POL320Y1Y L5101
Modern Political Thought
Themes
This course examines canonical texts and ideas from the 18th and 19th centuries. It aims to introduce students to the political theory of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment philosophers, and to consider their contributions to the philosophical landscape of the modern era. These thinkers provided the theoretical foundations for political ideas that continue to resonate today, arguing for the importance of individual liberties, universal human rights and democratic self-determination. And yet, these were hardly uncontested ideas; as we will see, the birth of these seminal modern, liberal commitments and ideals was accompanied by trenchant criticisms. Our examination of the modern period will thus examine both the origins of these important concepts, and how critics helped to shape, resist and re-think them.
Texts
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings; Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals; Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France; G.W.F. Hegel, Philosophy of Right; Karl Marx, TBA; John Stuart Mill, On Liberty; Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals.
Format and Requirements
Two lectures and one tutorial seminar per week. Assignments include two in-class tests, one paper, a cumulative final examination and tutorial participation.
Prerequisites
POL200Y1 or POL200Y5 or (POLC70H3, POLC71H3)