Political theory (2006/2007)

Learning outcomes

The course aims first at focussing on the specificity of political theory as a discipline distinguished from other styles of approach to political issues, such as political science or, more in general, that of social sciences.

Political theory’s sphere of research and methodology will be analyzed both in its historical development and in its different trends, paying special attention to the major turning points that reshape the basic relationship between theory and politics, such as the foundational moment of antiquity by Plato and Aristotle, the new assessment carried out in early and late modernity, and the contemporary debate on globalization. Critical approaches to issues such as `power’ and the very concept of politics will be privileged, via readings of contemporary authors such as Hannah Arendt and Judith Butler.

References:
Plato, Republic (any available edition).
Aristotle, Politics (any available edition)
Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, University of Chicago Press 1958.
Judith Butler, Giving an Account of Oneself, Fordham University Press 2005

oral test