PHL 360 Political Theory

The role of political theory is to offer sustained reflection about the concepts and values that continue to guide our contemporary political life. In this course, students will explore the origins of these ideas as expressed by some of the world’s most influential political thinkers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and J.S. Mill. Each of the authors writes in a different time and place, but offers enduring insight about human nature, liberty, equality, and justice as they relate to the foundational principles of government. The course will also highlight some of the salient continuities and breaks between the ancient and
modern traditions in Western political thought. This course is crosslisted as PS 360.

3 credit hours.