POL320Y1Y L5101
Modern Political Thought
Themes
This course offers an introduction to key political thinkers of the 18th and 19th centuries through careful reading and analysis of their works. We focus on the theoretical foundations of the modern liberal democratic nation-state, including the still influential critiques that emerged alongside it. We will attempt to answer the following questions: What is “modernity”? What is “enlightenment”? Can politics be “enlightened”? Is the history of modernity one of progress, decline, or both? Can the aspirations of justice, freedom, equality, and peace be actualized, or is this idea utopian? This course is reading-intensive, which means that students are expected to read difficult philosophical texts. The course also places emphasis on notetaking, interpretative, and writing skills. By the end of the course, diligent students will have developed a university-level understanding of the modern political theories that have shaped the traditions of the Western world.
Texts
Rousseau, Discourse on Equality and The Social Contract; Kant, Perpetual Peace and Other Essays; Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France; Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women; Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right; Hegel, Introduction to the Philosophy of History; Tocqueville, Democracy in America; Marx, Selected Writings; Mill, On Liberty, On Representative Government, and On the Subjection of Women; Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality and Other Writings
Format and Requirements
participation (10%), first essay (25%), second essay (35%) and final exam (30%).
Prerequisites
POL200Y1 or POL200Y5 or (POLC70H3, POLC71H3)