If humans are benevolent by nature, how do societies become corrupt? And how do governments founded upon the defense of individual rights degenerate into tyranny? These are the questions addressed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, a strikingly original inquiry into much-explored issues of 18th-century (and subsequent) philosophy: human nature and the best form of government.

Rousseau takes an innovative approach by introducing a "hypothetical history" that presents a theoretical view of people in a pre-social condition and the ensuing effects of civilization. In his sweeping account of humanity's social and political development, the author develops a theory of human evolution that prefigures Darwinian thought and encompasses aspects of ethics, sociology, and epistemology. He concludes that people are inevitably corrupt as a result of both natural (or physical) inequalities and moral (or political) inequalities.

One of the most influential works of the Enlightenment, the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality offers a thought-provoking account of society's origins and a keen criticism of unequal modern political institutions.

The State and Revolution (1917), by Vladimir Lenin, describes the role of the State in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Lenin's direct and simple definition of the State is that "the State is a special organisation of force: it is an organisation of violence for the suppression of some class." Lenin declared that the task of the Revolution was to smash the State.

This work is considered to be Lenin's most important contribution to political theory and has been called his greatest work on the state.

Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762.

Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or ‘social contract’, that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power.

From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.

What is the relationship of the individual to the state? What is the ideal state, and how can it bring about the most desirable life for its citizens? What sort of education should it provide? What is the purpose of amassing wealth? These are some of the questions Aristotle attempts to answer in one of the most intellectually stimulating works.

Both heavily influenced by and critical of Plato's Republic and Laws, Politics represents the distillation of a lifetime of thought and observation. Encyclopaedic knowledge has never, before or since, gone hand in hand with a logic so masculine or with speculation so profound.

Students, teachers, and scholars will welcome this inexpensive new edition of the Benjamin Jowett translation, as will all readers interested in Greek thought, political theory, and depictions of the ideal state.

Nearly two years before his powerful Communist Manifesto, Marx (1818—1883) co-wrote The German Ideology in 1845 with friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels, expounding a new political worldview, including positions on materialism, labor, production, alienation, the expansion of capitalism, class conflict, revolution, and eventually communism.

They chart the course of "true" socialism based on G. W.F. Hegel's dialectic, while criticizing the ideas of Bruno Bauer, Max Stirner and Ludwig Feuerbach. Marx expanded his criticism of the latter in his now famous Theses on Feuerbach, found after Marx's death and published by Engels in 1888.

Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy, also found among the posthumous papers of Marx, is a fragment of an introduction to his main works. Combining these three works, this volume is essential for an understanding of Marxism.

A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the worldview Marx and Engels developed during their hectic intellectual and political collaboration. Formulating the principles of dialectical materialism, they believed that labor creates wealth, hence capitalism is exploitive and antithetical to freedom.

This new edition includes an extensive introduction by Gareth Stedman Jones, Britain's leading expert on Marx and Marxism, providing a complete course for students of The Communist Manifesto, and demonstrating not only the historical importance of the text, but also its place in the world today.

The Marx-Engels Reader is a comprehensive anthology that brings together the essential writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This revised and enlarged edition provides the works necessary for an introduction to Marxist thought and ideology.

The volume is arranged to show both the chronological and thematic development of these two great thinkers. Selections range from history, society, and economics to politics, philosophy, and the strategy and tactics of social revolution.

Each selection is introduced by Professor Tucker and, where possible, is presented in its entirety. The anthology includes:

• Part I: Writings of the young Marx, works that have aroused much interest and debate.
• Part II: Critical works on capitalism, including substantial portions of Marx's most important work, Capital.
• Part III: Works outlining the program, strategy, and tactics of the revolutionary movement.
• Part IV: Writings critical of 19th-century society and politics, European, Asian, and Russian.
• Part V: Later writings of Engels, where Marxism was popularized and systematized for the masses.

The reader also contains an interpretive general introduction that traces and analyzes the development of Marxist philosophy; a chronology of major events in the lives of Marx and Engels; a bibliographic note; and an index.

God and the State is a profound exploration of the intersection between religion, politics, and philosophy by the charismatic and dynamic thinker, Mikhail Bakunin. Known for his violent, ebullient, and energetic personality, Bakunin was a central figure in the formation of 19th and early 20th-century anarchism.

Although God and the State was never completed, it remains a significant work in the anarchist canon, offering a clear statement of the anarchist philosophy of history. According to Bakunin, religion inherently leads to the impoverishment, enslavement, and annihilation of humanity.

This book is not just a critique but a call to question the structures of power and belief that shape society, making it a timeless piece in radical and revolutionary thought.