The Passions in Modern Political Thought

We love. We hate. We are proud of ourselves. We are envious of others. Misery triggers sympathy. Fury triggers fear. These psychological phenomena appear natural to human beings. We can't help experiencing them. We try to understand ourselves and our world through them. We act accordingly and in this way make a difference to ourselves and the people around us, for better or worse. All these phenomena can be linked to one concept: passion. But what is passion? Why does it matter to politics and society? This course examines several passions (sympathy, self-love, fear, resentment, etc.) and their social and political implications.