This course examines major normative questions in political thought, structured around the central theme of the changing relationship between ethics and politics. Beginning with a model for reading and understanding normative theory, students will read critically the original works of such major political thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Nietzsche with the goal of investigating the principal questions of political thought in Western civilization. Among these are: "Is government based on the consent of the citizenry?", "What constitutes a just society?", "What is the purpose of government?" , and "Are freedom and equality reconcilable?" As a result of taking this course, the student will not only understand these central questions, but also be able to apply the theoretical prescriptions offered by thinkers to contemporary political issues currently debated in the American body politic.
