History of Political Philosophy - 1st semester
Objectives
1) To acquire a critical in-depth knowledge of the fundamental theses and problems in History of Political Philosophy
2) To acquire an in-depth knowledge of the way certain theses and problems in the History of Political Philosophy fit into the philosophical tradition
3) To acquire the ability to connect the History of Political Philosophy with decisive events in the Political History
4) Recognize the importance of the study of Political Philosophy to understand the present questions in Political Philosophy
General characterization
Code
722031049
Credits
10
Responsible teacher
André Santos Campos
Hours
Weekly - 3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
Portuguese-English
Prerequisites
Not applicable
Bibliography
Darwall, Stephen (ed.). Contractarianism / Contractualism. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003.
Gough, J.W. The Social Contract. A Critical Study of Its Development, 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.
Lessnoff, Michael (ed.). Social Contract. London: MacMillan, 1986.
Medina, Vicente. Social Contract Theories: Political Obligation or Anarchy. Savage: Rowman & Littlefield, 1990.
Riley, Patrick. How Coherent is the Social Contract Tradition? Journal of the History of Ideas 34 (1973): 543-62.
Calafate, Pedro. (dir.), A Escola Ibérica da Paz nas Universidades de Coimbra e Évora (Séculos XVI e XVII), 2 vols.(Lisboa: Almedina, 2015).
Campos, Andre Santos. The Idea of the Social Contract in the History of Agreementism, The European Legacy 24(6) (2019).
Teaching method
Each session consists of lectures and discussion of classical texts, based on scheduled readings. This includes analysis and discussion of theories, methods and techniques employed in political theory, as well as the reinforcement of the ability to independently and academically draw up a convincing contextualized research question, select relevant theories and methods, and to gather and critically analyze various possibly complex textual and conceptual materials.
Evaluation method
Active participation in classes. Discussion of texts during session seminars. (20%)
Final written essay. (80%) The concluding essay will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria: - The use of primary and secondary sources; - Scholarly precision; - Correct handling of source material; - Structure and clarity of the argument; Analysis and synthesis; - Critical disposition; - Originality; - Presentation and handling of references; - Correct language.
Subject matter
The History of Agreementism
The idea that a society or a government or moral principles can depend on consent or authorization in order to exist and be binding has been a recurrent motif in political and moral thought throughout the History of western philosophy. In this context, agreement of the individuals subject to collectively enforced social arrangements is relevant to the fact that those arrangements have some normative property. The literature on such theoretical justifications usually falls under the general heading of Social Contract Theories.
This course provides an overview of this kind of normative justification in politics and shows that the social contract is only one of the possible forms it assumes throughout the History of Philosophy. It is divided into four parts.
I. The classical and medieval origins of Agreementism.
II. The School of Salamanca.
III. Modern contractualisms and contractarianisms.
IV. The Public Reason debates.