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R. V. Young 
2
introductory note
1
Political Philosophy 
is found in great books—thoseby Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others of the high-est rank—and in books by professors. You should spendmuch more time with the great authors than with the pro-fessors, and you should use the professors to help you un-derstand the great authors; you should not allow yourself to be diverted or distracted from the great books by theprofessors. Why not go for the gold? Why be content withthe dross? I am a professor; so take it from me that I amonly a subordinate guide, one with the office of introduc-ing you to the true guides.Political philosophy can also be found outside thebooks—in actual politics—but here we see it only in its firststrivings, before it appears under its own name. Citizens andpoliticians do not claim to be philosophers, whom they rather look down on as ingenious but inept. But politics andpolitical philosophy have one thing in common, and that is
 
 A Student’s Guide to Political Philosophy 
3
argument 
. If you listen to the talk shows, you will hear yourfellow citizens arguing passionately pro and con with advo-cacy and denigration, accusation and defense. Politics meanstaking sides; it is
 partisan
. Not only are there sides—typically liberal and conservative in our day—but also they argue againsteach other, so that it is liberals
versus 
conservatives.
partisan differences
1
Each side
defends its own interests, those of schoolteach-ers versus those of stockbrokers, for example, but they alsoappeal to something they have in common: the commongood. Defending their interests, each says, contributes tothe common good. At the same time, the parties appeal tosomeone in common, a common judge who would decidethe issues between them. Normally this judge is merely theperson they are trying to persuade or impress, but he couldbe a person competent to judge. Arguments, good or bad,are made with reasons and so are aimed implicitly, if notusually, at a reasonable judge. Here is where political phi-losophy enters. Most people reason badly, but they do rea-son—and political philosophy starts from that fact. In America today, liberals argue that wealth is unjustly distrib-
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