SYLLABUS

CLASSICS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT – JPB578

Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague

Instructor: Dr Janusz Salamon

ETCS: 6 credits
Prerequisites: None

TIME: Wednesday, 8:00-9.20

PLACE: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/94414726982

CONTACTS:

Email: janusz.salamon at univ-oxford.com

Office hours: Wednesday, 9:30-11:00: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/94414726982

1. Course objectives

The aim of this course is to enable students to explore the key ideas of some of the greatest minds in the history of political philosophy by studying representative fragments of their works. In the course of the semester we will explore some of the most important philosophical questions that shape the way we understand and act in the world of politics. We will read selections from the seminal works of ancient as well as modern political thinkers and tackle such questions as the nature of the state and political power, the justification of political obligation, or the relation between political and economic freedom.

2. Student learning outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should:

· Comprehend the ideas of the seminal thinkers of Western philosophic tradition studies in the course;

· Understand and analyse the basic concepts, ideas and problems relevant to the study of politics;

· Have improved their analytical, argumentative, and writing skills.

3. Teaching methodology

This course is a combination of a lecture and a seminar. Students will be expected to actively participate in the class discussion. It is therefore of paramount importance that they study the assigned texts before class.

4. Course Schedule

Class 1 SOCRATES and the birth of political philosophy

Class 2 PLATO's progressive politics based on reason and his defence of the enlightened rule of the meritocratic elite

Class 3 ARISTOTLE's conservative politics based on nature and his impact on POLYBIUS' and CICERO's defence of republicanism

Class 4 MACHIAVELLI's rediscovery of republicanism and the problem of 'dirty hands" in politics

Class 5 Medieval political philosophy and its long-term impact

Class 6 HOBBES on the establishment of the state through social contract between individuals

Class 7 Mid-term topic: Three Concepts of Liberty / Political Freedom

Class 8: LOCKE and the birth of modern individualistic liberalism

Class 9 BURKE and the birth of modern conservative and anti-individualistic politics

Class 10 ROUSSEAU on equality and reconciliation of individual freedom and state authority

Class 11 KANT on human autonomy as the goal of politics

Class 12 HEGEL on rationality and historicity in politics

Class 13 MARX's critique of capitalist economy and liberal democracy

FINAL EXAM

5. Reading material

All assigned readings are available online at the course's SIS website. The readings will be taken mainly from the following works:

Plato: The Republic; Crito; Apology

Aristotle: Politics; Nicomachean Ethics

Machiavelli: Prince

Hobbes: Leviathan

Locke: Second Treatise of Government

Rousseau: Discourse on the Origins of Inequality; On Social Contract

Marx: On the Jewish Question; Communist Manifesto

J. S. Mill: On Liberty

M. Wollstonecraft, The Vindication of the Rights of Women

Classics of Philosophy, L.P. Pojman (ed.), Oxford University Press, 2003

Modern Political Thought: A Reader, J. Gingell, A. Little, Winch (eds), Routledge, 2000

Political Thinkers from Socrates to the Present, D. Boucher & P. Kelly (eds), Oxford, 2003

A History of Western Political Thought, J.S. McClelland, Routledge, 2005

Political Philosophy from Plato to Mao, M. Cohen, Pluto Press, 2001