Oct 042011
On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present
Three decades in the making, one of the most ambitious and comprehensive histories of political philosophy in nearly a century.Both a history and an examination of human thought and behavior spanning three thousand years, On Politics thrillingly traces the origins of political philosophy from the ancient Greeks to Machiavelli in Book I and from Hobbes to the present age in Book II. Whether examining Lord Acton’s dictum that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” or explicating John Stuart Mi
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Brilliant Magnum Opus,
One could possibly (and simply) view this as a two volume set of text and notes which accompany a two semester graduate course on “Political Thought: Theory and History” at a prestigious Ivy League university. Alternatively you could view it more accurately as a “magnum opus.” It is clearly that and it is even more. The work is a compelling, readable, insightful, fascinating compendium of the thoughts and insights of one of western civilization’s great scholars, Professor Alan Ryan of Princeton, on the subject of the history of political ideas.
At the beginning, Professor Ryan poses a simple question, “How do we get along?” This is a disarmingly easy question to pose. Yet as he will clearly demonstrate, the answer is not so easy to find or understand. In approximately 1,100 pages of fascinating narrative he presents a sweeping history of western political thought for our 2,500 years of recorded history. Chocked full of ideas and their historical context and implications, it deserves to be on the book shelf of every historian, philosopher, political scientist, lawyer, and even more common men (like me) who enjoy intellectual stimulation and its gravitas. Although it is a handsomely bound set, it should never be considered as just a bookshelf ornament. Rather look it as a ready reference produced by a friend who wishes to help you mine the thoughts of the greatest minds of western civilization, including I might add, those ideas of Professor Alan Ryan. (Although his personal insights and thoughts are sprinkled throughout the two volumes, he does provide his viewpoint directly on contemporary times in the last thirty-five pages of volume 2. The latter is not to be missed, nor for that matter are his observations in the prefaces to both volumes and parts.)
“This is a long book,” says the author. Indeed, it is, but under a lesser mortal it could easily have been a much longer multivolume encyclopedia. It is not so because succinctness and concentration are two of Ryan’s great skills. They compliment his lucidity and compositional skills nicely. But I do not want to mislead you; this is not a rapid read. The serious reader cannot skim this work. You need to spend time within the pages and think about what Ryan has distilled and just as importantly what he has observed.
Volume One covers the periods from 800 BC to roughly 1600. It includes high level summaries of the views of the familiar: Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Saint Aquinas, Erasmus, Thomas More, Luther and Calvin through Machiavelli. If you have read the original works of these giants of history you will be in familiar territory. It not, you may find some of what Ryan covers to be hard going. This is because the author extracts the key thoughts essential to his topic (which is political thought), leaving the larger work untouched. Although he provides the historical context in which they were written, these historical reviews are surveys at best. This is true for Volume Two as well.
Volume Two, starting off with page 411 and ending on page 1011, represents the preponderance of the two volume set and, for obvious reason, the preponderance of the Western Man’s considerations on political thought. Hobbes and Locke start you off, followed by Rousseau and detours to the American and French Revolutions. Included are the key political thought contributors: Jefferson, Madison, Burke, Maistre and Saint-Simon. Hegel and “the modern state” are followed by a summation of Utilitarianism (Jeremy Bentham, James and John Stuart Mill). The observations of Tocqueville, followed by those of Marx lead you into more contemporary times. Include are discussions about empires, imperialism, nationalism, socialism, fascism, dictatorships and other forms of totalitarianism. Observations about modern day democracy are followed by those on modern day religion, secularism, liberalism, fundamentalism, globalism and environmentalism.
Try as I may, this two volume set resisted my attempts at a summary. It is way too deep, broad and thoughtful. Said simply, if the history of political ideas interests you at all, this is a “must” buy. You will not be disappointed.
(PS I bought the Kindle version of this as well, but returned it. The work is best addressed in paper: to be more readily caressed by the hand and thereby more readily absorbed by the mind.)
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|Provides excellent context for current political environment,
I have a technical background, but have an interest in history. I found this book much more interesting and understandable than I expected. The book presents the thoughts and arguments of the best Western thinkers of the past 2,500 years. The author first sets each thinker in their historical context, then goes into their major thoughts and conclusions. What made this book rewarding for me is the realization that all modern political questions and arguments have been well thought out with great subtlety over the ages. The consensus agreements have changed greatly, but the questions are not new.
This book has greatly changed my perspective on “current events” in world politics. There are no simple answers in the book, but now I have a fantastic context in which to think about the day to day world politics.
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|Superb, engaging, beautifully written,
This is a superb book, engaging and beautifully written. A delight. Few philosophers have the breadth and depth of understanding to make sense of the long history of political philosophy. Alan Ryan is exceptional in combining authority, a light touch, and a contagious enthusiasm for his subject. Highly recommended.
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