Classics of Political Philosophy - JPB578

• Title: Classics of Political Philosophy
• Guaranteed by: Department of Political Science (23-KP)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2021
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (45)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students
• Incompatibility : JPB195
• Is incompatible with: JPB195

Teaching methods

Last update: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D. (15.02.2021)

Live online lectures (recorded):

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

Requirements to the exam

Last update: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D. (21.03.2021)

COURSE GRADING:

Final essay                                                            50%

Final Exam                                                           50%

Total                                                                   100%

 

FINAL EXAM & FINAL ESSAY

Since due to COVID we are not able to hold an in-class written examination which in case of philosophy courses is greatly preferable to online tests, we must settle for an oral form of exam conducted online. Since this course is attended by dozens of students, we will have to spread the examination throughout the entire exam period, from late May to the end of July and then early September (if any students will request for an exam in September).  Thus the actual exam date for each student will be up to you to choose and communicate it to me via email.

The deadline for submission of your FINAL ESSAY is 'at least 48 hours before YOUR final exam', so given that the date of your final essay is for you to determine, also the deadline for submission of your essay is up to you to choose.

The essay, ca. 2500 words in length, will be devoted to a topic chosen by you from a list of three topics provided by the lecturer. A more detail ESSAY INSTRUCTION will be provided in due course (once you will accumulate a sufficient amount of knowledge to be able to start working on your essay effectively.)

 

 

Syllabus

Last update: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D. (21.03.2021)

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