POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

이 강좌는 우리가 사는 세계의 정치질서에 대한 이해와 그 바람직한 모습에 대한 탐구를 목적으로 한다. 사실 인간이 사는 정치질서는 자연적 질서에 기초를 하고 있지만, 역사가 보여주듯이 자연적인 질서라 할 수 없는 인위적 창조물이다. 우리는 이런 정치질서를 현실적으로 냉정하게 이해하면서, 그 바람직한 모습이 어떠해야 하는 지에 대하여 같이 탐구해나갈 것이다.

The class will look at the most important classical texts of philosophical political thinking from Ancient Greek philosophy up to modernity. We will try to understand how the ideas of 'modern democratic government' have evolved and we will look at main challenges of Western democracies in the age of polarisation and globalisation. We will both look at idealistic texts that speak about philosophical principles of ideal politics, focussing on different theories of the ideal common good, and at so called 'realistic views' that examine the concept of 'power' and 'interests'. We will summarise and analyse the main thoughts and arguments from conservative up to progressive traditions, and take a look at challenges and future goals of politics from a philosophical perspective.

The general rules of our school apply. If the student misses more than 1/3 of the class they cannot get a passing grade. The student should have English reading and listening skills, English speaking or writing skills are helpful, but not required. The class is taught in English, but help with the English language is provided. The specific rules of the class will be explained in the first week of the class.

The general rules of our school apply. If the student misses more than 1/3 of the class they cannot get a passing grade. The student should have English reading and listening skills, English speaking or writing skills are helpful, but not required. The class is taught in English, but help with the English language is provided. The specific rules of the class will be explained in the first week of the class.

Since we cannot help but to live together with other humans, it is useful to be aware of the rich tradition of ideas about how to live together. Living together in a society is both a necessity, but also comes along with a tremendous amount of benefits. However, In every society, people have competing interests (such that person A getting their wishes fulfilled means person B's goal are sacrificed). Competing interests lead to conflicts some of which need to be solved on the political level. Simply put, "power" and or "legitimation" are the tools by which we try to 'solve' such conflicts. We will begin the class by clarifying key concepts of political philosophy, and then take a look at a range of different position from the history of political philosophy.