHN LOCKE

Introduction , A. John Simmons
Second Treatise of Government
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

Introduction , Joshua Cohen
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Of the Social Contract
DAVID HUME

Introduction , Donald W. Livingston
Of the Original Contract
ADAM SMITH

Introduction , Charles L. Griswold, Jr.
The Wealth of Nations
ALEXANDER HAMILTON and JAMES MADISON

Introduction , Bernard E. Brown
The Federalist Papers
IMMANUEL KANT

Introduction , Paul Guyer
Perpetual Peace
G.W.F. HEGEL

Introduction , Steven B. Smith
Philosophy of Right
Introduction to the Philosophy of History
KARL MARX and FRIEDRICH ENGELS

Introduction , Richard Miller
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
The German Ideology
Manifesto of the Communist Party
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
JOHN STUART MILL

Introduction , Jeremy Waldron
On Liberty
JOHN RAWLS

Introduction , Joshua Cohen
A Theory of Justice
ROBERT NOZICK

Introduction , Thomas Christiano
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
MICHEL FOUCAULT

Introduction , Thomas A. McCarthy
Power/Knowledge
JÜRGEN HABERMAS

Introduction , Thomas A. McCarthy
* Three Normative Models of Democracy
* On the Internal Relation Between the Rule of Law and Democracy
MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM

Introduction , Eva Feder Kittay
* The Feminist Critique of Liberalism
DOCUMENTS AND ADDRESSES

* THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

* Gettysburg Address
* Second Inaugural Address
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

* Letter from a Birmingham City Jail
* The March on Washington Address