Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. For the sake of the city; 2. Two cities and two loves; 3. Renaissance dilemmas; 4. Hobbes's choice; 5. Dirty hands commercialised; 6. How dirty hands become invisible: Adam Smith's solution; Conclusion.

Promotional Information

How do the facts of political responsibility shape and constrain the demands of ethical life?

About the Author

John M. Parrish is Assistant Professor, Department Political Science, Loyola Marymount University.

Reviews

Review of the hardback: 'Good books on the history of political thought achieve two things. They enhance our understanding of how certain political concepts developed through a historical period and they uncover lessons in the histories of the concepts they study for how we understand politics today. Professor John M. Parrish's book, while devoting most of its attention to the former task, also offers a good deal of the latter.' Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

'An unusual and highly erudite book about the history of getting one's hands dirty in public life.… The author urges us to call into question the variety of more excuses offered for public conduct and to compel our representatives to answer themselves - a bold and surely justified demand.' Network Review