Syllabus
Course schedule
Week 1: Introduction: Course overview. What is political theory?
Reading (recommended only): H. Arendt, “Philosophy and Politics” (selections).
L. Strauss: “What is Political Philosophy?” (selections).
M. Foucault: “Truth and Power” (selections).
Week 2: Power & Authority
Reading: H. Arendt, On Violence (selections).
H. Arendt, What is Authority? (recommended only).
Week 3: Freedom
Reading: I. Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty”.
B. Constant, “The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns” (recommend only).
Week 4: Democracy I
Reading: TBA
Week 5: Democracy II
Reading: TBA
Week 6: MIDTERM EXAM
Week 7: Nationalism
Reading: E. Gellner, Nationalism (selections)
Week 8: Liberalism I
Reading: A. Heywood, Political Ideologies, Chapter 2.
Additional reading – TBA.
Week 9: Liberalism II
Reading: TBA
Week 10: Conservatism
Reading: A. Heywood, Political Ideologies, Chapter 3.
E. Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: Selections TBA.
Week 11: Socialism
Reading: A. Heywood, Political Ideologies, Chapter 4.
K. Marx & F. Engels, The Communist Manifesto.
Week 12: Authoritarianism & Totalitarianism
Reading: TBA
Annotation
This course introduces the students to the study of political theory. The first half of the course explores some of the key concepts, ideas and problems that have been defining the study of politics since its very inception.
The second half is devoted to the survey of the most important “-isms”, i.e. modern political ideologies. Throughout the semester, we will study the texts of both of the classics of political thought and current political theorists.