Classics of Political Philosophy - JPB195

• Anglický název: Classics of Political Philosophy
• Zajišťuje: Katedra politologie (23-KP)
• Fakulta: Fakulta sociálních věd
• Platnost: od 2024 do 2024
• Semestr: letní
• E-Kredity: 6
• Způsob provedení zkoušky: letní s.:
• Rozsah, examinace: letní s.:2/1, Zk [HT]
• Počet míst: 80 / 80 (80)
• Minimální obsazenost: neomezen
• 4EU+: ne
• Virtuální mobilita / počet míst pro virtuální mobilitu: ne
• Stav předmětu: vyučován
• Jazyk výuky: angličtina
• Způsob výuky: prezenční
• Poznámka: předmět je možno zapsat mimo plán; povolen pro zápis po webu; při zápisu přednost, je-li ve stud. plánu
• Garant: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D.
• Vyučující: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D.
• Třída: Courses not for incoming students
• Neslučitelnost : JPB578
• Je neslučitelnost pro: JPB578
• Je prerekvizitou pro: JPB157

Sylabus

SYLLABUS

 

Lecturer: Dr Janusz Salamon

ETCS: 6 credits

Office hours: MONDAYS at 17:00-18:20 and TUESDAYS at 12.30-13.50, in my office C514 in Jinonice
Email: [e-mail]

 

PLACE & TIME - TUESDAY morning in JINONICE campus:

(1) SEMINAR at 8:00 in C520 - for Groups 1 & 2 (every second week)

followed by

(2) LECTURE at 9:30 in C123 - for EVERYONE

followed by

(3) SEMINAR at 11:00 in C520 - for Groups 3 & 4 (every second week)

 

SEMINAR INSTRUCTION: Participation in the seminars is strictly mandatory. As indicated above, the seminar will be taught in 4 smaller groups of students. Each student will be informed during Week 1 to which group they belong. Each student must do the relevant seminar reading in advance, since familiarity with the seminar reading will be tested through quizzes at the beginning of the seminar, therefore students who arrive late and will not take the quiz, will lose the points awarded for the quizzes (2, 1 or 0 points for a single quiz).

All SEMINAR READINGS will be uploaded in the SIS, below the CLASS READINGS!

 

1. Course objectives

This course aims to enable students to explore the key ideas of some of the greatest minds in the history of political philosophy in the Western philosophical tradition. We will explore some of the most important philosophical questions that guided the evolution of political thought since the Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic. In the process, we will discuss various views on the nature of the state and political power,  the justification of political obligation, and the gradual emergence of key political values, such as freedom and equality. Above all, we will discuss (in the seminars) the range of interpretations of the political thought of these classical thinkers, thus broadening the horizon of the political alternatives that we are faced with at the current junction of the political history of humanity.

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 lectures and MANDATORY seminars. Students will be expected to actively participate in the seminar discussion. It is therefore of paramount importance that they study the assigned texts before class.

 

4. WEEKLY COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Class 1     SOCRATES and the birth of political philosophy  [a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone (NO SEMINARS in Week 1)]

 

Class 2     PLATO's progressive politics based on reason and his defence of the enlightened rule of the meritocratic elite [SEMINAR 1 for Group 1 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 3 at 11:00]

 

Class 3     ARISTOTLE's conservative politics based on nature and his impact on POLYBIUS' and CICERO's defence of republicanism [SEMINAR 1 for Group 2 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 4 at  11:00]

 

Class 4    MACHIAVELLI's rediscovery of republicanism and the problem of 'dirty hands" in politics [SEMINAR 2 for Group 1 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 3 at 11:00]

 

Class 5    HOBBES on the establishment of the state through a social contract between individuals [SEMINAR 2 for Group 2 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 4 at  11:00]

Class 6    LOCKE and the birth of modern individualistic liberalism  [SEMINAR 3 for Group 1 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 3 at 11:00]

Class 7  MID-TERM in-class 80-minute-long TEST for everyone at 9:30-11:00 in classroom C123

 Class 8  ROUSSEAU on equality and reconciliation of individual freedom and state authority [SEMINAR 3 for Group 2 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 4 at  11:00]

 

Class 9 KANT on human autonomy as the goal of politics [SEMINAR 4 for Group 1 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 4 for Group 3 at 11:00]

 

Class 10 HEGEL on historicity and cultural identity underlying politics [SEMINAR 4 for Group 2 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 4 for Group 4 at  11:00]

 

Class 11 HEGEL and NIETZSCHE as Philosophical Sources of Fascism [SEMINAR 5 for Group 1 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 3 at 11:00]

 

Class 12 How FASCISM Works (Jason Stanely) [SEMINAR 5 for Group 2 at 8.00, followed by a LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 4 at  11:00]

 

 

5. CLASS READINGS and SEMINAR READINGS are uploaded below (in the SIS, not Moodle).

The readings will be taken mainly from the following works:

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; 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;

  

COURSE GRADING:

Quality participation in the Seminars, incl. Seminar Quizzes and Assignments =  25%

Mid-term In-Class Written Test                                                                        25%

Final Written Exam                                                                                         50%

Total                                                                                                           100%

 

SEMINAR INSTRUCTION: Participation in the seminars is strictly mandatory. As indicated above, the seminar will be taught in 4 smaller groups of students. Each student will be informed during Week 1 to which group they belong. Each student must do the relevant seminar reading in advance, since familiarity with the seminar reading will be tested through quizzes at the beginning of the seminar, therefore students who arrive late and will not take the quiz, will lose the points awarded for the quizzes (2, 1 or 0 points for a single quiz).

SEMINAR GROUPS: As in the case of "Intro to Philosophy", please, ignore what the SIS shows regarding scheduling of the mandatory Seminars in "Classics of Political Philosophy" and instead bear in mind that you belong to one of the following Seminar Groups (according to alphabetic order of your surnames as listed i the SIS):
GROUP 1: L to R
GROUP 2: S to Z
GROUP 3: A to F
GROUP 4: G to K

WEEKLY SCHEDULE above specifies in which week and at what hour your seminars take place.

 

MIDTERM and FINAL EXAM INSTRUCTION:

The Midterm Test and the Final Exam have the same format, the only difference being that the Midterm Test will takes place within 80-minutes long class constraints, while at the Final Exam the students will have twice as much time than at the Midterm. (Since the Midterm has a status of a test, not an exam, there will be no opportunity "to retake" the Midterm in case of poor performance.) At both the Midterm and the Final, the students will be asked "to discuss" a number of topics listed by the lecturer. The topics will be based primarily on the class readings that provide a backbone of the course. The Midterm Test and Final Exam aim to test the students' command of the main ideas about justice explored in the class readings, as well as their ability to think about the problems discussed in a philosophical manner (i.e., rationally and critically, considering arguments employed by the authors studied throughout the semester, as well as the arguments devised by the student).

NB.: The Mid-term test will cover the material of classes 1-5 and Seminars 1-2 while the Final Exam will cover the material explored in the REMAINING lecture readings and seminar readings.

GRADING SCALE:

• A = 91-100 % – excellent
• B = 81-90 % – very good
• C = 71-80 % – good
• D = 61-70 % – satisfactory
• E = 51-60 % – minimal pass
• F = 0-50 % – fail

 

 

Poslední úprava: Salamon Janusz, Ph.D. (11.05.2025)