Twentieth Century German Political Thought

Germany, as Europe's most powerful state, has a political significance which underlines the importance of twentieth-century German political thought. Yet this tradition has been poorly represented in academic literature. This book offers: an account of German political thought emphasising its diversity and contested nature an overview of the subject that allows access to relatively unknown figures as well as the 'names' of the tradition (Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, Habermas) a demonstration of the political significance of figures better known in other disciplines including law and sociology The book is organised chronologically, with a series of recurrent themes providing analytic unity: (i) the nature of politics (including political vocation and leadership, and definitions of politics), (ii) collective identity, (iii) the rule of law, (iv) the role of the state, (v) the role of political parties and the nature of parliamentary democracy, (vi) state intervention in society and the economy, and (vii) the international order. Pedagogical features include a glossary of German terms and a substantial set of biographical notes identifying the major theorists referred to in the text. Key Features: Challenges established perceptions by presenting German political thought as a contested tradition Presents a rich picture of German political thought by covering a wide range of theorists Its broad chronological range provides the first overview of 20th-century German political thought in one volume

Germany, as Europe's most powerful state, has a political significance which underlines the importance of twentieth-century German political thought. Yet this tradition has been poorly represented in academic literature. This book offers: * an account of German political thought emphasising its diversity and contested nature * an overview of the subject that allows access to relatively unknown figures as well as the 'names' of the tradition (Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, Habermas) * a demonstration of the political significance of figures better known in other disciplines including law and sociology The book is organised chronologically, with a series of recurrent themes providing analytic unity: (i) the nature of politics (including political vocation and leadership, and definitions of politics), (ii) collective identity, (iii) the rule of law, (iv) the role of the state, (v) the role of political parties and the nature of parliamentary democracy, (vi) state intervention in society and the economy, and (vii) the international order. Pedagogical features include a glossary of German terms and a substantial set of biographical notes identifying the major theorists referred to in the text.

The course of German philosophy in the twentieth century is one of the most exciting, diverse and controversial periods in the history of human thought. It is widely studied and its legacy hotly contested. In this outstanding introduction, Julian Young explains and assesses the two dominant traditions in modern German philosophy – critical theory and phenomenology – by examining the following key thinkers and topics: Max Weber’s setting the agenda for modern German philosophy: the ‘rationalization’ and ‘disenchantment’ of modernity resulting in ‘loss of freedom’ and ‘loss of meaning’ Horkheimer and Adorno: rationalization and the ‘culture industry’ Habermas’ defence of Enlightenment rationalization, the ‘unfinished project of modernity’ Marcuse: a Freud-based vision of a repression-free utopia Husserl: overcoming the ‘crisis of humanity’ through phenomenology Early Heidegger’s existential phenomenology: ‘authenticity’ as loyalty to ‘heritage’ Gadamer and ‘fusion of horizons’ Arendt: the human condition Later Heidegger: the re-enchantment of reality. German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Weber to Heidegger is essential reading for students of German philosophy, phenomenology and critical theory, and will also be of interest to students in related fields such as literature, religious studies, and political theory.

In this distinguished work Arnold Brecht, who served under more than a dozen German Chancellors and whose work in defense of democracy received recognition by the Adenauer government in 1953, surveys the philosophical and scientific foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. His wide-ranging treatise sweeps over the entire scope of this century's contributions, including the philosophical, juridical, scientific, sociological, methodological, and historical. The book is a pioneering effort toward an integrated presentation, a first attempt to offer a comprehensive modern political theory. The aim is both a systematic presentation and a full description of the recent genesis of thought. The pertinent teachings of representative writers-some from the past (from Hume and Kant to Darwin, Mill, and Marx) and most of the present century (from Peirce, James, Simmel, and Weber to Husserl, Dewey, Lasswell, Northrop, and Fuller) are analyzed. Dr. Brecht incorporates, chapter by chapter, his own contributions. Social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, and students of religion will find it a challenging guide, written with penetrating clarity and rich in fruitful suggestions. Originally published in 1959. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book demonstrates the rich diversity and depth of political philosophy in the twentieth century. Catherine H. Zuckert has compiled a collection of essays recounting the lives of political theorists, connecting each biography with the theorist's life work and explaining the significance of the contribution to modern political thought. The essays are organized to highlight the major political alternatives and approaches. Beginning with essays on John Dewey, Carl Schmitt and Antonio Gramsci, representing the three main political alternatives - liberal, fascist and communist - at mid-century, the book proceeds to consider the lives and works of émigrés such as Hannah Arendt, Eric Voegelin, and Leo Strauss, who brought a continental perspective to the United States after World War II. The second half of the collection contains essays on recent defenders of liberalism, such as Friedrich Hayek, Isaiah Berlin and John Rawls and liberalism's many critics, including Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas and Alasdair MacIntyre.

The course of German philosophy in the twentieth century is one of the most exciting and controversial in the history of human thought. In this outstanding and engaging introduction, a companion volume to his German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Weber to Heidegger, Julian Young examines and assesses the way in which some of the major German thinkers of the period reacted, often in starkly contrasting ways, to the challenges posed by the nature of modernity, the failure of liberalism and the concept of decline. Divided into two parts exploring major intellectual figures of the left and right respectively, Young introduces and assesses the thought of the following figures: Georg Lukács: the critique of capitalism: alienation, reification, and false consciousness Ernst Bloch: the Marxist utopia Walter Benjamin: the confluence of phenomenology and left-wing thought: the Arcades Project, aura, and the technological reproduction of the artwork Oswald Spengler: the pessimistic right and the concept of Western decline Max Scheler: Catholic conservatism and the ‘objective hierarchy of values’ Carl Schmitt: the failure of liberalism, dictatorship, ‘friends’ versus ‘enemies’ Leo Strauss: the rejection of moral relativism and the return to classical philosophy. Highly relevant when the viability of liberal democracy is again called into question, German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Lukacs to Strauss is essential reading for students of German philosophy, phenomenology and critical theory, and will also be of interest to students in related fields such as literature, religious studies, and political theory.