Informatorium of Slawomir Józefowicz: page 5

Dr SŁAWOMIR JÓZEFOWICZ

POLITICAL THOUGHT
course for MA students of political science (program in English)
at the Insitute of Political Science, University of Warsaw

E-MAIL CONTACT:
Slawomir.Jozefowicz@uw.edu.pl
or s.jozefowicz@wp.pl

Office hours: WEDNESDAYs, 13.15 - 14.45, room 209, second floor, Nowy Świat Street 67.

Announcements:



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Classes intend to supplement the lecture, giving students a chance to read and discuss both source and supplementary texts, clarify doubts, compare interpretations, etc.

1. Ancient political thought – Greek beginnings
- Sophists and Socrates
- Plato
- Aristotle

2. Political dimension of Christian Thought
- Early Christianity
- St. Augustine
- St. Thomas Aquinas

3. Early Modern Political Thought
- Niccolo Machiavelli
- Thomas More
- Thomas Hobbes

4. Enlightenment
- Montesquieu
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Immanuel Kant

5. Liberal thought (of aristocratic and classical period)
- John Locke
- John Stuart Mill

6. Two faces of early conservatism
- Joseph de Maistre
- Edmund Burke

7. Socialism and communism
- Early socialism
- Karl Marx

8. Political aspects of F. Nietzsche’s philosophy

9. Totalitarian thought
- Communism
- Italian fascism
- German national socialism

10. Modern liberalism and its critiques
- F.A. von Hayek
- Libertarianism
- Communitarian critique of liberalism

11. New Left
- Critical theory and H. Marcuse
- New left and contemporary anti/alter-globalism

12. Modern conservatism
- Neoconservative reaction to New Left and counterculture
- Culture wars between conservatives and liberals

Reading for class:

Source texts - selected fragments of the works of major philosophers and thinkers (details below) from:
1. Readings in Political Philosophy, ed. F. W. Coker.
2. Dogmas and Dreams: A Reader in Modern Political Ideologies (ed. N. S. Love).

Supplementary reading:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html), selected entries.
R. H. Popkin, The Columbia History of Western Philosophy – selected chapters.
E. B. Portis, Reconstructing the Classics. Political Theory from Plato to Marx – selected chapters.
I. Adams, R. W. Dyson, Fifty Major Political Thinkers – selected chapters.
S. Isaacs, Ch. Sparks, Political Theorists in Context – selected chapters.

Please note that all the reading is available in electronic/digital format and will be e-mailed directly to students who will soon receive a detailed topics&reading schedule.

Attendance policy:
Your attendance in this course is essential. You may miss 1 lecture and/or 2 classes during semester without consequences.
If you are absent more than once (lecture) or twice (class), you will be required to make up these absences.
It is important that you are able to do all or least most of the reading required for each class; this will enable you to participate fully in discussions. You are encouraged to use other relevant materials as well. Participation in class discussions will be taken into account when deciding about your final grade.

Assessment:
Students are required to:
• take a mid-term test (it will cover the material presented and discussed at class)
• prepare a class presentation on a relevant issue (circa 15 minutes)
• take a final examination at the end of the course - examiner: Prof. S. Filipowicz



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Useful links for foreign visitors and students:

Study in Poland/Warsaw
http://www.studyinwarsaw.pl/

General info about Poland in 7 languages
> http://www.poland.gov.pl/

English language weekly with news and comments
> http://www.warsawvoice.pl/

English language information about the University of Warsaw
> http://www.uw.edu.pl/en/

Life in Warsaw
> http://www.warsaw-life.com/

Tourist information
> http://english.poland.com/


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