PSCI4610 - Key Questions in Political Theory (SNF Paideia Program Course)

This course is a basic introduction to certain fundamental topics in political theory. It
aims to provide students with concepts and ideas by which to more clearly make sense
of political reality. In general, the course proceeds by elucidating major distinctions,
such as: ancient vs. modern; deontology vs. consequentialism; “Athens” vs. “Jerusalem”
(or: reason vs. revelation); thinking vs. knowing; liberalism vs. democracy; sovereign
power vs. disciplinary power; being secular vs. being a secularist; politics as subset of
morality vs. political responsibility as requiring the transgression of morality; the
grounds of legitimate authority (tradition vs. legal-rational vs. charisma); etc. Overall,
the course has three goals: (i) to introduce students to alternate approaches to the
practice of political theory; (ii) to introduce students to numerous relatively selfcontained debates important to contemporary political theorists; and (iii) to address
major figures from the history of political thought, with an eye toward explaining what
makes them vital to political theorists today.