POL381Y1Y L0101
Topics in Political Theory
Realist Political Theory
Themes
A survey of both historical and contemporary work in the “realist” tradition of political thinking.
Texts
Texts to include selections from some but probably not all of the following: Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War; Augustine, The City of God; Machiavelli, The Prince; Hobbes, Leviathan; Hume, The History of England; Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, The Federalist; Marx, Selected Writings; Weber, The Vocation Lectures; Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness; Shklar, Legalism; Geuss, Philosophy and Real Politics; B. Williams, In the Beginning Was the Deed; and several contemporary articles and book chapters.
Format and Requirements
Two hours of lecture per week, plus a discussion section (with attendance and participation to be noted and evaluated). Tentative assignments: two short (ca. 1500 words) papers and an exam per term, perhaps with an option to write one longer paper in one or both terms instead. Precise weighting to be announced.
Prerequisites
POL200Y1 or POL200Y5 or (POLC70H3 and POLC71H3)