Political Theory and the Human Predicament: An Introduction to Major Political Thinkers presents the work of important political theorists from Plato to Marx. The primary source material introduces students to the political and ethical questions theorists have tried to answer and shows how these questions have evolved over time.

Political thinkers are covered chronologically and the selected readings from their works are organized to allow readers to easily locate key passages for study and discussion. Each chapter opens with an informative introductory essay that acquaints readers with the theorist's life and times and their approach to the study of politics and the human condition. The book encourages careful and critical reading of the most significant and often controversial ideas-regarding justice, legitimate authority, law, rights, freedom, and the good life-examined in the works of classical and modern political theory.

The third edition features expanded selections from many of the third-party readings; these additions provide a wealth of new information and allow for deeper student understanding. Expanded readings include Plato's Republic, Machiavelli's The Prince, John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, and new excerpts in Chapter 4: Thomas Aquinas and Augustine. The text also includes a new reading, selections from The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle.

Political Theory and the Human Predicament is written for introductory political theory courses, political ethics courses, and more specialized courses in ancient and modern political thought.