Introduction to Political Philosophy
- Free
- No certificate
Introduction to Political Philosophy is Steven Smith's Fall 2006 course PLSC 114, videotaped for Open Yale Courses as 24 lectures of about 50 minutes. It reads the Western political tradition through its major texts in sequence: Plato's Apology, Crito and Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Machiavelli's Prince, Hobbes's Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise, Rousseau's political writings and Tocqueville's Democracy in America, organised around the themes of the polis, the sovereign state, constitutional government and democracy. The syllabus lists the editions used and describes the three short papers, final exam and discussion sections that campus students completed; online viewers are not graded. Each lecture is offered as streaming or downloadable video, audio and a searchable transcript.
Open Yale Courses is free and does not require registration, and no certificate or credit is available. Smith's book based on the course is optional. Yale's separate Coursera course on the moral foundations of politics, by another instructor, is listed on this site as well.
What you’ll learn
- Interpret Socratic citizenship through Plato's Apology and Crito
- Compare Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics on the polis and the rule of law
- Explain Machiavelli's new modes and orders and Hobbes's sovereign state
- Describe Locke's case for constitutional government
- Assess Rousseau and Tocqueville on democracy and its discontents
Who it’s for
Readers who want to work through the classic texts of political thought with a guide, and are willing to read alongside the lectures.
Source: Yale Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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