Who ought to govern? Why should I obey the law? How should conflict be controlled? What is the proper education for a citizen and a statesman? These questions probe some of the deepest and most enduring problems that every society confronts, regardless of time and place. Today we ask the same crucial questions about law, authority, justice, and freedom that Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Tocqueville faced in previous centuries.

In this lively and enlightening book, Professor Steven B. Smith introduces the wide terrain of political philosophy through the classic texts of the discipline. Works by the greatest thinkers illuminate the permanent problems of political life, Smith shows, and while we may not accept all their conclusions, it would be a mistake to overlook the relevance of their insights.

史蒂芬•B•斯密什（Steven B. Smith），美国耶鲁大学政治科学阿尔弗雷德•科尔斯（Alfred Cowles）教授及布兰福特学院前院长。他于1981年获得芝加哥大学博士学位，服务于耶鲁期间，曾任政治科学研究所主任、人文课程大学部主任及犹太研究代理主席。他的研究重点是古今之争、宗教与政治、代议制政府理论等政治哲学史专题。曾出版《斯宾诺沙、自由主义及犹太人身份》（Spinoza, Liberalism, and Jewish Identity，1997)、《斯宾诺沙的生命之书》（Spinoza’s Book of Life，2003)、《阅读列奥‧史特劳斯》（Reading Leo Strauss，2006)及《剑桥列奥•施特劳斯指南》（The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss，2009)等专著。他曾经获得包括爱默生奖在内的多项学术奖项，2009年荣获莱克斯•希克森（Lex Hixon）社会科学领域杰出教师奖。

贺晴川，中国人民大学外国哲学专业硕士。