Politics 212 - Modern Western Polit. Thought

Through the writings of such thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Mill, we will examine central issues of modern Western political thought. Understanding modernity to entail a turn from political legitimacy based on the will of God to political legitimacy based on the conscious designs of human beings, we will focus on the significance of this turn for questions of sovereign power, the relationship between rulers and ruled, human nature, and the meaning of freedom.

Course limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors