Philosopher, alchemist, and privateer, Kenelm Digby (1603-1665) cut a striking figure across Europe in the middle of the 17th century. Digby corresponded with Galileo, Descartes, Gassendi, Gilbert and Harvey, and was one of the founding members of the Royal Society. In 1644 he published his major philosophical work, Two Treatises: Of Bodies and of Man's Soul - the first comprehensive philosophical work in the English language. In the Two Treatises Digby discussed at length a vast array of philosophical ideas: elements, matter, mechanism, motion, force and causation, as well as sensation, perception, memory, imagination, intellect, reason, and immortality. MacDonald's edition is the first scholarly edition of this great work since it went out of print in 1669: it offers a normalized text, copious annotations, and a lengthy introduction which situates Digby's ideas in the currents of 17th century philosophical thought.

John Locke’s 1689 Two Treatises of Government is a key text in the history of political theory – one whose influence remains marked on modern politics, the American Constitution and beyond. Two Treatises is more than a seminal work on the nature and legitimacy of government. It is also a masterclass in two key critical thinking skills: evaluation and reasoning. Evaluation is all about judging and assessing arguments – asking how relevant, adequate and convincing they are. And, at its heart, the first of Locke’s two treatises is pure evaluation: a long and incisive dissection of a treatise on the arguments in Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha. Filmer’s book had defended the doctrine that kings were absolute rulers whose legitimacy came directly from God (the so-called “divine right of kings”), basing his arguments on Biblical explanations and evidence. Locke carefully rebutted Filmer’s arguments, on their own terms, by reference to both the Bible and to recorded history. Finding Filmer’s evidence either to be insufficient or unacceptable, Locke concluded that his argument for patriarchy was weak to the point of invalidity. In the second of Locke’s treatises, the author goes on to construct his own argument concerning the sources of legitimate power, and the nature of that power. Carefully building his own argument from a logical consideration of man in “the state of nature”, Locke creates a convincing argument that civilised society should be based on natural human rights and the social contract.

John Yolton seeks to allow readers of Locke to have accessible in one volume sections from a wide range of Locke's books, structured so that some of the interconnections of his thought can be seen and traced. Although Locke did not write from a system of philosophy, he did have in mind an overall division of human knowledge. The readings begin with Locke's essay on Hermeneutics and the portions of his Essay Concerning Human Understanding on how to read a text. The reset of the selections are organized around Locke's division of human knowledge into natural science, ethics, and the theory of signs. Yolton's introduction and commentary explicate Locke's doctrines and provide the reader with the general background knowledge of other seventeenth-century writers and their works necessary to an understanding of Locke and his time.

Classical Debates for the 21st Century distinctively reconsiders the canon of political thought, in the context of current world events, by presenting debates between the ideas of classical theorists. It is through these debates that Thomas O. Hueglin argues that exclusive state sovereignty, individual citizenship, and majority rule have become questionable categories of political theory and practice in a globalizing world. To a large extent, the classical canon of political thought has been constructed in order to give legitimacy to these categories, but it is time to rethink the validity of that canon, and to search for alternative voices and traditions that emphasize plurality, shared sovereignty, and complex patterns of representation and decision-making. This does not mean that the familiar names in the classical canon have to disappear. But they should be examined more critically for their continued importance, and additional theorists thus far neglected should complement them. Each chapteris organized as a debate between two theorists with contrasting views and approaches. At the end of each chapter, there is a critical evaluation of these political theorists’ continued or renewed relevance.

In this work, Ruth W. Grant presents a new approach to John Locke's familiar works. Taking the unusual step of relating Locke's Two Treatises to his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Grant establishes the unity and coherence of Locke's political arguments. She analyzes the Two Treatises as a systematic demonstration of liberal principles of right and power and grounds it in the epistemology set forth in the Essay.