Introduction to Political Theory

Catalog description

(F, Sp) This course offers an introduction to political theory as 1) a foundational subfield of Political Science, 2) a Western humanistic intellectual tradition, and 3) an interpretive “lens” through which we understand, and ethically evaluate the world that we live in. Our goal is to examine texts in their historical context, and to explore how we can use those texts and their insights to think critically about our contemporary political condition, values, practices and institutions – particularly about the state of “democracy” in America. Every political theory relies on certain assumptions about human nature and the arc of history, and if we accomplish one thing by the end of the semester it will be getting you to be able to read the world in terms of the implicit ideas about humanity and its history (and thus its future, or possible futures).