Date of Award

1971

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Political Science

Supervisor

John Melling

Language

English

Abstract

In the course of the last fifteen years political philosophy has undergone momentous changes, induced from without as well as from within. While the behaviourists have been questioning the normative theorists, these theorists themselves have been reassessing their skills and objectives. As a result, from what had been feared to be a situation of irreversible decline there has emerged a new literature, still dynamic, though now more circumspect. Political philosophy has become more careful about its claims and more firmly grounded in the findings of all the empirical social sciences.

I hope that this study is in harmony with the mood and demands of the 'new' political philosophy. I must acknowledge a heavy reliance on the work of C. B. Macpherson and Michael Oakeshott, and on the series edited by P.Laslett and W. G. Runciman, for inspiration, material and methodology.

McMaster University Library



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