Classics of Social and Political Thought II
Other Courses to Consider
These courses might also be of interest.
- Classics of Social and Political Thought I
"Classics of Social and Political Thought" reads classic texts from Plato and Aristotle to Nietzsche and DuBois in order to investigate criteria for understanding and judging political, social, and economic institutions. What is justice? What makes a good society?
This 2-course sequence examines such problems as the conflicts between individual interest and common good; between morality, religion, and politics; and between liberty and equality. We examine alternative conceptions of society, law, authority, consent, and dissent that underlie continuing controversies in contemporary political life.
Remote - Classics of Social and Political Thought III
The Classics of Social and Political Thought sequence serves to introduce students to some seminal texts, issues, and problems in the history of social and political theory. Issues we will address this quarter include: the emergence of a mass-based social order and possibilities for ameliorating the excesses of such an order, the status of the individual and the possibility of human excellence in mass societies, the relationship between Christianity and the modern social and political order, radical critiques of liberal-capitalist and mass-based social orders, differing notions of emancipation, the social consequences of the death of God, the conditions for and logic of totalitarianism, and the possibilities for and limitations on genuine human agency and political responsibility.
At least as important as the foregoing, this course also seeks to develop the vital skills of thoughtful criticism, interpretation, and analysis, and their expression in both the written and spoken word. These operations should be directed not only at the texts assigned but also at the presumptions and biases you bring to the texts and at the claims made by the other members of our discussion, including the instructor.
Remote