Machiavelli to Mill

A six-session introductory course led by Nigel Warburton

maximum class size 35

teaching style: a mixture of lectures and discussion

No prior knowledge of philosophy assumed

This course runs for 6 consecutiveThursday evenings beginning 4th September 2014 (4th, 11th, 18th, 25th Sept, 2nd and 9th Oct)

The course will run from 8.10pm – 9.40pm  in the Bertrand Russell room for the first 4 sessions, and in the Library for the last 2.

A mixture of short lectures and group discussion focussed on classic works of political philosophy exploring questions of continuing relevance that emerge from them. No prior knowledge of philosophy assumed.

Topic covered include: Must political leaders have ‘dirty hands’? What is the justification for having a state? What is property? Must a legitimate state have the consent of the people? Can you remain free while being part of a democray? What is alienation? What are the limits of individual  freedom of expression in a civilised society?

Week 1. Niccolò Machiavelli The Prince

Week 2. Thomas Hobbes Leviathan

Week 3. John Locke Second Treatise on Civil Government

Week 4. Jean-Jacques Rousseau The Social Contract

Week 5. Marx – The German Ideology Part One

Week 6. J.S. Mill On Liberty and The Subjection of Women