Handbook

The course provides you with a solid foundation in political philosophy by means of close readings of central texts by thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Hannah Arendt. Political philosophy examines the nature and justification for the institutions of government, the aims of government and the desired outcomes such as freedom, equality and justice. Unlike political science it is not purely descriptive but also normative, asking why we should have certain kinds of institutions, how the basic structure of society should be organised, and how all of these might be transformed. Topics covered will include: the limits of state authority, the social contract, the role and meaningfulness of consent, power, rights, secularism, property, democracy and conceptions of the public political sphere.