Course Overview
• what is means to study modern political theory
• unlike most other courses in Political Science (or the social sciences more generally), as a political theory course we will focus on concepts and theories developed in works of political philosophy
• as a course in modern ...
Course Overview
• what is means to study modern political theory
• unlike most other courses in Political Science (or the social sciences more
generally), as a political theory course we will focus on concepts and
theories developed in works of political philosophy
• as a course in modern political theory, we will focus mainly on how power
is exercised
• as for the modern part of MPT, we will examine major ideas and recurring
themes in political thought of major thinkers of modernity—from around
end of Renaissance/beginning of Reformation in early sixteenth century to
nineteenth century and beyond
Main Aims of the Course
• one key aim of the course is to gain an understanding of basic theories and
concepts of major figures—what are those ideas? What do they mean? What is
their significance?
• another aim is to gain a better understanding of their legacy— What impact have
they had? How have their ideas shaped the modern world? How do their ideas
continue to influence and structure how we think about politics, society, and
ourselves? Are these ideas still alive and relevant today?
• roughly one thinker each century: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx)
• these thinkers were not necessarily chosen because they were typical or
representative of their eras but because of their enduring influence
• these thinkers have shaped the way we think about (or do not think about)
some basic ideas in politics and even everyday life: the idea of sovereignty
as the defining attribute of the state; relation between means and ends in
politics; the origins and importance of private property; the rights of
individuals; dissent and revolution; constitutional government (and the
rule of law); relation between individual and society and between
individual and government (idea that individual comes first); relation
between government and society; relation between economy and rest of
society; capitalism
The Central Problems and Themes of the Course
1) the rise and triumph of individualism —the individual is not only treated
as the fundamental unit of analysis and the basic building block of society,
but is also treated with a new regard
, A) related to belief in universal equality and autonomy—each individual
best judge of how to live, without interference by others, including
government, church, etc.
i) exemplified in the primacy individual rights; the idea that the
state exists to serve the individual and not the other way around
2) the autonomy of politics from morality and other sources of authority —
the idea that politics operates by its own set of rules and is separate from
other spheres of life
A) best example of this is idea that there is separation between public and
private (e.g., separation of church and state)
i) the very idea of compartmentalizing and making such
distinctions is new to modern world, whereas in the ancient
world all of these realms were intertwined
3) the human construction of the political world —this is basically the idea
that politics and political institutions are artificial creations of human design,
not natural or organic
A) belief that much of the world is our creation, even if not always within
our control
i) all of this implies that change is possible—what is made by
human hands can also be unmade by them
ii) examples of alteration/transformation of natural world
Tianhuangping hydroelectric project in China
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