This course aims to engage students with the foundational texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition, from Classical Antiquity through the Medieval period. The course aims to explore the emergence and development of core political concepts such as justice, the polis, citizenship, natural law, and the common good by examining how these ideas were formulated and contested across successive historical and intellectual contexts. Consequently, this course will analyze and discuss the political thought of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the Hellenistic schools of the Stoics and Epicureans, and the Christian political philosophy of Augustine and Aquinas, situating each thinker within the broader evolution of political and philosophical inquiry from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds to the medieval synthesis of faith and reason.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Identify the central concepts, texts, and thinkers of ancient Greek, Roman, and Medieval political thought,
Explain the historical and philosophical context in which classical and medieval political ideas emerged and developed,
Analyze primary source texts by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureans, Augustine, and Aquinas to identify their core political arguments,
Compare the differing conceptions of justice, the state, citizenship, and the common good across Greek, Roman, and Medieval traditions,
Evaluate the relevance and limitations of classical and medieval political concepts for understanding contemporary political life,
Construct a coherent, textually grounded argument on a selected problem in ancient or medieval political philosophy.