Dictionary of Political Thought ([Macmillan reference books]) Scruton, Roger

by Roger Scruton (Editor)

Containing 1700 entries, this dictionary covers every aspect of political thought, defining concepts and ideologies, surveying the arguments on issues, giving capsule histories of political institutions, and summarizing the thought of major political theorists. Among the topics it comments on are the collapse of communism, the rise of nationalism in eastern Europe, and integration in western Europe.

Genres: Reference, Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Collections

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Sir Roger Scruton was a writer and philosopher who has published more than forty books in philosophy, aesthetics and politics. He was a fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He taught in both England and America and was a Visiting Professor at Department of Philosophy and Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, he was also a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington D.C.

In 2015 he published two books, The Disappeared and later in the autumn, Fools Frauds and Firebrands. Fools Frauds and Firebrands is an update of Thinkers of the New Left published, to widespread outrage, in 1986. It includes new chapters covering Lacan, Deleuze and Badiou and some timely thoughts about the historians and social thinkers who led British intellectuals up the garden path during the last decades, including Eric Hobsbawm and Ralph Miliband.

In 2016 he again published two books, Confessions of A Heretic (a collection of essays) and The Ring of Truth, about Wagner’s Ring cycle, which was widely and favourably reviewed. In 2017 he published On Human Nature (Princeton University Press), which was again widely reviewed, and contains a distillation of his philosophy. He also published a response to Brexit, Where We Are (Bloomsbury).

Reviews

[Josua Rumengan]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe if you took political science you would have a different perspective on this book. I can't brag about my academic grounding. I just find this book very useful.

Taking a random page - there is a discussion of the Marxian concept of exploitation; a clarification of the term "extradtion;" and, lest I forget, a clarification of when "expansionism" came into parlance. You can find everything from Kant's political thoughts to the use of the term "kangaroo court."

You will find a cogent and succinct discussions of political thoughts regarding church and state or "proportional representation."

The book indicates there are about 1700 separate listings. That has been quite adequate for my needs.

[Brendan Illis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I didn't "read" this as in cover to cover, it's a dictionary, a reference book. That being said I do flip through it on occasion and have used it as a reference on multiple papers. It is an excellent dictionary of political thought and politics and I wish I had this book when I started my academic career. The entries are succinct, but give you enough of a background to be able to find more information.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As objective as a subjective science can be.