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Description
This module examines the European tradition of political thought from the fifteenth century until the twentieth century through close study of significant works by key thinkers. This means looking at: the contractarian tradition of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau; the enlightenment thinker, Kant; 鈥榓mbivalent modernists鈥� such as proto-sociologist, Montesquieu, and the champion of liberty, J.S. Mill; political realists like Renaissance thinker, Machiavelli, and the Nazi jurist, Carl Schmitt; Hannah Arendt whose thought tries to revive the promise of the polis in modern times; and the genealogist of morals, Nietzsche.
The module's approach is both contextualizing and analytical. That is to say, it sees the ideas of these thinkers in the context of the times in which they lived and wrote, but it also encourages students to think analytically about key concepts in political philosophy and political science such as sovereignty, obligation, freedom, equality, change, morality and progress. Learning happens through a combination of lectures and seminars.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.
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