Selected Titles on
Law and Political Theory
Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice
“Nussbaum stimulates readers with challenging insights on the role of emotion in political life. Her provocative theory of social change shows how a truly just society might be realized through the cultivation and studied liberation of emotions, specifically love. To that end, the book sparkles with Nussbaum’s characteristic literary analysis, drawing from both Western and South Asian sources, including a deep reading of public monuments. In one especially notable passage, Nussbaum artfully interprets Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, revealing it as a musical meditation on the emotionality of revolutionary politics and feminism. Such chapters are a culmination of her passion for seeing art and literature as philosophical texts, a theme in her writing that she profitably continues here. The elegance with which she negotiates this diverse material deserves special praise, as she expertly takes the reader through analyses of philosophy, opera, primatology, psychology, and poetry. In contrast to thinkers like John Rawls, who imagined an already just world, Nussbaum addresses how to order our society to reach such a world. A plea for recognizing the power of art, symbolism, and enchantment in public life, Nussbaum’s cornucopia of ideas effortlessly commands attention and debate.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Metamorphoses of the City: On the Western Dynamic
“The culmination of thirty years of reflection on modern politics, Metamorphoses of the City is Pierre Manent’s Summa. By tracing the transformation of Western political form from the Greek city-state to the nation state, then to our increasingly post-national world, he raises profound questions about the future of self-government. A beautifully conceived and deeply unsettling book.”—Mark Lilla, Columbia University
The Society of Equals
“In a rich and illuminating work of political theory and historical interpretation, Pierre Rosanvallon traces the rise and fall of the ideal of equality, from the American and French Revolutions to the present. And he argues for reviving equality as a moral and political project. The ‘society of equals’ he favors is less about redistribution than about recovering commonality as the basis of social relations. At a time when the welfare state has lost its capacity to inspire, Rosanvallon, one of Europe’s most distinguished political theorists, offers a way of recasting the case for a more equal society.”—Michael J. Sandel, author of What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism: Lincoln, Douglas, and Moral Conflict
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, 2013
“John Burt has written a work that every serious student of Lincoln will have to read… Burt refracts Lincoln through the philosophy of Kant, Rawls and contemporary liberal political theory. His is very much a Lincoln for our time.”—Steven B. Smith, The New York Times Book Review
The Gandhian Moment
2011 Josep Palau i Fabre International Essay Prize, Unpublished Work Category, Palau Foundation
“Jahanbegloo’s rediscovery of Gandhi makes a compelling case for the power of love to transform collective action against injustice and oppression. An eloquent and highly original contribution to Gandhi’s political philosophy that is becoming increasingly relevant in struggles against autocratic regimes around the world. A required reading for thinkers and activists alike.”—Sudhir Kakar
The Harm in Hate Speech
“[Waldron’s] book sheds light on a number of difficult issues, and occasionally exposes the difference between historical fact and fiction… He elegantly and convincingly advocates that our leaders should not only avoid the use of hate speech themselves, but also condemn its use by others… We should all do our best to preserve President Ford’s conception of America as a place where we can disagree without being disagreeable. An understanding of the arguments in Waldron’s book may help us to do so.—John Paul Stevens, The New York Review of Books
Justice for Hedgehogs
Honorable Mention, 2011 Association of American Publishers PROSE Award, Law & Legal Studies Category
“In a sustained, profound, and richly textured argument that will, from now on, be essential to all debate on the matter, Ronald Dworkin makes the case for…the unity of value… We are in at the birth, here, of a modern philosophical classic, one of the essential works of contemporary thought. It is bound to be a major debate-changer, because even the many who will find much to disagree with—Dworkin, after all, disagrees with them in advance, and robustly—will not be able to ignore the challenges he poses. And out of the heat to come, much light will shine.”
—A.C. Grayling, The New York Review of Books
Dignity: Its History and Meaning
“Dignity deserves to be widely read, not only for its intrinsic interest, but also as a corrective to the habit of discussing such topics in abstraction from their social context. Whether or not one agrees with Rosen’s arguments, there can be no doubt he has widened our horizons.”—Rae Langton, The Times Literary Supplement
The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2011
“The triumph of The Last Utopia is that it restores historical nuance, skepticism and context to a concept that, in the past 30 years, has played a large role in world affairs.”—Brendan Simms, The Wall Street Journal
The Idea of Justice
An Economist Best Book of 2009 • A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2009 • A New Statesman Top Ten Book of the Decade
“[A] majestic book… Reading The Idea of Justice is like attending a master class in practical reasoning. You can’t help noticing you are engaging with a great, deeply pluralistic, mind… This is a monumental work.”—Ziauddin Sardar, The Independent
