POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK David Miller | 160 pages | 01 Dec 2003 | Oxford University Press | 9780192803955 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction PDF Book How does this idea transfer to political obligation? In an obvious sense, she is being harmed by the apparently self-regarding behaviour of the male employees. View 1 comment. So we might conclude that those rights that appear only on one of the longer lists and not on the shorter list should not strictly speaking be called human rights. Sep 28, Lloyd Downey rated it really liked it. For group pressure depends not only the number of people who care about an issue, and how much they care, but also how well organized and resourced the group is. As news of his behaviour spreads, other people will reprimand him and may refuse to work with him in future. Does it really make a difference to our lives what kind of government we have? This is Political Philosophy is an accessible and well-balanced introduction to the main issues in political philosophy written by an author team from the fields of both philosophy and politics. Politics, it turned out, was to a considerable extent independent of economics, or of social development more generally. Good The book raises some interesting points, it's a good introduction for anyone wondering about some basic notions of political philosophy as "freedom", "justice" or "democracy". David Miller discusses why nations are the natural units of government and whether the rise of multiculturalism and transnational co-operation will change this: will we ever see the formation of a world government? Only flag lists that clearly need our attention. Cooperation between communities is also less straightforward than the anarchist picture supposes. Promising and contracting are obvious instances of this. If the two agencies cannot agree, libertarians claim, they may refer the case to an arbitrator, who again would charge for her services. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Inappropriate The list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow Goodreads member or author. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. When Mill wrote On Liberty there was no public health service, no national system of education or of income support for the poor, no public housing, and so on. About David Miller. There was surprisingly little thought devoted to the concept of rights, while there was a predictably long section devoted to social justice. Does this system really do away with political authority? One explanation is that democracy as currently practised gives people very little incentive to acquire political knowledge or skill. Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Writer But then Miller could also learn a thing or two -- about spending less time on the obvious and moving on to interesting and controversial subjects earlier in a book, especially such a short one. But how to we separate genuine needs from other demands? Moreover, he explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. Overall, not much that I didn't already k A short and interesting book about the philosophical basis of politics, a subject that consumes a great deal of my thinking hey, give me a break! It is distressing. He suggests as a first shot that a person's freedom depends on the number of options open to her and her capacity to make a choice between them. A short but profound introduction to the greatest of all academic disciplines: philosophy! Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. And Miller dismisses market anarchists who would propose to get rid of the state and just let the market decide how goods are allocated. Flag as inappropriate. But Miller goes beyond discussing justice in purely procedural terms and turns to the issue of social justice and the role of the state in promoting redistribution of wealth and resources. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Published on. Allowing diversity while living together in harmony. Average rating 3. What i hope for would be headings under each chapters to make points easier to understand. I started reading this book in Vienna last year. Error rating book. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein in the four decades around the turn of the twentieth century, analytic philosophy established itself in various forms in the s. Need to read his more detailed works before any comment can be made on how effective his defense is. Jan 30, Fhsanders54 rated it really liked it. Read more Overall this short guide is well worth a read. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. German philosophy stands at the center of modern thought. It explores the connections between political authority and justice, a constant theme in political philosophy, and the ways in which social justice can be used to regulate rather than destroy a market economy. Mar 18, jzthompson rated it it was amazing Shelves: politics , non-fiction , religion-and-philosophy , vsi , written-by-a-dude , law. Like this: Like Loading Can be used alongside A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy Blackwell Publishing, ; second edition in preparation as the basis for a systematic introduction to the subject. People will go out to the polls every few years, but the opportunities that ordinary people have to influence public policy decisions are very limited. Members save with free shipping everyday! Having said all this, I enjoyed the intro for what it was. What Is Justice? Nov 19, Zane rated it really liked it. Miller begins with a discussion of the nature of political authority and he begins by posing some fairly basic questions. He lives in Oxford and is married with three children. However, David Miller does a reasonable job Without Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, and Husserl Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. With that, the book was written in and much has changed even since then. Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Reviews It was fun to make notes while reading. Political Philosophy. What these examples bring out is that justice requires relevance; if people are going to be treated differently from one another, it must be on grounds that are relevant to the treatment in question. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Rare Books. Great political philosophers from Plato to Rawls have traditionally argued that there is a single, principled answer to this question. So now I want to explore a different way of restricting what the state may do in the name of individual freedom. What does it mean to say that someone is free to do this or that, or live in one way or another? Is there a principled way to decide this? Notify me of new posts via email. Want to Read saving…. Justice, equality, proportionality, nation states. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Description This Very Short Introduction introduces readers to the key concepts of political philosophy: authority, democracy, freedom and its limits, justice, feminism, multiculturalism, and nationality. To a very large extent, our ideas of justice are contextual, meaning that before we can decide whether a rule or a decision is fair we have to know a good deal about the situation in which it is being applied. Request Examination Copy. Justice, Lorenzetti is implying, binds the citizens one to another, and then all of them together to government. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. He does not think over-enthusiastic criticism of the nation-state system is warranted and he believes it is our best chance at stability. Some issues are primarily technical, so that once we can agree about the factual questions at stake, the decision will be fairly straightforward. It was fun to make notes while reading. But in a large, mobile society that assumption does not hold. So far, very little: it tells me that I should treat them consistently, that if I treat them differently this should be for relevant reasons, and that my allocations should be proportionate. What role should ordinary citizens play in a democracy? Suppose we want to build a society-wide rail network in the absence of a central 26 authority. Basic human rights seem to transcend and override our concerns about fairness and reciprocity. But, this is intro is usually elegant! No trivia or quizzes yet. Political authority Politics is profoundly unpredictable and it often seems as though we are approaching new and uncharted territory. Whether the cost of taking an option is a restriction of freedom depends not just 8. So, according to Marx, in capitalist societies the state had to serve the interests of the capitalist class, in socialist societies it would serve the interests of the workers, and eventually, under communism, it would disappear completely. Hobbes argue that there need to be a condition under which people to cooperate, and that is trust, which can only be maintained through government enforcement. Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction Read Online How anarchists see political authority: Russian cartoon May 12, Jesse Rice rated it it was amazing. There is a related issue here, which is how far the kind of truth political philosophy gives us is universal truth — truth that applies to all societies and in all periods of history. Political Philosophy by politicians and by the public at large.