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On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
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Distinguish political philosophy and other divisions in philosophy, as well as political science and political history, realizing that in fact many of those contemporary divisions are artificial and unnecessary, while dealing with the questions: can we truly be engaged in studying political philosophy separately from, e.g., moral philosophy, moral psychology, the historical context, and the concept of human nature? what is the price we pay if we study political philosophy separately?
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Identify the unique patterns of the political speculations in each historical context we discuss (ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and early modern), paying attention to the relevant questions and problems dealt by each philosopher in each historical context, thus answering the question: can we blame Plato or Aristotle for not supporting democracy, or Machiavelli for not being a liberal?
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Appreciate the political speculations of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, mainly regarding obligation, legitimization, and the notion of the common good. The main questions here are: is politics natural to man? why do we need political structures? how the concept of “justice” is connected to the polis or to the Roman state?
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Analyse the debate regarding the Church and the state, the pope and the emperor, the papacy and the empire, spiritual and political government, as it is reflected in many different contexts by different thinkers in the Christian era, starting from some biblical political models, and moving on to the Church’s Fathers and mainly Augustine, and then to later medieval thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Marsilio of Padova, William Ockham, Jean of Paris, and Dante Alighieri.
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Elaborate on the novelty of Machiavelli’s approach to political philosophy and the break he represents with regard to all previous speculations and political theories, while dealing with the questions: does morality has any connection to political philosophy? is politics autonomous and “free” from good and evil virtues?
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