The second edition of this intellectually and practically engaging book, includes a valuable new section on justice and updated material throughout. While integrating the insights of ancient, modern and postmodern political thought, Thiele offers a thorough exploration of the art and craft of political theory.

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Introduction

1. Theory and Vision
Setting Our Sights
Parsimony, Accuracy and Significance
Scientific Theory
The Interpretive Nature of Political Theory
Hermeneutics and Intersubjectivity
Conceptual and Historical Analysis

2. The Question of Human Nature
The Political Significance of Human Nature
The Genetic Leash
Genes and Mores
Biological and Cultural Reproduction

3. Politics, Power, and the Public Good
Power and Force
The Nature of Political Power
The Public Realm and the Private Realm

4. Modernity and Postmodernity
Individualist Theories of Politics
Structuralist Theories of Politics
Poststructural and Postmodern Theories of Politics
Identity and the Exercise of Power
Social Power and Individual Freedom
Theorizing at the Edge of Modernity

5. Identity and Difference
Race, Religion, and Otherness
Gender and Identity
The Politics of Class

6. Statecraft and Soulcraft
Politics and Philosophy in Ancient Greece
The Life of Liberty
The Life of Reason
The Balance of Justice

7. Ideology and Irony
The Nature of Ideology
The Nature of Irony
Between Ideology and Irony
The Power of Words

Conclusion
Notes
Index
About the Author