From Peasant Revolts to Artistic Revolts: Heinrich von Kleist's "Michael Kohlhaas"

3 Credits.

Who has a monopoly on violence? What is the relation of the individual to the state? Is there a right to resistance? Who determines what is just or unjust, arbitrary or rational? Is there a power peculiar to art? We will consider these perennial questions of political theory through a careful examination of Heinrich von Kleist’s novella Michael Kohlhaas (1810) and theoretical works by Martin Luther, Hobbes, Rousseau, & Marx.