A History of Western Political Thought

by J. S. McClelland, Dr J S Mcclelland

A History of Western Political Thought is an energetic and lucid account of the most important political thinkers and the enduring themes of the last two and a half millennia. Written with students of the history of political thought in mind, the
* traces the development of political thought from Ancient Greece to the late twentieth century
* focuses on individual thinkers and texts
* includes 40 biographies of key political thinkers
* offers original views of theorists and highlights those which may have been unjustly neglected
* develops the wider themes of political thought and the relations between thinkers over time.

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

820 pages, Paperback

Published March 5, 1998

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that I haven't read all of this book, but I read almost all the theorists we went over in class. Everytime I picked this book up, I felt smarter. Some of it takes longer to read than others, and some theorists are more interesting than others, but overall I liked this text. I will say that there were times the author seemed to be rambling a bit, and he had a little trouble being concise, but overall it was informative and interesting.

[Ali A · Rating 5 out of 5]

فکر کنم برای یک علاقه‌مند به علوم سیاسی که سررشته چندانی هم از تاریخ اندیشه‌های سیاسی نداره گزینه خیلی مناسبی برای شروع باشه. جلد اول از اسطوره‌شناسی و خدایان یونانی و تاثیر اون بر شکل‌گیری تفکر سیاسی جامعه آن زمان یونان شروع می‌کنه و با گذر از افلاطون و ارسطو و نگاهی به دولت-شهرهای یونانی به آگوستین و توماس و درهم‌تنیدگی فلسفه مسیحی و فلسفه سیاسی در قرون وسطی می‌رسه. در نهایت هم با تفکرات هابز و لاک و روسو و پیوندشون با خواستگاه‌های دولت‌های مدرن کتاب تمام می‌شه. ترجمه خوبی داره کتاب و جز در پاره‌ای از جاها، که به‌سبب محتوای کلام بیان دشوار جلوه می‌کنه، ایرادی به چشم من نخورد.

[乂]

تاریخِ اندیشه‌ی سیاسیِ غرب: از یونانِ باستان تا عصرِ روشنگری؛ جلدِ اول / جان مکللند / تهران: نی، چاپِ اول 1393
علوم سیاسی – تاریخ

دیباچه
«جان مکللند»، شرح می‌دهد که در این کتاب، هیچ خطِ داستانی «خاصی» را دنبال نکرده است. و او سعی کرده به‌صورتی وارونه، یعنی از پایین به بالا، از حکومت‌شوندگان به‌سمتِ حاکمان نیز تاریخچه‌ی اندیشه‌ی سیاسی را روایت کند. زیرا مایل بوده به این پرسش بپردازد که «چرا آن‌گونه که باید هرگز سرشتِ مردمِ تحتِ حکومت، در نظر گرفته نشده است؟ حال چه در قالبِ ازدحامِ آن‌ها یا به‌شکلِ توده.»
وی معتقد است که دیگر به این شیوه و از این مسیرهای یک‌سویه نمی‌توان به سادگی ادامه داد. زیرا نحوه‌ی تفکرِ هر اندیشمند، بر این حکم که چگونه می‌توان و باید حکومت کرد، تنیده شده است. و اگر این نحوه‌ی درهم تنیدگی، حاوی اسراری باشد که برای آشکار شدن‌شان، به تحملِ فشار و زجر محتاج باشیم، آن نظرات و نتیجه‌گیری‌های ما نیز آشکارا غیرِ قابلِ اتکا هستند. و این شاملِ نظراتِ اندیشمندانی می‌شود که ماده‌ی اولیه‌ی نگرشِ آن‌ها نسبت به سرشتِ انسانی در جوامعِ سیاسی، یک‌سویه، مبهم و گُم است. [11]
«مکللند»، از شاگردِ خود دوشیزه «الیزابت والترز» نیز تشکر می‌کند که در یکی از جلساتِ درس، نظرِ او را تغییر می‌دهد، نظری که درباره‌ی نقشِ نگهبانان در کتابِ «جمهور افلاطون» داشته و به آن نیز بسیار مباهات می‌کرده، اما می‌فهمد که کاملاً پیچیده و غیرِ ضروری است. [12]
[...]

[John Ferngrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely magisterial. An intellectual achievement of the highest order. It's taken me several months to read and has included several halts while I have taken the time to read less demanding things and also just to think seriously about themes and arguments presented. As someone with a strong interest in history I find it important to engage with works of political science and theory from time to time in order to bring sense and coherence to the effectively endless streams of historical facts and narratives. My several other interests mean that it is unlikely that I will ever get around to reading the original works of the relevant thinkers. A survey such as this which combines both breadth and depth is undoubtedly the next best thing that can be managed. I've read several commentaries on political philosophy before and have some familiarity with some of the thinkers discussed. But I was introduced to others not encountered before and even, in the cases of Nietzsche and Freud, awakened to their, for me unrealised, significance as political thinkers and their influence on subsequent political thought.

Over and above the content it is the fluency of the writing that is so deeply impressive. This is a great work of literature. Also admirable is the fact that on completeing the book I would still be unable to guess what McLelland's own political inclinations might be.

[Praveen Kishore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A treasure, one of the best book on political philosophy I have read. But it will require your time and its 800 pages of small print will often test your patience.

The writing is smooth, flowing, sometime rather wordy, but never dull, and it will mostly keep you engaged.

[WaldenOgre · Rating 4 out of 5]

此书不太好读的最大原因在于，有些内容异常精彩，而另一些则乏味冗长，两者反复交替出现。全书的整体脉络不够清晰，麦克里兰的叙述也常常会出现拖沓、自我重复和不知所谓的毛病，但那些散见于各章节里的闪耀之笔依然值得一读。

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

#一翻两年半# 历时这么久，断断续续地读，到今天终于在几内亚矿区把下册也读完了！彭淮栋的译文实在太“雅”，又欠缺学术背景，读的很慢很累，这么多的western ideological giants！边沁、穆勒、斯宾塞、萨姆纳、格林、黑格尔、马克思、伯恩斯坦、克罗斯兰、列宁、托洛茨基、斯大林、赫尔德、帕累托、米歇尔斯、勒庞、弗洛伊德、尼采、莫拉斯和奥克肖特...西方思想界璀璨啊.

[Hukmi Chand]

a histry of westran political thought j s mccllnd

[Cengiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally this long and tough book has finished. I would like to write just one sentence as conclusion about this book. The author thinks that the end of the western political philosophy which was in general rational and universalist started with Democritus's individualism, lasted in the cloak of liberal political thought and culminated as a positivist-scientific thought was over in the 19. century. Nietzsche was one of the first thinkers who realized that the European philosophy was at the stage of decadence.