Classical Political Theory (301-0-20)
Instructors
S. Sara Monoson
Office Hours: http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/sara-monoson.html
Meeting Info
Scott Hall 212: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
This course in the history of political theory examines influential texts from ancient Greece (e.g.,Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle). In SQ 25 the course will focus on Plato's Republic, a dense, artfully crafted prose text that sustains a long, complicated argument about the nature of justice and why we should care. Along the way the text raises issues such as the nature of freedom, vulnerabilities of democracy and the logic of power. Note that we will concentrate on engaging with primary sources (in translation). This course does not provide an introduction to trends in contemporary scholarship. We will however pause at times to consider moments of modern popular reception. For example, when asked by a journalist what one book (besides the Bible) he would want to have if stranded on a desert island, Martin Luther King Jr. answered, "Plato's Republic."
Evaluation Method
Requirements include regular short oral presentations and regular short writing assignments about the readings. No term paper. No final exam.
Class Materials (Required)
Required in the first week: Edith Hall, Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind. W. W. Norton & Company: 2015. ISBN: 978-0393351163. This is available as an inexpensive ebook.
Required reading over term: selections from various thinkers (to be provided on canvas) and a specific translation of Plato's Republic: Translated by Tom Griffith, in the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought series. ISBN: 978-0-521-48443-5 .
Class Attributes
Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Historical Studies Distro Area
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Ethics & Values Distro Area