The History of Modern Political Philosophy

Harvard FAS

This course focuses on foundational texts of modern political philosophy ranging from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century (e.g., Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche) We will see thinkers define and celebrate modern politics and culture; and we will see thinkers turn against modern politics and culture. We will learn that some thinkers promoted power as the foundation of politics, while others promoted reason as its foundation. In examining the interplay between power and…