Arguing About Political Philosophy

Browsing the table of contents of Zwolinski's Arguing About Political Philosophy got me eager to teach Introduction to Political Philosophy next time using this text. The readings are well chosen and combine classic texts and state of the art recent work on a broad range of crucial topics within political philosophy better than any other introductory text I know of. I will surely be using this excellent text.

David Sobel, Syracuse University

It’s unusual for a textbook to possess both breadth and depth, but Zwolinski achieves just that. Debates over the meaning of central political concepts, and their reflection in several salient current political issues, are presented through a range of carefully selected readings representing both mainstream and other positions, historical and contemporary. The result is a strongly engaging introduction to the concerns of political philosophy.

Hillel Steiner, University of Manchester

This book is like a time machine, right from your own armchair or library carrel! One of the things students find scary about philosophy is the emphasis on "mastering thinkers." The recent resurgence in interest in studying philosophy has been caused in part by a reorientation toward problems. You can't study problems without time travel: what would Hume have thought of Rawls? How would Hobbes have reacted to Martin Luther King? Arguing About Political Philosophy is a portal to the kind of intellectual time travel that reveals why philosophy is at the core of a liberal education.

Michael Munger, Duke University

Matt Zwolinski has assembled a lively anthology that retains a commitment to high standards while being extremely student-friendly as well. Arguing about Political Philosophy is above all about ideas, and it is refreshing to see so many diverse ideological perspectives brought together in one teaching text. Well-organized and judiciously selected, this collection provides an ideal foundation on which to build your own world-class course in political philosophy.

John Tomasi, Brown University

This excellent anthology presents political philosophy and theory within the social sciences as well as the liberal arts. Its thematic units combine selections from historical and contemporary canonical works with well-chosen supplemental texts ranging from literature to economics. It also lets students encounter an unusually wide range of normative positions, and so makes clear that the central problems of political philosophy remain live questions for debate.

Jacob T. Levy, McGill University