Professor(s)
Notes
How to make a political body:
This course is an introduction to political philosophy via the exploration of two classic texts, Aristotle’s Politics and Plato’s Republic, and a number of modern and contemporary responses to those texts in the democratic and republican traditions. Our exploration will be guided by two major questions: what is the genesis of a political body? And which factors facilitate or threaten the cohesion and stability of the political body? These questions will lead us through an examination of topics as diverse as the nature of justice, political friendship, the construction of the supreme good, the distinction between a good and a bad education, the nature of citizenship, the subversive role of poetry and the arts in politics, the relation between ideas and reality, the prevention or provocation of revolution, and the question of the good life – whether it is that of the wealthy, the politician or the philosopher. By the end of the course you should be able to defeat all adversaries in arguments about these important topics, and you will also possess two of the most solid definitions of happiness that can be found in Mediterranean philosophy.
Learning Outcomes
- At the end of this course students who have thoroughly engaged with the material will be able to:
- Identify and define concepts and theses anchored in particular authors and texts.
- Contextualize a concept or an argument in relation to other arguments in the same text, or other texts by the same philosopher or by other philosophers or poets: for instance, compare and contrast different philosophical approaches to the genesis and consistency of a political body.
- Indicate a relationship between political philosophy and another branch of philosophy.
- In this Firstbridge, the following general Firstbridge Learning Outcomes will be satisfied through the Reflective Seminars:
- Students will enhance their information literacy, acquiring an understanding of how information is produced, and discovering how to evaluate, create and use it effectively and ethically. Students will develop an awareness of the conversational nature of scholarship and be able to identify appropriate secondary sources to conduct effective research.
- Students will develop public speaking and presentation skills in order to participate effectively and appropriately in academic discussion and as community leaders, in a professional and engaging manner that can convey complex information.
- Students will be able to appreciate place as a site of knowledge, to interrogate the multiple meanings of place and develop a more informed and sensitive understanding of interactions between people and their physical environment.
- Students will learn to formulate questions that can lead to greater learning and productive individual and group research projects.
- Students will strengthen the concrete skills and aptitudes to be successful at AUP and beyond, such as study skills and time management, the mindsets that lead to lifelong learning, and desired classroom behaviors and interpersonal skills.
Book List
Schedule
| Room | Day | Start Time | End Time |
|---|---|---|---|
C-104 | Monday | 13:45 | 15:05 |
C-104 | Thursday | 13:45 | 15:05 |