Philosophy Course: The Great Political Philosophers

Learn thinking and philosophical skills with our philosophy short courses online & in Sydney.

In this Philosophy course, you will examine the theories of the great political philosophers from Plato through to Hobbes, Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, Marx, and into the great modern thinkers such as John Rawls and Habermas. In this philosophy course, you will learn about the nature of society, of the state, of government, of citizens and the interaction between them all.

This beginners philosophy course will present you with the major political philosophies - including liberalism, social democracy, the welfare state, the New Right and socialism. The current political and economic crises of society today are also discussed, as well as theories for their resolution.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this political philosophy course, you should be able to:

• Consider and evaluate the views of the most influential political philosophers in relation to the nature of society, the state and the government
• Use and apply key philosophical concepts, especially in the areas of liberalism, social democracy, the welfare state, the New Right and socialism
• Think about the importance of political philosophy in assessing current political and economic crises of society today and postulate theories for their resolution.

Course content

What will be covered in this political philosophy course?

Week 1 - Plato and the Philosophical state

• On justice and what is good in society
• What justice is not
• On the relationship between justice and society
• The knowledge of the good and the wisdom
• On justice and the structure of society
• The need for wisdom in a good society

Week 2 - Thomas Hobbes & John Locke on the social contract

• The terrible condition of humans in their natural state
• The nature of the totalitarian state
• Further analysis and key internal objections to Hobbes theory
• Locke's account of the natural state of humans
• The controversial right to private property
• Locke's argument for representative democracy

Week 3 - Rousseau on the general will and real democracy

• Democracy and the equal worth of persons
• The nature of self-determination
• Humans in the state of nature
• The social contract and individual rights
• The importance of direct democracy in determining the general will

Week 4 - John Stuart Mill on liberalism and freedom from state tyranny

• Representative Democracy & its problems
• Representation by parties
• John Stuart Mill and the liberal critique of the state

Week 5 - Karl Marx & John Maynard Keynes

• Marx's concept of human nature
• Inequality & human suffering
• Marx's four forms of alienation
• Alienation and the capitalist state
• Keynes on the rise of the welfare state

Week 6 - Immanuel Kant & John Rawls

• Kant on respect for persons and human rights
• John Rawls on social justice and equity in the modern state

Week 7 - Habermas on the crises in the modern state

• Habermas on political crisis in the state
• The importance of communication to being human
• Overcoming alienation & achieving freedom

Intended audience

Who is this political philosophy course for?

This philosophy course is for anyone interested in using critical thinking and logical analysis to understand how societies are structured and ruled. If you are open to concepts about politics, history and society and want to use the tools of logic and reason to help you understand our place within the world then this course is for you!