Introduction

What is Political Philosophy and how does it differ from political thought, for example? This is an appropriate place to start thinking about our intellectual journey this term.

Political Philosophy (P.Phil) is distinct from political thought in that it refers to a very specific intellectual tradition that can be traced to the Ancient Greeks. In this traditional view, the Athenian Socrates (469-399 BC) is the founder of P.Phil.

Political thought on the other hand is more general in its reference to thoughts about political life.

P.Phil is also a very important subfield of the field of Political Science. Some would say that it is the most important because it is the oldest and it introduces the very conceptual basis of how we study politics.

This term we will busy ourselves with the major thinkers of the Western tradition. Thinkers like Plato and Aristotle to Machiavelli, Hobbes, Hegel, De Tocqueville, among others.

We will, time permitting, also familiarize ourselves with modern thinkers who are relevant to postcolonial Africa and its diaspora. Thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Steve Biko, and Edward Said, for example.

The purpose being to apply what we are gathering from the discussion of classical questions about the nature of politics, power, and justice.

I mentioned in class on August 6th that P.Phil is not about finding definitive answers. Instead, P.Phil offers us ideas and thinking that prick and prod at questions which are universal to the human condition and its many forms of political association. This is true across time.

The first big question that we will be thinking about is the nature of justice. This is one of the most important and basic areas of thought that Socrates addresses.

We ask about justice because of the concern with the all important questions that pertain to the best kind of regime (political system/government). Regimes also refer more broadly to systems that relate to how people live, their way of life, what they belive in and how they defend these values.

So, we stand at the very beginning and your task is to read the prescribed texts that are relevant now. These are: Plato's Apology, Crito and the Republic.

Please follow the prescribed readings and links as indicated in the syllabus.