Politics and human nature / edited by Ian Forbes and Steve Smith.

Originally published in 1993 by Pinter Publishers.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed August 31, 2016).

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Political theory and human nature; Notes; 2 Marx and human nature; Human nature and political theory; Perspectives on Marx; A Marxian theory of human nature; Human nature in capitalism; Conclusion; Notes; 3 Mill and human nature; Self-culture, Free Will and Liberty; Laws of the mind and the science of ethology; Instincts; Conclusion; Notes; 4 Conservatism and human nature; The universality of human nature; The family and acculturation; Conservatism and continuity; Conclusion; Notes

5 Utopianism and human natureOwen and the malleability thesis; Godwin and the science of mind; Skinner and behavioural engineering; Conclusions; Notes; 6 Critical Theory and human nature; Horkheimer and the material world; Adorno and the individual; Marcuse and liberation; Conclusion; Notes; 7 Psychoanalysis and human nature; Some comments on psychoanalytic thought; The status of psychoanalysis; Psychoanalysis and political attitudes; Improvability and the unconscious; Notes; 8 Feminism and human nature; The fallacy of 'naturalism'; Differences within feminist thought; Social explanations

ConclusionNotes; 9 Work and human nature; The importance of work; The meaning of work; The value of work; The instrumental view of work; Marx: from the instrumental to the expressive view of work; The expressive view of work; Notes; 10 Bureaucracy and human nature; Max Weber: bureaucracy, rationality and human nature; Woodrow Wilson and the nature of executive power; Perspectives on civil service reform in the United States; The Massachusetts Civil Service Reform Act; Conclusion; Notes; 11 War and human nature; Realism, individuals and war; The state and war; The international system and war

ConclusionNotes; 12 Conclusion; List of contributors; Index

"Human nature is political, and this volume explains why and how. It is of interest to students of political thought and behaviour, as well as those studying the history of ideas and political philosophy. The subjects discussed in this book include the conceptions of human nature at the heart of political argument and theory; the identification of major theories of human nature and the functions they perform in epistemological and explanatory terms; the examination of key individual thinkers and major intellectual traditions, probing the origins and impact of each view of human nature and assessing their theoretical and practical strengths; as well as a practical orientation, focusing on specific areas of politics, to highlight the role played by often competing theories of human nature and so contrast their accuracy and efficacy. The conclusion brings into close contrast the separate theories of human nature as it applies to politics, throwing into sharp relief the major problems found in its varied form and usage, and pinpoints the prerequisites for the sound but fruitful study of politics and human nature."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

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