Man and Society, Political and Social Theory: Bentham through Marx

496 Pages·1963·10.144 MB·English

by  John Plamenatz

Man and Society
VOLUME TWO

MAN AND SOCIETY
Political and Social Theory:
Bentham through Marx
VOLUME TWO
JOHN PLAMENATZ
Fellow of Nuffield College
Oxford
McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC.
New York San Francisco
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 63-11940
50263
© 1963 by John Plamenatz
All Rights Reserved
Printed in Great Britain by
Northumberland Press Limited
Gateshead
To My Father
PREFACE
This book is not a history of political thought; it is, as its title implies,
a critical examination of a number of important theories. It is not
concerned to argue for some interpretations of these theories against
others but to examine assumptions, ideas and attitudes.
The book is an expansion of lectures given at various times at three
universities, Columbia, Harvard and Oxford. It is hoped that it will
prove useful to students of social and political theory whose interest in
the subject is more philosophical than historical; and the author has
had in mind students in the United States as much as in Britain. He
has aimed at lucidity but is aware that some parts of the book make
difficult reading.
The most difficult part of all, which treats of Hegel, has been read by
Professor H. L. A. Hart and Sir Isaiah Berlin, by Professor Herbert
Deane of Columbia University, and by Mr William Weinstein and Mr
John Torrance of Nuffield College, and the author is grateful to them
for valuable comments and criticisms. He thanks Mr. Alan Ryan of
Balliol College for making the index. He also thanks his wife for read­
ing the book in manuscript and suggesting improvements of grammar
and style.
July ig6r
JP-
CONTENTS
CHAP. PACE
Preface vi
Introduction ix
1. BENTHAM AND HIS SCHOOL I
2. THE EARLY SOCIALISTS, FRENCH AND
ENGLISH 37
3. THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PH ILOSOPH Y OF
HEGEL I I29
4. THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PH ILOSOPH Y OF
HEGEL II 2l6
5. M ARXISM I 269
6. M ARX ISM II 351
7. THE BELIEF IN PROGRESS 409
Index 459