Fall/Winter Timetable

POL2027H1S L0101

Undergraduate Course Code: POL485H1S L0101

Topics in Political Thought II

On Tyranny: the Strauss-Kojeve Debate

Themes

This course contains a little of everything: the reading of a major text composed by a student of Socrates (Xenophon’s Hiero or On Tyranny); the clash of two leading 20th C. philosophers over the work’s significance for understanding modern politics; and the response to this encounter by George Grant, Nicola Chiaromonte, Victor Gourevitch, Robert Pippin, and other leading thinkers and scholars.

Texts

Leo Strauss and Alexander Kojève, On Tyranny, ed. V. Gourevitch and M. Roth; assigned secondary readings.

Format and Requirements

Weekly meetings of 3 ½ hours; two essays, a take home exam; attendance and participation (10%)