Political philosophy is the study of topics such as
politics,
liberty,
justice,
property,
rights,
law, and the enforcement of a
legal code by
authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what, if anything, makes a
government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever. In a
vernacular sense, the term "political philosophy" often refers to a general view, or specific ethic, political belief or attitude, about politics that does not necessarily belong to the technical discipline of
philosophy. In short, political philosophy is the activity, as with all philosophy, whereby the conceptual apparatus behind such concepts as aforementioned are analyzed, in their history, intent, evolution and the like.
[1]
Political philosophy is considered by some to be a sub-discipline of
political science; however, the name generally attributed to this form of political enquiry is political theory, a discipline which has a closer methodology to the theoretical fields in the social sciences - like
economic theory - than to philosophical argumentation - like that of
moral philosophy or
aesthetics.
History[edit]
Ancient Philosophies[edit]
Ancient China[edit]
Chinese political philosophy dates back to the
Spring and Autumn Period, specifically with Confucius in the 6th century BC. Chinese political philosophy developed as a response to the social and political breakdown of the country characteristic of the
Spring and Autumn Period and the
Warring States period.
The major philosophies during the period, Confucianism, Legalism,Mohism, Agrarianism and Taoism, each had a political aspect to their philosophical schools.Philosophers such as
Confucius,
Mencius, and
Mozi, focused on political unity and political stability as the basis of their political philosophies. Confucianism advocated a hierarchical,
meritocraticgovernment based on empathy, loyalty, and interpersonal relationships. Legalism advocated a highly
authoritarian government based on
draconian punishments and laws. Mohism advocated a communal, decentralized government centered on
frugality and
ascetism. The Agrarians advocated a peasant
utopian communalism and
egalitarianism.
[2] Taoism advocated a proto-
anarchism. Legalism was the dominant political philosophy of the
Qin Dynasty, but was replaced by State Confucianism in the
Han Dynasty. Prior to China's adoption of
communism, State Confucianism remained the dominant political philosophy of China up to the 20th century.
[3]
Ancient Greece[edit]
Ancient India[edit]
Indian political philosophy evolved in ancient times and demarcated a clear distinction between (1) nation and state (2) religion and state. The constitutions of Hindu states evolved over time and were based on political and legal treatises and prevalent social institutions. The institutions of state were broadly divided into governance, administration, defense, law and order. Mantranga, the principal governing body of these states, consisted of the King, Prime Minister, Commander in chief of army, Chief Priest of the King. The Prime Minister headed the committee of ministers along with head of executive (Maha Amatya).
Chanakya, 4th Century BC Indian political philosopher, exerted influence on many later thinkers, including
Niccolò Machiavelli through his treatise
Arthashastra.
[7] The
Arthashastra provides an account of the science of politics for a wise ruler, policies for foreign affairs and wars, the system of a spy state and surveillance and economic stability of the state.
[8] Chanakya quotes several authorities including Bruhaspati, Ushanas, Prachetasa Manu, Parasara, and Ambi, and described himself as a descendant of a lineage of political philosophers, with his father Chanaka being his immediate predecessor.
[9] Another influential extant Indian treatise on political philosophy is the Sukra Neeti.
[10][11] An example of a
code of law in ancient India is the
Manusmṛti or
Laws of Manu[12]
Medieval Christianity[edit]
Saint Augustine[edit]
The early
Christian philosophy of
Augustine of Hippo was heavily influenced by Plato. The main change that Christian thought brought was to moderate the
Stoicism and theory of
justice of the Roman world, and emphasize the role of the state in applying
mercy as a
moral example. Augustine also preached that one was not a member of his or her city, but was either a citizen of the
City of God (Civitas Dei) or the City of Man (
Civitas Terrena). Augustine's
City of God is an influential work of this period that attacked the thesis, held by many Christian Romans, that the Christian view could be realized on
Earth.
[13]
St. Thomas Aquinas[edit]
Thomas Aquinas meticulously dealt with the varieties of
law. According to Aquinas, there are four kinds of law:
- Eternal law ("the divine government of everything")
- Divine positive law (having been "posited" by God; external to human nature)
- Natural law (the right way of living discoverable by natural reason; what cannot-not be known; internal to human nature)
- Human law (what we commonly call "law"—including customary law; the law of the Communitas Perfecta)
Aquinas never discusses the nature or categorization of
canon law. There is scholarly debate surrounding the place of canon law within the Thomistic jurisprudential framework.
Islamic Golden Age[edit]
Mutazilite vs. Asharite[edit]
The rise of
Islam, based on both the
Qur'an and the prophet
Muhammad strongly altered the power balances and perceptions of origin of power in the Mediterranean region.
Early Islamic philosophy emphasized an inexorable link between
science and
religion, and the process of
ijtihad to find
truth—in effect
all philosophy was "
political" as it had real implications for governance. This view was challenged by the "rationalist"
Mutazilite philosophers, who held a more
Hellenic view, reason above revelation, and as such are known to modern scholars as the first
speculative theologians of Islam; they were supported by a secular aristocracy who sought freedom of action independent of the
Caliphate. By the late ancient period, however, the "traditionalist"
Asharite view of Islam had in general triumphed. According to the Asharites, reason must be subordinate to the Quran and the Sunna.
[14]
Islamic political philosophy, was, indeed, rooted in the very sources of
Islam—i.e., the
Qur'an and the
Sunnah, the words and practices of Muhammad—thus making it essentially theocratic. However, in the Western thought, it is generally supposed that it was a specific area peculiar merely to the great philosophers of Islam:
al-Kindi (Alkindus),
al-Farabi (Abunaser),
İbn Sina (Avicenna),
Ibn Bajjah (Avempace),
Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and
Ibn Khaldun. The political conceptions of Islam such as kudrah (power),
sultan,
ummah, cemaa (obligation)-and even the "core" terms of the Qur'an—i.e.,
ibadah, din (religion), rab (master) and
ilah—is taken as the basis of an analysis. Hence, not only the ideas of the Muslim political philosophers but also many other
jurists and
ulama posed political ideas and theories. For example, the ideas of the
Khawarij in the very early years of
Islamic history on
Khilafa and
Ummah, or that of
Shia Islam on the concept of
Imamah are considered proofs of political thought. The clashes between the
Ehl-i Sunna and
Shia in the 7th and 8th centuries had a genuine political character.
Ibn Khaldun[edit]
The 14th century
Arab scholar
Ibn Khaldun is considered one of the greatest political theorists. The British philosopher-anthropologist
Ernest Gellner considered Ibn Khaldun's definition of
government, "...an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself," the best in the history of political theory. For Ibn Khaldun, government should be restrained to a minimum for as a necessary evil, it is the constraint of men by other men.
[15]
Medieval Europe[edit]
Medieval political philosophy in
Europe was heavily influenced by
Christian thinking. It had much in common with the Mutazalite
Islamicthinking in that the
Roman Catholics though subordinating
philosophy to
theology did not subject reason to revelation but in the case of contradictions, subordinated reason to faith as the Asharite of Islam. The Scholastics by combining the philosophy of Aristotle with the Christianity of St. Augustine emphasized the potential harmony inherent in reason and revelation.
[16] Perhaps the most influential political philosopher of medieval Europe was St.
Thomas Aquinas who helped reintroduce
Aristotle's works, which had only been transmitted to
Catholic Europe through
Muslim Spain, along with the commentaries of
Averroes. Aquinas's use of them set the agenda, for
scholasticpolitical philosophy dominated European thought for centuries even unto the
Renaissance.
[17]
Medieval political philosophers, such as Aquinas in
Summa Theologica, developed the idea that a king who is a tyrant is no king at all and could be overthrown.
Magna Carta, viewed by many as a cornerstone of Anglo-American political liberty, explicitly proposes the right to revolt against the ruler for justice sake. Other documents similar to Magna Carta are found in other European countries such as Spain and Hungary.
[18]
European Renaissance[edit]
During the
Renaissance secular political philosophy began to emerge after about a century of theological political thought in Europe. While the Middle Ages did see secular politics in practice under the rule of the
Holy Roman Empire, the academic field was wholly
scholastic and therefore Christian in nature.
Niccolò Machiavelli[edit]
One of the most influential works during this burgeoning period was
Niccolò Machiavelli's
The Prince, written between 1511–12 and published in 1532, after Machiavelli's death. That work, as well as
The Discourses, a rigorous analysis of the
classical period, did much to influence modern political thought in the West. A minority (including
Jean-Jacques Rousseau) interpreted The Prince as a satire meant to be given to the Medici after their recapture of Florence and their subsequent expulsion of Machiavelli from Florence.
[19] Though the work was written for the di Medici family in order to perhaps influence them to free him from exile, Machiavelli supported the
Republic of Florencerather than the
oligarchy of the di
Medici family. At any rate, Machiavelli presents a
pragmatic and somewhat
consequentialist view of politics, whereby good and evil are mere means used to bring about an end—i.e., the secure and powerful state.
Thomas Hobbes, well known for his theory of the
social contract, goes on to expand this view at the start of the 17th century during the
English Renaissance. Although neither Machiavelli nor Hobbes believed in the divine right of kings, they both believed in the inherent selfishness of the individual. It was necessarily this belief that led them to adopt a strong central power as the only means of preventing the disintegration of the social order.
[20]
European Enlightenment[edit]
Eugène Delacroix's
Liberty Leading the People (1830, Louvre), a painting created at a time when old and modern political philosophies came into violent conflict.
These theorists were driven by two basic questions: one, by what right or need do people form states; and two, what the best form for a state could be. These fundamental questions involved a conceptual distinction between the concepts of "state" and "government." It was decided that "state" would refer to a set of enduring institutions through which power would be distributed and its use justified. The term "government" would refer to a specific group of people who occupied the institutions of the state, and create the laws and ordinances by which the people, themselves included, would be bound. This conceptual distinction continues to operate in
political science, although some political scientists, philosophers,
historians and
cultural anthropologists have argued that most political action in any given society occurs outside of its state, and that there are societies that are not organized into states that nevertheless must be considered in political terms. As long as the concept of
natural order was not introduced, the
social sciences could not evolve independently of
theisticthinking. Since the cultural revolution of the 17th century in England, which spread to France and the rest of Europe, society has been considered subject to natural laws akin to the physical world.
[21]
Political and economic relations were drastically influenced by these theories as the concept of the
guild was subordinated to the theory of
free trade, and
Roman Catholic dominance of theology was increasingly challenged by
Protestant churches subordinate to each
nation-state, which also (in a fashion the Roman Catholic Church often decried angrily) preached in the vulgar or native language of each region. However, the enlightenment was an outright attack on religion, particularly Christianity. The most outspoken critic of the church in France was
François Marie Arouet de Voltaire, a representative figure of the enlightenment. After Voltaire, religion would never be the same again in France.
[22]
In the
Ottoman Empire, these ideological reforms did not take place and these views did not integrate into common thought until much later. As well, there was no spread of this doctrine within the
New World and the advanced civilizations of the
Aztec,
Maya,
Inca,
Mohican,
Delaware,
Huron and especially the
Iroquois. The
Iroquois philosophy in particular gave much to Christian thought of the time and in many cases actually inspired some of the institutions adopted in the
United States: for example,
Benjamin Franklin was a great admirer of some of the methods of the
Iroquois Confederacy, and much of early American literature emphasized the political philosophy of the natives.
[23]
John Locke[edit]
John Locke in particular exemplified this new age of political theory with his work
Two Treatises of Government. In it Locke proposes a state of nature theory that directly complements his conception of how political development occurs and how it can be founded through contractual obligation. Locke stood to refute Sir
Robert Filmer's paternally founded political theory in favor of a natural system based on nature in a particular given system. The theory of the
divine right of kings became a passing fancy, exposed to the type of ridicule with which John Locke treated it. Unlike Machiavelli and Hobbes but like Aquinas, Locke would accept Aristotle's dictum that man seeks to be happy in a state of social harmony as a social animal. Unlike Aquinas's preponderant view on the salvation of the soul from
original sin, Locke believes man's mind comes into this world as
tabula rasa. For Locke, knowledge is neither innate, revealed nor based on authority but subject to uncertainty tempered by reason, tolerance and moderation. According to Locke, an absolute ruler as proposed by Hobbes is unnecessary, for natural law is based on reason and seeking peace and survival for man.
Industrialization and the Modern Era[edit]
The
Marxist critique of capitalism — developed with
Friedrich Engels — was, alongside liberalism and fascism, one of the defining ideological movements of the Twentieth Century. The
industrial revolution produced a parallel revolution in political thought.
Urbanizationand
capitalism greatly reshaped society. During this same period, the
socialist movement began to form. In the mid-19th century,
Marxismwas developed, and
socialism in general gained increasing popular support, mostly from the urban working class. Without breaking entirely from the past, Marx established principles that would be used by future revolutionaries of the 20th century namely
Vladimir Lenin,
Mao Zedong,
Ho Chi Minh, and
Fidel Castro. Though Hegel's philosophy of history is similar to
Immanuel Kant's, and Karl Marx's theory of revolution towards the common good is partly based on Kant's view of history—Marx declared that he was turning Hegel's dialectic, which was "standing on its head", "the right side up again".
[24] Unlike Marx who believed in
historical materialism, Hegel believed in the
Phenomenology of Spirit.
[25] By the late 19th century,
socialism and
trade unions were established members of the political landscape. In addition, the various branches of
anarchism, with thinkers such as
Mikhail Bakunin,
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon or
Peter Kropotkin, and
syndicalism also gained some prominence. In the Anglo-American world,
anti-imperialism and
pluralism began gaining currency at the turn of the 20th century.
Contemporary political philosophy[edit]
From the end of
World War II until 1971, when
John Rawls published
A Theory of Justice, political philosophy declined in the Anglo-American academic world, as analytic philosophers expressed skepticism about the possibility that normative judgments had cognitive content, and political science turned toward statistical methods and
behavioralism. In continental Europe, on the other hand, the postwar decades saw a huge blossoming of political philosophy, with
Marxism dominating the field. This was the time of
Jean-Paul Sartre and
Louis Althusser, and the victories of
Mao Zedong in
China and
Fidel Castro in
Cuba, as well as the events of
May 1968 led to increased interest in revolutionary ideology, especially by the
New Left. A number of continental European émigrés to Britain and the United States—including
Hannah Arendt,
Karl Popper,
Friedrich Hayek,
Leo Strauss,
Isaiah Berlin,
Eric Voegelin and
Judith Shklar—encouraged continued study in political philosophy in the Anglo-American world, but in the 1950s and 1960s they and their students remained at odds with the analytic establishment.
Contemporaneously with the rise of analytic ethics in Anglo-American thought, in Europe several new lines of philosophy directed at critique of existing societies arose between the 1950s and 1980s. Most of these took elements of Marxist economic analysis, but combined them with a more cultural or ideological emphasis. Out of the
Frankfurt School, thinkers like
Herbert Marcuse,
Theodor W. Adorno,
Max Horkheimer, and
Jürgen Habermas combined Marxian and Freudian perspectives. Along somewhat different lines, a number of other continental thinkers—still largely influenced by Marxism—put new emphases on
structuralism and on a "return to
Hegel". Within the (post-) structuralist line (though mostly not taking that label) are thinkers such as
Gilles Deleuze,
Michel Foucault,
Claude Lefort, and
Jean Baudrillard. The
Situationists were more influenced by Hegel;
Guy Debord, in particular, moved a Marxist analysis of
commodity fetishismto the realm of consumption, and looked at the relation between consumerism and dominant ideology formation.
Another debate developed around the (distinct) criticisms of liberal political theory made by
Michael Sandel and
Charles Taylor. The
liberal-
communitarian debate is often considered valuable for generating a new set of philosophical problems, rather than a profound and illuminating clash of perspectives.
There is fruitful interaction between political philosophers and
international relations theorists. The rise of globalization has created the need for an international normative framework, and political theory has moved to fill the gap.
One of the most prominent subjects in recent political philosophy has been the theory of deliberative democracy. The seminal work is by Jurgen Habermas in
Germany but the most extensive literature has been in English, led by theorists such as
Jane Mansbridge, Joshua Cohen, Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson.
[30]
Influential political philosophers[edit]
A larger
list of political philosophers is intended to be closer to exhaustive. Listed below are some of the most
canonical or important thinkers, and especially philosophers whose central focus was in political philosophy and/or who are good representatives of a particular school of thought.
- Thomas Aquinas: In synthesizing Christian theology and Peripatetic (Aristotelian) teaching in his Treatise on Law, Aquinas contends that God's gift of higher reason—manifest in human law by way of the divine virtues—gives way to the assembly of righteous government.
- Aristotle: Wrote his Politics as an extension of his Nicomachean Ethics. Notable for the theories that humans are social animals, and that the polis (Ancient Greek city state) existed to bring about the good life appropriate to such animals. His political theory is based upon an ethics of perfectionism (as is Marx's, on some readings).
- Mikhail Bakunin: After Pierre Joseph Proudhon, Bakunin became the most important political philosopher of anarchism. His specific version of anarchism is called collectivist anarchism.
- Jeremy Bentham: The first thinker to analyze social justice in terms of maximization of aggregate individual benefits. Founded the philosophical/ethical school of thought known as utilitarianism.
- Isaiah Berlin: Developed the distinction between positive and negative liberty.
- Edmund Burke: Irish member of the British parliament, Burke is credited with the creation of conservative thought. Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is the most popular of his writings where he denounced the French revolution. Burke was one of the biggest supporters of the American Revolution.
- Confucius: The first thinker to relate ethics to the political order.
- William E. Connolly: Helped introduce postmodern philosophy into political theory, and promoted new theories of pluralism Pluralismand agonistic democracy.
- John Dewey: Co-founder of pragmatism and analyzed the essential role of education in the maintenance of democratic government.
- Han Feizi: The major figure of the Chinese Fajia (Legalist) school, advocated government that adhered to laws and a strict method of administration.
- Michel Foucault: Critiqued the modern conception of power on the basis of the prison complex and other prohibitive institutions, such as those that designate sexuality, madness and knowledge as the roots of their infrastructure, a critique that demonstrated that subjection is the power formation of subjects in any linguistic forum and that revolution cannot just be thought as the reversal of power between classes.
- Antonio Gramsci: Instigated the concept of hegemony. Argued that the state and the ruling class uses culture and ideology to gain the consent of the classes it rules over.
- Thomas Hill Green: Modern liberal thinker and early supporter of positive freedom.
- Jürgen Habermas: Contemporary democratic theorist and sociologist. He has pioneered such concepts as the public sphere,communicative action, and deliberative democracy. His early work was heavily influenced by the Frankfurt School.
- Friedrich Hayek: He argued that central planning was inefficient because members of central bodies could not know enough to match the preferences of consumers and workers with existing conditions. Hayek further argued that central economic planning—a mainstay of socialism—would lead to a "total" state with dangerous power. He advocated free-market capitalism in which the main role of the state is to maintain the rule of law and let spontaneous order develop.
- G. W. F. Hegel: Emphasized the "cunning" of history, arguing that it followed a rational trajectory, even while embodying seemingly irrational forces; influenced Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Oakeshott.
- Thomas Hobbes: Generally considered to have first articulated how the concept of a social contract that justifies the actions of rulers (even where contrary to the individual desires of governed citizens), can be reconciled with a conception of sovereignty.
- David Hume: Hume criticized the social contract theory of John Locke and others as resting on a myth of some actual agreement. Hume was a realist in recognizing the role of force to forge the existence of states and that consent of the governed was merely hypothetical. He also introduced the concept of utility, later picked up on and developed by Jeremy Bentham.
- Thomas Jefferson: Politician and political theorist during the American Enlightenment. Expanded on the philosophy of Thomas Paine by instrumenting republicanism in the United States. Most famous for the United States Declaration of Independence.
- Immanuel Kant: Argued that participation in civil society is undertaken not for self-preservation, as per Thomas Hobbes, but as a moral duty. First modern thinker who fully analyzed structure and meaning of obligation. Argued that an international organization was needed to preserve world peace.
- Peter Kropotkin: One of the classic anarchist thinkers and the most influential theorist of anarcho-communism.
- John Locke: Like Hobbes, described a social contract theory based on citizens' fundamental rights in the state of nature. He departed from Hobbes in that, based on the assumption of a society in which moral values are independent of governmental authority and widely shared, he argued for a government with power limited to the protection of personal property. His arguments may have been deeply influential to the formation of the United States Constitution.
- Niccolò Machiavelli: First systematic analyses of: (1) how consent of a populace is negotiated between and among rulers rather than simply a naturalistic (or theological) given of the structure of society; (2) precursor to the concept of ideology in articulating the epistemological structure of commands and law.
- James Madison: American politician and protege of Jefferson considered to be "Father of the Constitution" and "Father of the Bill of Rights" of the United States. As a political theorist, he believed in separation of powers and proposed a comprehensive set of checks and balances that are necessary to protect the rights of an individual from the tyranny of the majority.
- Herbert Marcuse: Called the father of the new left. One of the principal thinkers within the Frankfurt School, and generally important in efforts to fuse the thought of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. Introduced the concept of "repressive desublimation", in which social control can operate not only by direct control, but also by manipulation of desire. His work Eros and Civilization and notion of a non-repressive society was influential on the 1960s and its counter-cultural social movements.
- Karl Marx: In large part, added the historical dimension to an understanding of society, culture and economics. Created the concept ofideology in the sense of (true or false) beliefs that shape and control social actions. Analyzed the fundamental nature of class as a mechanism of governance and social interaction. Profoundly influenced world politics with his theory of communism.
- Mencius: One of the most important thinkers in the Confucian school, he is the first theorist to make a coherent argument for an obligation of rulers to the ruled.
- John Stuart Mill: A utilitarian, and the person who named the system; he goes further than Bentham by laying the foundation for liberal democratic thought in general and modern, as opposed to classical, liberalism in particular. Articulated the place of individual liberty in an otherwise utilitarian framework.
- Baron de Montesquieu: Analyzed protection of the people by a "balance of powers" in the divisions of a state.
- Mozi (Mo-tze): Eponymous founder of the Mohist school, advocated a form of consequentialism.
- Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher who became a powerful influence on a broad spectrum of 20th-century political currents in Marxism,anarchism, fascism, socialism, libertarianism, and conservatism. His interpreters have debated the content of his political philosophy.
- Robert Nozick: Criticized Rawls, and argued for libertarianism, by appeal to a hypothetical history of the state and of property.
- Thomas Paine: Enlightenment writer who defended liberal democracy, the American Revolution, and French Revolution in Common Sense and The Rights of Man.
- Plato: Wrote a lengthy dialog The Republic in which he laid out his political philosophy: citizens should be divided into three categories. One category of people are the rulers: they should be philosophers, according to Plato, this idea is based on his Theory of Forms.
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: Commonly considered the father of modern anarchism, specifically mutualism.
- John Rawls: Revitalized the study of normative political philosophy in Anglo-American universities with his 1971 book A Theory of Justice, which uses a version of social contract theory to answer fundamental questions about justice and to criticise utilitarianism.
- Murray Rothbard: The central theorist of anarcho-capitalism and an Austrian School economist.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Analyzed the social contract as an expression of the general will, and controversially argued in favor of absolute democracy where the people at large would act as sovereign.
- Ayn Rand: Founder of Objectivism and prime mover of the Objectivist and Libertarian movements in mid-twentieth century America. Advocated a complete, laissez-faire capitalism. Rand held that the proper role of government was exclusively the protection of individual rights without economic interference. The government was to be separated from economics the same way and for the same reasons it was separated from religion. Any governmental action not directed at the defense of individual rights would constitute the initiation of force (or threat of force), and therefore a violation not only of rights but also of the legitimate function of government.
- Carl Schmitt: German political theorist, tied to the Nazis, who developed the concepts of the Friend/Enemy Distinction and the State of exception. Though his most influential books were written in the 1920s, he continued to write prolifically until his death (in academic quasi-exile) in 1985. He heavily influenced 20th century political philosophy both within the Frankfurt School and among others as diverse as Jacques Derrida, Hannah Arendt, and Giorgio Agamben.
- Adam Smith: Often said to have founded modern economics; explained emergence of economic benefits from the self-interested behavior ("the invisible hand") of artisans and traders. While praising its efficiency, Smith also expressed concern about the effects of industrial labor (e.g., repetitive activity) on workers. His work on moral sentiments sought to explain social bonds which enhance economic activity.
- Socrates: Widely considered the founder of Western political philosophy, via his spoken influence on Athenian contemporaries; since Socrates never wrote anything, much of what we know about him and his teachings comes through his most famous student, Plato.
- Baruch Spinoza: Set forth the first analysis of rational egoism, in which the rational interest of self is conformance with pure reason. To Spinoza's thinking, in a society in which each individual is guided of reason, political authority would be superfluous.
- Max Stirner: Important thinker within anarchism and the main representative of the anarchist current known as individualist anarchism
- Leo Strauss: Famously rejected modernity, mostly on the grounds of what he perceived to be modern political philosophy's excessive self-sufficiency of reason and flawed philosophical grounds for moral and political normativity. He argued instead we should return to pre-modern thinkers for answers to contemporary issues. His philosophy was influential on the formation of Neo-Conservativism, and a number of his students later were members of the Bush administration.
- Henry David Thoreau: Influential American thinker on such diverse later political positions and topics such as pacifism, anarchism,environmentalism and civil disobedience who influenced later important political activists such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhiand Leo Tolstoy.
- François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire): French Enlightenment writer, poet, and philosopher famous for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade.
- Bernard Williams: A British moral philosopher whose posthumously published work on political philosophy In the Beginning was the Deed has been seen—along with the works of Raymond Geuss—as a key foundational work on political realism.
