GOVT 1615

GOVT 1615

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

This course offers a survey of political theory in the West. We will examine some of the persistent dilemmas of politics and the attempts of several canonical political theorists to respond to them: Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Nietzsche. In each case, we will attend to the particular crises these theorists addressed in their work—such as imperialism, the European wars of religion, the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and industrial capitalism—as well as the broader philosophical and political issues they continue to pose to us now. Our approach will be both historical and conceptual, providing students with an understanding of political theory as a distinctive form of political inquiry.

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (HA-AS)
Course Subfield (PT)

Comments Although not a prerequisite, GOVT 1615 can be taken in sequence with GOVT 3626.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Three Week - Second. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1147 GOVT 1615   LEC 001

    • TBA
    • Jun 22 - Jul 10, 2020
    • Moon, A

    • TBA
    • Jun 22 - Jul 10, 2020
  • Instruction Mode: Distance Learning-Synchronous
    This Summer Session class is offered by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. For details visit http://www.sce.cornell.edu/ss/courses/courses.php?v=654