On Tyranny

In this course we will study tyranny, which has been called “a danger coeval with political life” (Leo Strauss). To understand that statement and how technology and ideology have changed tyranny, we will read classic works from political philosophy and literature (Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Republic VIII-IX and Charmides; Xenophon’s Hiero, or On Tyranny; Machiavelli’s Prince; and Shakespeare’s Macbeth) and modern works (Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political; Leo Strauss on Xenophon, followed by Alexander Kojeve’s Commentary and Strauss’s Restatement; Heidegger, “Question Concerning Technology”; Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, vol. 3; and writing by one tyrant).