Contemporary Political Philosophy

(2.5-4 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This module will track philosophical, sociological and political concepts that shaped today's world views from the enlightenment via Nietzsche, psychoanalysis, structuralism, postmodernism and others. Each week, theoretical concepts will be discussed in one class while music-related examples will illustrate those concepts in the second one (after all, I'm a music lecturer). Room will be given to questions raised by students regarding issues they are particularly concerned about. Paris, France (Sci Po) Freedom of expression is at the heart of very lively controversies. In recent years, notions such as "political correctness", cancel culture or "wokism" have been widely relayed in public debates, without the notion of freedom of expression, its limits or its purposes being rigorously analysed. At the intersection of philosophy, law, political science and linguistics, this course will return to the meaning of freedom of expression in modern and contemporary political thought and in several constitutional traditions in order to offer students more precise tools to analyze recent controversies: blasphemy, "hate speech", use of stereotypes, boundaries of humour, regulation of social networks.