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Medieval Political Philosophy
Medieval Political A Sourcebook, edited by Ralph Lerner and Muhsin Mahdi, has been a classroom favorite since its publication in 1963. When it first appeared, it was the only anthology of medieval political philosophy to contain major texts from all three Western monotheistic traditions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—and that claim remains true today. This new edition of this classic text of political philosophy—revised and enlarged by Joshua Parens and Joseph C. Macfarland—will make accessible to today's students the insights of these profound medieval thinkers. Prior to the modern separation of religion from politics, these medieval thinkers explored a variety of approaches to the relation between religion and politics—approaches that prompted renewed interest in a world divided over how best to relate the two. For the authors gathered in this volume—including Alfarabi, Alghazali, Averroes, Maimonides, Judah Halevi, Thomas Aquinas, Boethius of Dacia, and Dante Alighieri among many others—there was a greater uniformity of general intention than at any other period. All of these authors studied the works of classical political philosophy and considered in a variety of ways the implications of this political thought for their contemporary situation in a monotheistic religious community.
532 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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January 3, 2011
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This book consists of translations of various medieval authors. Obviously, these are usually not complete translations of these works but excerpts of these various texts. I've heard rumors of an updated edition of this being in the works but have yet to see this confirmed. (The rumor now is 2011.) The Bibliography is extremely abbreviated and that would be certainly the first thing I improved. When this book first appeared much of this stuff hadn't been translated at all. But now, 40 years later, things have changed. For instance, Chapter 5 of Farabi's 'Enumeration of the Sciences' is also available in 'Alfarabi: The Political Writings' and a translation of the 'Commentary on Aristotle's Politics' by Aquinas came out in 2007. Now, I would rather see a new book come out that only had untranslated (or unavailable) pieces rather than have works I can also get elsewhere. I understand that this is a sourcebook intended for beginning students in Medieval Philosophy and thus it must have pretty much the authors it has above. So why bring out a new edition? Instead, bring out a supplementary edition that would include previously untranslated works or difficult to find out-of-print stuff of the above authors but also have some authors that aren't represented in the canon.
This book consists of translations of various medieval authors. Obviously, these are usually not complete translations of these works but excerpts of these various texts. I've heard rumors of an updated edition of this being in the works but have yet to see this confirmed. (The rumor now is 2011.) The Bibliography is extremely abbreviated and that would be certainly the first thing I improved. When this book first appeared much of this stuff hadn't been translated at all. But now, 40 years later, things have changed. For instance, Chapter 5 of Farabi's 'Enumeration of the Sciences' is also available in 'Alfarabi: The Political Writings' and a translation of the 'Commentary on Aristotle's Politics' by Aquinas came out in 2007. Now, I would rather see a new book come out that only had untranslated (or unavailable) pieces rather than have works I can also get elsewhere. I understand that this is a sourcebook intended for beginning students in Medieval Philosophy and thus it must have pretty much the authors it has above. So why bring out a new edition? Instead, bring out a supplementary edition that would include previously untranslated works or difficult to find out-of-print stuff of the above authors but also have some authors that aren't represented in the canon.
Displaying 1 of 1 review