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Description
This course traces the development of western political thought from its classical origins to its most important modern formulations, exploring the main European traditions of inquiry concerning the nature and status of political society, the state, law, citizenship, and relations of power. It extends from Greek antiquity to the early 20th century, and emphasis is placed on the writings of major thinkers and their contemporary historical contexts, including Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Alfarabi, Niccol貌 Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Franz Fanon, Hannah Arendt, and John Rawls.
An important skill emphasized in this module is close reading. The texts that we will be studying are complicated and ambiguous, which is why they have continued to be read for centuries, in societies entirely different from the the ones in which they were originally written. The aim of the course is for you to grapple with these texts in all their complexity. Perhaps their ideas will lead you to see the world differently than before.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.
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