Politics and the Studies of Politics

This course will consider classic texts of Western political thought. The aims of the course are to see what each of the texts says about politics, and to determine the modes of thought of the text. For example, we will pay close attention both to the substance of Aristotle's political science and to the manner in which he conducts his inquiry. Other works may include Thomas Aquinas, Summae; William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar; Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan; Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France; Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America; speeches by Thomas Macaulay; and writings by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (Political Theory)/