Faculty of Social Sciences
History of Political Thought
71-108-18
Dr. Assaf Malach
Type of Course: compulsory
Academic Year: 2015-16 Semester: A+B
Credit Hours: 2
Lecturer Details:
Time: Wednesday, 10:00-12:00
Office Hours: Wednesday, 11:30-12:30
Email: malachas1@gmail.com
A. Course Objectives
This course examines major texts in the history of political thought and the questions they raise
about the design of the political and social order. It considers the ways in which thinkers have
responded to the particular political problems of their day, and the ways in which they contribute to
a broader conversation about human goods and needs, justice, democracy, law, and the proper
relationship of the individual to the state. One aim will be to understand the strengths and
weaknesses of various regimes and philosophical approaches in order to gain a critical perspective
on our own. Thinkers include, among others, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas,
Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.
B. Course Requirements
1. Attendance & Active Participation.
2. Required Reading: See list below.
3. Midterm and Final Examinations.
4. Paper (7-8 pages)
C. Final Grade Apportionment:
Paper : 20%
Midterm examination: 40%
Final examination: 40%.
To pass the course, a minimal grade of 60% is required in each exam and in the paper.
D. The Course Program and Readings
Section 1: Introduction and Political Thought in the Ancient World – Mesopotamia, Egypt,
China, Israel, Greece (3 class sessions)
Ball, Terence. "The Value of the History of Political Philosophy", in: George Klosko (ed.), The
Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy, 2011, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
pp. 47-59.
N/A
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Hazony, Yoram. "Does the Bible Have a Political Teaching?", HPS, Vol. 1, No. 2, Winter 2006, pp.
137-161: http://www.hpstudies.org/20/admin/pdfs/25258944-68f1-4da0-809a-ec5d70b66dfa.pdf
Barker, Ernest. Greek Political Theory. 1967, London: Methuen, pp. 1-60.
320.0938 BAR g5 (155017) – in the Philosophy, French & the Literature libraries
Section 2: Ancient Greece – Presocrates, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (7 class sessions)
Plato’s “The Apology of Socrates” (full text): http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html
Plato’s “The Rebuplic” (full text): http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html
Plato’s “Laws” (full text): http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.html
Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” (full text): http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html
Aristotle’s “Politics” (full text): http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html
Section 3: Hellenistic Schools – Cynicism, Epicureanism, Stoicism (2 class sessions)
Sabine, George H. A History of Political Theory. 1961. New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Ch. 7-8, pp. 123-158.
320.0109 SAB h3a (66018)
Michael, Oakeshott. Lectures in the History of Political Thought. 2006. Exeter : Imprint Academic,
Ch. 10, pp. 160-175.
Available via eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
Section 4: Christianity – Ancient Christianity, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther
and John Calvin (4 class session)
St. Augustine’s "City of God" (full text): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.toc.html
Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica": http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/119
Oakeshott, Michael Lectures in the History of Political Thought. 2006. Exeter : Imprint Academic,
Ch. 21-22, pp. 322-338, 339-358.
Ebook (2417102)
Section 5: Maimonides' political philosophy (2 class sessions)
The Guide for the Perplexed:
http://www.teachittome.com/seforim2/seforim/the_guide_for_the_perplexed.pdf
Book 1, chapter 2 - p. 86
Book 3, chapter 54, from the paragraph "Here now..." - p. 558
Book 1 chap. 54 - the task of Moses as a political leader. – pp. 162-166
Section 6: Machiavelli and the Beginning of the New Ages (2 class sessions)
Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince” (full text):
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/machiavelli.html
Niccolo Machiavelli’s "Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius" (full text):
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10827/pg10827.html
Section 7: The Social Contract – Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau (4 class sessions)
Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan (full text): http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm
John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government (full text):
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm
Jean Jacques Rousseau’s “A Discourse Upon The Origin And The Foundation Of The Inequality
Among Mankind” (full text): http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11136/pg11136.html
Jean Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract" (full text):
http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/roussoci.pdf
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Section 8: The Conservative Scool – Filmer and Edmond Burke (1 class session)
Robert Filmer's "Patriarcha or the Natural Power of Kings" (full text):
http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=221&chapter=45520
&layout=html&Itemid=27
Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France"(full text):
http://archive.org/stream/reflectionsonrev00hamiuoft#page/21/mode/1up
E. Recommended Texts:
Black, Antony. Political Thought in Europe: 1250-1450. 2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
320.09 BLA p (235147) – in the History library
Boucher, David & Paul Kelly (ed.). Political Thinkers: From Socrates to the Present. 2009. Oxford,
Oxford University Press.
N/A
Burns, J.H. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Political Thought: 1450-1700. 1991. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
320.09 CAM 1991 (238560)
Canning, Joseph. A History of Medieval Political Thought. 2003. London: Routledge.
320.01 CAN h (391397)
Cartledge,Paul. Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice. 2009. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
320.11 CAR a (1173939) – in Stacks (in the Central library)
Curtis, Michael (ed.). The Great Political Theories. 2008. New York, Harper Collins.
320.01 GRE 2008 (1178957) – in the Philosophy library
Hallowell, John H. & Jene M. Porter. Political Philosophy: The Search For Humanity and
Order.1997. Ontario: Prentice Hall.
N/A
Hampsher-Monk, Iain. A History of Modern Political Thought : Major Political Thinkers from
Hobbes to Marx. 1992. Cambridge: Blackwell
N/A
Losco, Joseph & Leonard Williams (eds). Political Theory Classic and Contemporary Readings,
Vol. 1: Thucydides to Machiavelli,. 2002. Roxbury Publishing Company.
N/A
Losco, Joseph & Leonard Williams (eds). Political Theory: Classic and Contemporary Readings
Volume II: Machiavelli to Rawls. 2002. Roxbury Publishing Company.
N/A
Rawls, John. Lectures On The History of Political Philosophy. 2007. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press.
320.01 RAW l (1171380) – in the Philosophy library
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Roberts, Peri & Peter Such. An Introduction to Political Thought. 2004. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
N/A
Rowe, Christopher & Malcolm Schofield. The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political
Thought. 2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
320.0938 CAM 2000 (494127) – in Stacks (in the Central library)
Sheldon, G.W. The History of Political Theory: Ancient Greece to Modern America. 2003. New
York: Peter Lang Publishing.
N/A
Springborg, Patricia. History of Political Thought: The Emergence of Political Thinking in the West
from Plato to Aquinas. 2006. Cambridge : Polity Press.
N/A
Tannenbaum, Donald G. & David Schultz. Inventors of Ideas: An Introduction to Western Political
Philosopy. 1998. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
N/A
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