Political Theory

Political philosophy, or political theory, 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.

This is a list of political philosophers, including some who may be better known for their work in other areas of philosophy. Note, however, that the list is for people who are principally philosophers. The philosophers are listed in order by year of birth to show rough direction of influences and of development of political thought. See also, Political philosophy.

A Guide to Plato's Political Theory, including The Republic, the theory of Forms or Ideas and The Cave analogy. Also, a bibliography and biography.

This list examines the influence, depth of insight and wide-reaching interest across many subjects of various "lovers of wisdom," and ranks them accordingly. It should be noted, first and foremost, that philosophy in its traditional sense was science - philosophers (like Aristotle) used rationality to come to scientific knowledge of the world around us.

The Association for Political Theory (APT) was founded in 2000 to promote the study of political theory and political philosophy in North America. Specifically, the Association seeks to:

This article is concerned with social and political equality. In its prescriptive usage, equality' is a loaded and highly contested' concept.

In the history of politics, there is only one fundamental, abiding issue: It is individualism vs. collectivism. Do individuals have the right to pursue their own happiness, as Thomas Jefferson thought and as the Declaration of Independence deemed self-evident? Or do we have an obligation to live our lives for the community or the state, as most societies have claimed throughout most of history?

Political philosophy begins with the question: what ought to be a person's relationship to society? The subject seeks the application of ethical concepts to the social sphere and thus deals with the variety of forms of government and social existence that people could live in - and in so doing, it also provides a standard by which to analyze and judge existing institutions and relationships.

Political theory is the categorization of social thought by a group or by the persuasion or beliefs of a geo-political mass. Many political theories are founded as critiques toward existing political, economic and social conditions of the theorist's time. Political theory can also be considered as a critical tradition of discourse that provides a reflection on collective life, the uses of collective power, and resources within a collectivity.

John Locke (1632-1704) is among the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Two Treatises of Government, he defended the claim that men are by nature free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch.

An annotated guide to the major political thinkers from Plato to John Stuart Mill with a brief description of why their work is important and links to the recommended texts, and other readings.