PSC 411 - Political Philosophy

4 credits. E.

This course is a history of political philosophy from Plato to Nietzsche. Substantial portions of the following texts are read and analyzed: Plato’s “The Republic,” Aristotle’s “Politics,” Hobbes’ “Leviathan,” Locke’s “Second Treatise of Civil Government,” Rousseau’s “Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality,” Engels’ “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” and Nietzsche’s “On the Genealogy of Morals.” These texts help students understand the differences between ancient and modern political thought, as well as the origins of the major alternatives of 20th-century politics – liberal democracy, socialism and communism, and fascism. This course can also count toward the philosophy major.