In recent years, an increasing number of thinkers have grown suspicious of the Enlightenment ideals of progress, reason, and freedom. These critics, many inspired by Martin Heidegger, have attacked modern philosophy's attempt to ground a vision of the world upon the liberty of the human subject. Pointing to the rise of totalitarian regimes in this century, they argue that the Enlightenment has promoted the enslavement of human beings rather than their freedom. In this first of four volumes that aim to revitalize the fundamental values of modern political thought, one of the leading figures in the contemporary revival of liberalism in France responds to these critics and offers a philosophically cogent defense of a humanistic modernity. Luc Ferry reexamines the philosopical basis of the contemporary retreat from the Enlightenment and then suggests his own alternative, which defends the ideals of modernity while giving due consideration to the objections of the critics.

This is the inaugural volume of Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy. Since its revival in the 1970s political philosophy has been a vibrant field in philosophy, one that intersects with jurisprudence, normative economics, political theory in political science departments, and just war theory. OSPP aims to publish some of the best contemporary work in political philosophy and these closely related subfields. This first volume features eleven papers and an introduction. The papers address a range of central topics and represent cutting edge work in the field. They are grouped into four main themes: democracy, political liberalism and public reason, rights and duties, and method.

This journal has been discontinued. Any issues are available to purchase separately.

Details the current state of scholarly debate on crucial elements of Hobbesian political philosophy and presents innovative and original arguments.

Comprising essays by eleven up-and-coming scholars from across the globe, this collection of essays provides an unparalleled snapshot of new work in political philosophy using such diverse methodologies as critical theory and social choice theory, historical analysis and conceptual analysis.

Naturalism and Democracy, first published in German in 2014, presents a long-awaited commentary on Spinoza’s Political Treatise (Tractatus politicus). It gives a detailed analysis of Spinoza’s latest theory of State and Law, with special attention to his democratic approach.

Global justice and international affairs is perhaps the hottest topic in political philosophy today. This book brings together some of the most important essays in this area. Topics include sovereignty and self-determination, cosmopolitanism and nationalism, global poverty and international distributive justice, and war and terrorism.

Political philosophy asks questions of great importance to our lives, both as individuals and members of political communities: What is justice? What does the state owe to its citizens? Under which conditions are different forms of government likely to be stable? The relevance of empirical research to such questions, however, has been largely underexplored. Introducing experimental political philosophy as a burgeoning field of inquiry, this volume brings together leading scholars using empirical methods to shed light on questions of justice and politics, and encourages them to reflect on the relationship of their methodologies to less empirically-focused approaches. Chapters cover traditional topics including distributive justice, egalitarianism, property rights, and healthcare justice, as well as outlining new directions and applications, such as the problem of misogynistic extremist movements, the public justification of immigration enforcement, and the relationship between gender norms and support for care labor organizing. The result is a unique collection that paves the way for further debates in the field and meaningful reflection on what it means for political philosophy to be empirically informed.

This is the first book to deal with the Jewish thought of Leo Strauss. Known primarily as one of the leading contemporary political thinkers, this book reveals another side of Leo Strauss—as one of the most important Jewish thinkers of the present century. The author presents the Jewish thought of Leo Strauss as powerful, original, and provocative, but also as essential for grasping the true character of Strauss's thought. His Jewish thought may prove to be the key to the proper understanding of his philosophic thought as a whole.