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POL 212 - Modern Political Thought

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences · Political Science and International Relations (English) · Undergraduate

ECTS: 5 T+P+L: 3+0+0 Compulsory
Coordinator: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Ömer TAŞGETİREN

Course Objective

This course aims at analyzing the political philosophers who have contributed to certain political paradigm

Course Content

This course will start from Machiavelli who is generally accepted to be the beginner of modern political thought and then it will follow authoritarian, democratic, socialist, liberal and conservative philosophers

Required Resources

Donald Tannenbaum, Inventors of ideas: introduction to western political philosophy. Cengage Learning, 2012.

Cohen M. eds. 2018. Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts from Plato to Populism. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Course Learning Outcomes

  1. Getting information about the main paradigm of the modern political thought
  2. Learning about the basic ideas of the philosophers who have contributed to the modern political thought
  3. Learning diverse perspectives developed in modern political theory
  4. Analyzing the agenda under the framework of diverse political thinking

Core Area Distribution

(22) Humanities%100

Teaching Methods

ExpressionQuestion-AnswerDiscussionExercise and PracticeSelf study

Assessment & Evaluation

HomeworkProject / DesignTesting (Essay / Tests: True-Falls, multiple-choice, short answer, matching)

ECTS / Workload

ActivityQuantityDuration (h)Total Workload
Course Duration (Including Exam Week)14342
Out of Class Study Period14228
Midterm000
Quiz2510
Assignment12020
Practice000
Final12525

Course Schedule

WeekSubjectPreparation
1Course introductionSylabus
2Niccolo MachiavelliRelated readings from teh textbook
3Theory of the Social Contract I: Thomas HobbesRelated readings from the textbooks
4Theory of the Social Contract II: John LockeRelated readings from the textbooks
5Theory of the Social Contract III: Jean-Jacques RousseauRelated readings from the textbooks
6Feminist Political Thought: Mary WollstonecraftRelated readings from the textbooks
7Midterm Revision LectureRelated readings from the textbooks
8Midterm ExaminationMidterm Examination
9The Rise of Liberalism: John Stuart MillRelated readings from the textbooks
10Reactions to Liberalism I: Edmund BurkeRelated readings from the textbooks
11Reactions to Liberalism II: Georg W. F. HegelRelated readings from the textbooks
12Reactions to Liberalism III: Karl Marx and Friedrich EngelsRelated readings from the textbooks
13Reactions to Liberalism IV: Friedrich NietzscheRelated readings from the textbooks
14Course Overview and Final Revision LectureRelated readings from the textbooks
15Final ExamsFinal Exams
16Resit ExamsResit Exams