Ancient Political Thought

What is the purpose of politics? Who should rule? What is justice? Plato and Aristotle instigated the tradition of political philosophy in the West, and our modern democracy is deeply indebted to their ideas. Yet their answers to many of the fundamental questions of politics differ dramatically from our own. Among other things, they valued virtue over personal freedom, duties over rights, and nobility of soul over equality of access. In this course we reflect critically on the value and implications of their ideas, and we evaluate our own modern political principles and practices in light of what they taught. Enrollment limited to 20.