Introduction to Political Thought

The main aim of the module is to provide an introduction to political philosophy. This will be done in two principal ways. First, the module will seek to familiarise you with a number of key ideas that play a fundamental role in the study of politics and, secondly, the course will allow you to begin the study of certain key thinkers from the history of political thought. 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 ideal for you to start your journey in the realm of political science, international affairs and politics, or philosophy.