PLT2140

Progress and despair: modern political ideologies and theories

(ART)

Michael Janover

8 points + 3 hours per week + First semester + Clayton + Prohibition: COS2140

Synopsis: Some crucial currents of thought on the nature of modernity, community, authority and liberty from the French Enlightenment until the present. The principal /isms0 of modern politics - liberalism, socialism, conservatism - are studied as both ideologies of progress and expressions of despair in the face of the massive changes in political; economic, intellectual and moral life of the last two centuries.

Assessment: Tutorial presentation (15-20 minutes) and participation: 10% + Essay (3000 words): 50% + Examination (3 hours): 40%