Introduction to Political Thought

Cover of the Leviathan, which shows a giant man over a hill.

Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651. Holmes Collection. (Image courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

17.03

As Taught In

Spring 2004

Level

Undergraduate

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Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

This course examines major texts in the history of political thought and the questions they raise about the design of the political and social order. It considers the ways in which thinkers have responded to the particular political problems of their day, and the ways in which they contribute to a broader conversation about human goods and needs, justice, democracy, and the proper relationship of the individual to the state. One aim will be to understand the strengths and weaknesses of various regimes and philosophical approaches in order to gain a critical perspective on our own. Thinkers include Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Tocqueville.

Related Content

Sarah Song. 17.03 Introduction to Political Thought. Spring 2004. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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