Syllabus
Course schedule
I. On the political in the works of C. Schmitt, C. Mouffe and H. Arendt
Week 1: The concept of the political and critique of liberalism in C. Schmitt’s work
Reading: C. Schmitt: The Concept of the Political
Week 2: Agonistic theory of democracy
Reading: C. Mouffe: On the Political
Week 3: Arendt’s phenomenological theory of political action
Reading: H. Arendt: Between Past and Future, On Human Condition
II. Frankfurt school and post-structuralism
Week 4: J. Habermas’ discourse theory of democracy
Reading: J. Habermas: Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
Week 5: Michel Foucault on Power and Knowledge
Reading: M. Foucault: Two Lectures - Lecture Two (Lecture One - recommended only)
Discipline and Punish - Chapter 1
History of Sexuality Vol. 1 - Part 4, Chapter 2, Part 5
Week 6: MIDTERM EXAM
Week 7: From hegemony to a critique of ideology
Reading: E. Laclau: “Democracy and the Question of Power”
III. The debate between liberals and communitarians
Week 8: Rawls’ theory of justice
Reading: J. Rawls: A Theory of Justice
Week 9: Communitarian critique of Rawls’ liberalism
Reading: M. Sandel: Democracy’s Discontent
Week 10: Libertarian critique of Rawls; Rawls’ response to communitarians
Reading: R. Nozick: “Distributive Justice”; J. Rawls: “Justice as Fairness, Political not Metaphysical”, “Domaine of the Political and Overlapping Consensus”
IV. Turning back to where it all began
Week 11: Republican theory of democracy
Reading: TBA
Week 12: L. Strauss’ and H. Arendt on Philosophy and Politics
Reading: H. Arendt: “Philosophy and Politics”; L. Strauss: “What is Political Philosophy”, “Three Waves of Modernity”
Annotation
This course introduces the students to the most important topics discussed in contemporary political philosophy or political theory. The course is divided into four sections.
The first one concerns the understanding of politics in the works of C. Schmitt, H.
Arendt and C. Mouffe.
The second section examines the relationship between theory and practice from the point of view of the critical theory and post-structuralism. The third section is devoted to the debate between the liberals and the communitarians.
The fourth and last section of the course then turns to the various ways of (re-)interpreting (or appropriating) of both ancient political theory and ancient political practice in contemporary political philosophy.