History of Political Philosophy
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
10.0
Responsible teacher
André Filipe dos Santos de Campos
Hours
Weekly - 3
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Available soon
Bibliography
CAMPOS, Andre Santos. “The Idea of the Social Contract in the History of ‘Agreementism’”, The European Legacy 24(6) (2019): 579-596
DARWALL, Stephen (ed.). Contractarianism / Contractualism (Blackwell, 2003)
GOUGH, J.W. The Social Contract. A Critical Study of Its Development, 2nd ed. (Clarendon Press, 1957)
KLOSKO, George (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy (Oxford UP, 2011)
LESSNOF, Michael (ed.). Social Contract. (MacMillan, 1986)
MEDINA, Vicente. Social Contract Theories: Political Obligation or Anarchy. (Rowman & Littlefield, 1990)
RILEY, Patrick. “How Coherent is the Social Contract Tradition?” Journal of the History of Ideas 34 (1973): 543-62
RYAN, Alan. On Politics (Penguin, 2012)
SHKLAR, Judith. On Political Obligation (Yale UP, 2019)
WENDT, Fabian. Authority (Polity, 2018)
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
Legitimacy and the Justification of Authority: A History of 'Agreementism'
The idea that there has to be a justification for coercion exerted on others or for the condition of exercising power in order to constitute political authority (as opposed to mere violence) runs through the history of philosophy. Legitimacy is then understood as the quality of an arrangement or political institution to claim obedience from a set of political agents, based on a given normative element. In this course, these various normative elements will be reviewed, with emphasis on the agreement of the individuals who are subject to the coercive social arrangement or specific coercion (which we call “agreementism”). The course is divided into three parts:
1. The classical and medieval origins of legitimacy;
2. Modern contractualisms;
3. The Public Reason debates.