Unit information: The History of Political Thought in 2010/11

Unit name	The History of Political Thought
Unit code	POLI29004
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Butt
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	none
Co-requisites	none
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The unit fills a gap in the current syllabus catalogue. Existing units provide students with the opportunity to engage with a wide range of contemporary political theory texts, or a small number of historical texts in detail, but there is no paper which provides a broad overview of the history of political thought. The paper follows on naturally from the introductory work done in 11101 Political Concepts, and provides an introduction to 22202 Contemporary Political Theory. It is also a natural complement to 22201 Interpreting Political Texts. In years, such as 2010/11, when 22201 is not being run, it is students only opportunity to engage with historical theory texts.

Aims:

The unit aims at introducing students to a wide range of texts in the history, and encouraging the critical assessment of these texts. Through exploring the work of a range of historical authors, spanning a period of over two thousand years, students will experience both difference and similarity in how different eras have seen ideas of the political and understood the relation of the individual to the state and to others. Lectures will provide broad overviews of the work of the author in question, and contextualise their writings with reference to the political contexts of their times. Seminars will focus on particular extracts from the key works of the authors in question, and will encourage students both to analyse significant passages of political writing and to think about the relation of these extracts to the writer's wider projects. The summative essay aims to enable students to engage in a detailed study of a particular text from the political theory canon: reading it in detail and at length, and engaging with the secondary literature.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit a successful student will be able to:

1. Describe the key arguments of a range of authors in the history of political thought.
2. Explain and discuss the authors’ own arguments, the historical contexts of their time, their relationship to other important writers, and their place in the history of political thought
3. Synthesise material from different writings to gain an understanding of the interrelationships between different authors’ work.
4. Analyse and compare the approaches which different authors adopt in relation to key political concepts, such as the state, equality, and liberty.

The summative 2,000 word essay with pairwise questions assesses achievement of outcomes 1, 2, and 3.

The seen exam with topic questions assesses achievement of outcomes 1, 2 and 4.

Teaching Information

The teaching will employ both lectures and seminars. Lectures will provide broad overviews of the political theories of the authors under discussion; seminars will focus on key abstracts from their most significant work. Blackboard will be employed to make available a range of further information, in relation to both primary and secondary readings.

Assessment Information

• 2,000 word essay 40%

• 2 hour seen exam 60%

Reading and References

• Coleman, Janet, A History of Political Thought: from Ancient Greece to Early Christianity (Blackwell, 2000)

• Hampsher-Monk, Iain, A History of Modern Political Thought (Blackwell, 1992)

• Matravers, Derek, Pike, Jonathan, and Warburton, Nigel, Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill by (Routledge, 2000)

• Okin, Susan M., Women in Western Political Thought (Princeton, 1979)

• Plamenatz, John, Man and Society (Longman, 1992)

• Wolff, Jonathan, An Introduction to Political Philosophy (OUP, 2006)