Is human nature fundamentally egotistical and self-interested? Why does private property exist? Why does anyone have a duty to obey their government? What does an ideal society look like?Addressing these and other questions through lectures, extensive discussions and a trip to the Houses of Parliament, this highly interactive course will help develop your interpretation, analytical and evaluation skills, in order to explore the fundamental themes behind socio-economic and political views.
You'll gain a valuable understanding of the historical continuity and discontinuity of the questions being asked in political theory, see the parallels and the differences between the concerns of thinkers of the past and contemporary theorists. You'll learn how to argue in a rigorous logical manner with claims supported by relevant evidence - skills useful for everyone from teachers, lawyers and politicians to economists and journalists.In this course we will examine central themes from Thomas Hobbes and John Locke on human nature, government, property and the right to revolution before looking at the problem of political obligation and John Rawls' Theory of Justice.
Finally we will evaluate Robert Nozick's Entitlement Theory of Justice and discuss some of the contemporary literature on global justice.The main advantage of the King's Summer School in political theory will be the discursive components of the course. Every hour lecture will be followed by an hour of discussion where you will have the opportunity to debate the topics covered in the lecture and express your own views. The Summer School will be highly interactive with lots of feedback and an emphasis on participation.
Period
01-07-2013 - 19-07-2013 (3 weeks)
Target group
The ability to interpret, analyse and evaluate arguments and to reason in a logical manner is important in all walks of life. The skills developed here will be of particular use to future teachers, lawyers, politicians, economists and journalists. No prior knowledge of political theory and philosophy is assumed. A keenness to participate in the discussions is the only requirement for this Summer School course.
Course aim
You will develop the ability to interpret, analyse and evaluate arguments presented in works of political theory, both old and new. You will also develop an understanding of the historical continuity and discontinuity of the questions being asked in political theory. As part of this course you will see the parallels and the differences between the concerns of thinkers of the past and contemporary theorists, and will learn to argue in a rigorous logical manner with claims supported by relevant evidence.
Credits
7.5 ECTS credits
Many of our students get credit for the summer courses taken at Kings. You should approach your home university before applying to find out whether they accept our courses for credit. We would recommend a three-week course to be equivalent 4 US credits or 7.5 ECTS, for instance.
Course fee
GBP 1350: tuition fee only
Course leader
John Wright has been a tutor in the Philosophy department at Kings College London since 2007. In that time he has tutored on undergraduate courses in both metaphysics and political philosophy. Recently he ran seminars in political philosophy for MA stude
King's College London
Address: Strand, London
Postal code: WC2R 2LS
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/summerschool
E-mail: summerschool@kcl.ac.uk
Phone: +44 20 7848 1533
Political Theory
label
Diverse
calendar_month
2013-02-18, 00:00
autorenew
2025-09-29, 17:01
history_edu
Ioana Dinescu
