Well wasn't recent but something I read for Political Theory. It's called Nichomachean Ethics by that of Aristotle. Really a great read if you want to learn about virtue ethics. Aristotle, like many Greeks of the time, believed in a teleological view of the world. Everything is focused towards some end which he calls "the good". For him of course, "the good" is God. Every man therefore needs to achieves which he defines as "right action". By obtaining virtues you get closer to the good which is happiness of course. Of course he knows not everyone will be able to achieve this which is why he considers political science to be the master science. It needs to be done in society for the masses and that is what political science allows. Thus political science is the good of man as it is the last step before you can obtain "the good".
Very unique way of looking at things but shouldn't be too surprising to a lot of people. Christianity adopted much of what Aristotle taught and incorporated it into their own religion. Anybody that is a Christian could very easily relate to him such as a transcendent notion of human nature or that we have a little bit of "god" in us all that allow us to try and achieve our maximum human potential.
Really a great book for anyone looking to further their knowledge on political science, which judging by political discussing here, might be a good thing.
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