History of European Political Thought

Designed for juniors/seniors. Introduction to principal themes in history of European political thought from classical antiquity to close of early modern period. Study of outstanding contributions to history of social, political, and moral philosophy in texts of major thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, More, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Reconstruction of broad intellectual and ideological contexts from which their work emerged to help students make sense of works of political philosophy in their relevant historical setting and to know something about Athenian democracy and its critics, Roman republic and its empire, Renaissance, early modern European civil wars, American and French Revolutions, and Enlightenment. Focus on emergence of some crucial concepts during this period—ideas about state, self, rights, sovereignty, liberty, private property, and more—that define way we think about politics and society in modern world.

P/NP or letter grading.