POL 8253 is also offered in Spring 2024
POL 8253 is also offered in Spring 2022
Spring 2024 | POL 8253 Section 001: Late Modern Political Thought (65379)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person
- Enrollment Requirements:
- Pol Sci grad major
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
UMTC, West Bank
Social Sciences Building 1383
- Enrollment Status:
Open (6 of 10 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Theoretical responses to and rival interpretations of Western economy, society, politics, and democratic culture in the modern age; theories of history; class struggle; the end of metaphysics and the death of God; technology and bureaucracy; psychology of culture, in Hegel, Marx, Tocqueville, Mill, Nietzsche, Weber, Freud. prereq: Grad pol sci major or instr consent
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?luxon+POL8253+Spring2024
- Class Description:
- Modernity and its Discontents surveys European political theory of the 19th century, and concentrates on the emergence of capitalism and the liberal state as well as the challenges, alienation and discontent that develop alongside each. With these two historical developments in mind, this course will trace three themes. Central to capitalism and the liberal state both, is the ideal of individuality. To develop our analysis of individuality as an ideal, we will ask, what are the characteristics that define (or ought to define) individuals? What are the terms on which individuals develop themselves and in pursuit of which political, economic, or ethical goals? Second, we will analyze theories of emancipation and freedom. Even as the 19th century witnesses an extension of voting rights to increasing numbers of people, and even as political liberties appear more democratically accessible, thinkers struggle to define the scope and nature of these liberties. What kinds of political institutions and recognition best permit individuals to express themselves as citizens ? and what are the psychological, economic, or political obstacles that might impede this expression? Third, political expression implies knowledge: an ability to analyze one's context and to determine what is to be done. Alongside the thinkers of the period, we will consider the kind of information about the world that is necessary in order to act in ? and perhaps transform ? one's immediate context and longed-for future. Readings for the course include Hegel, Marx, Tocqueville, Mill, Nietzsche, Freud, and Weber.
- Grading:
- 100% Reports/Papers
- Class Format:
- 100% Discussion
- Workload:
- 150-200 Pages Reading Per Week
30 Pages Writing Per Term
5 Paper(s)
1 Presentation(s)
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65379/1243
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 13 June 2008
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2024 Political Science Classes