This is an excellent addition to the Series. . . All the essays are scholarly analyses based on a close reading of the stories, well written at a level accessible to undergraduates, thoughtful and imaginative in interpreting the stories and relating the questions they raise to the thinking of classical and contemporary philosophers as well as thinkers in other related fields, and accompanied by several pages of endnotes and comprehensive bibliographies. It is, in short, a very well-conceived and edited volume. . . . for anyone with an interest in using literature to investigate philosophical questions this is a book very much worth considering. . . The essays provide enough of food for thought to, ideally, stimulate the interest of undergraduates in both literature and philosophy.

VoegelinView

Short Stories and Political Philosophy reminds us of the age-old truth that stories are foundational in human life. Through stories we come to understand ourselves -- and our political condition. This book is a gem.

Susan McWilliams Barndt, Pomona College

The use of literature in the discourse of political philosophy has a long and rich tradition. Dolgoy, Hale, and Peabody have added to that tradition in a unique fashion, by putting together and contributing to a remarkable collection of commentaries on short stories by, among others, William Faulkner, Wendell Berry, Ken Liu, and Shirley Jackson. The essays in this collection are wide ranging in thought, superbly related to traditional philosophical texts, and accompanied by excellent pedagogical advice. This volume will send political theorists to the book shelves looking to read the stories and, ultimately, to their classrooms to share what they have discovered.

Cecil L. Eubanks, Louisiana State University