✕
The course aims to provide an introduction to political philosophy, i.e. how to think politically. This will be achieved in two ways: firstly, students will gain insights into key concepts that are integral to political science; and secondly, the module will seek to familiarise students with the actors who play an important role in political philosophy. Class discussions will consider why should we even care about political philosophy, explore the thoughts of Aristotle and Plato, immerse ourselves into how social contractarians as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought about the sovereign and people together with the remarks of Alexis de Tocqueville on democracy. We will also explore the thoughts of Karl Marx on history and progress, while attempting to figure out how far our liberty should stretch in society and tackling difficult questions of democracy, social justice, illiberalism, populism and multiculturalism. The module is perfect for you to start your journey in the realm of political science, international affairs and politics, or philosophy. Furthermore, students will be divided into two groups from the beginning of the course in order to be able to debate each other and to practise counterposing different theoretical positions.
Module leader: Tillmann Ármin
