The programmes of political parties and movements are attempts to formulate policies or guidelines in relation to social change. Social philosophy concerns the fundamental issues on which those programmes divide. This introductory work gives an account of several highly influential systems of social philosophy - systems which serve as the landmarks by reference to which modern discussions still orientate themselves. The description of various stages in the history of social philosophy is set within an account of its changing social environment - from feudalism and the philosophy of Aquinas to the rise of the working class and socialism. The book confines itself to the Western tradition and one could say that it charts the rise and fall of the free market as the central institution and the key to the understanding of society.

Chapter 1 Introduction, Hans Fink; Chapter 2 Feudalism and the social philosophy of Aquinas, Hans Fink; Chapter 3 The crisis of feudalism and the social philosophy of Hobbes, Hans Fink; Chapter 4 Early capitalism: its proponents and opponents, Hans Fink; Chapter 5 Prussian absolutism and the social philosophy of Kant, Hans Fink; Chapter 6 The Industrial Revolution and its philosophy, Hans Fink; Chapter 7 The modernization of Germany and the social philosophy of Hegel, Hans Fink; Chapter 8 The rise of the working class and socialism, Hans Fink; Chapter 9 Social philosophies in the twentieth century, Hans Fink;