Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 27
Language
English
Description
As Rawls's theory of distributive justice, and some libertarian critics, were dominating political philosophy, a new group of political theorists called communitarians emerged to critique their views. See how this diverse movement of thinkers concerned with community, civic republicanism, and civil society responded to the individualism and neutrality of Rawls and Nozick.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Does politics demand behavior that is ethically immoral? Do the ends justify the means? Explore the legacy of Niccolò Machiavelli, the first modern political philosopher and political scientist, who broke with the classical virtue politics of Plato, Aristotle, Rome, and medieval Christianity, establishing a new order of political thought that focused on politics in the real world.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
Inspired by the commercial success of Holland and England, a number of 18th-century intellectuals argued that a society of self-interested producers is good, despite its flaunting of traditional, classical, and Christian virtues. Investigate these thinkers, including Voltaire and Adam Smith, who each believed commerce promotes liberty, peace, and prosperity.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 25
Language
English
Description
Is it just for one man to drive a luxury car and eat at expensive restaurants while another goes homeless and hungry? Consider such questions of justice as you explore the views of John Rawls, whose 1971 A Theory of Justice became the most famous justification of welfare liberalism in the late 20th century.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
Explore the first version of social contract theory as espoused by Thomas Hobbes, who based his view on moral relativism and a pessimistic state of nature in which there is a war of all against all. Learn why for society to function, according to Hobbes, the people must give up control to the sovereign, upon which no limits can be placed.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 12
Language
English
Description
Part of the legacy of the French Revolution was the development of two phenomena: nationalism and the modern way of warfare. Look at the philosophical work of military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, who distinguished between "real war" and "pure war" (the latter being the type ushered in by Napoleon), as you consider the novelty and significance of these changes.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 6
Language
English
Description
As the Enlightenment's greatest champion of equality, Swiss writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau endorsed the social contract - but his ideas differed from Hobbes and Locke in critical ways. Here, examine Rousseau's legacy and thought, which sought to structure modern civil society in a way that might recapture what he saw as the independence and equality of primitive society.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 26
Language
English
Description
Take a nuanced look at libertarianism, starting with the views of novelist Ayn Rand, who defended laissez-faire and espoused a philosophy of "objectivism." Then turn to the work Anarchy, State, and Utopia, in which philosopher Robert Nozick provided a libertarian rebuttal to Rawls, laying the groundwork for future disagreements over the welfare state.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
German philosopher Karl Marx's critique of capitalism and vision of communism went unapplied until 1917 in Russia. By 1980, approximately one-third of the world's population lived in countries adhering to his work. Explore Marx's basic claims (formulated in conjunction with Friedrich Engels), which represented the most powerful version of socialism and the greatest threat to liberal capitalism.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
In the 1920s, opposition to bourgeois-led parliamentary democracy split between internationalist socialism and a new nationalist socialism, which came to be called fascism. Explore the roots of fascism and its most sophisticated political thinker, Carl Schmitt, who presents a deep philosophical critique of parliamentary democracy and liberal republicanism.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 36
Language
English
Description
Do we need more government or less? Will the liberal republican model stand up to and address the problems its ever-modernizing society will create? Professor Cahoone concludes by demonstrating how he would work through some of the issues covered. Also, see how Americans - while seemingly hopelessly divided politically - actually disagree less than we might believe.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
From 1900 to 1920, American progressives such as Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Dewey argued for an "organic" view of society against the natural rights, atomistic individualism, and limited government of the 19th century. Understand the role, effects, and issues raised by progressivism and new liberalism in America, including the welfare state.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
Explore the events surrounding World War II, including the role philosophers played and how political philosophers interpreted the new totalitarianism of Russia, Italy, and Germany. Grasp how this period produced our familiar spectrum of international politics, with communism on the far left and fascism on the far right.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 11
Language
English
Description
Where do the political terms "right" and "left" come from? Find out here, in a lecture that explores powerful 19th-century thinkers on both sides of the spectrum, whose reactions to the polarizing French Revolution helped pave the way for more extreme conservatism and anarchist socialism that lasted throughout the century.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
The modern world brought higher standards of living, unprecedented scientific knowledge, and widespread literacy, yet it also undermined tradition and, for many, led to a loss of community. Learn how figures from the newly emerging social sciences, including Max Weber, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche, changed the intellectual environment in attempting to describe this shift.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 35
Language
English
Description
Revisit the topic of the ethics of war, which was touched upon earlier in the course. First, review the three active philosophical positions - pacifism, realism, and just war theory - then look at Michael Walzer's version of just war theory and his take on recent wars from a moral perspective.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 32
Language
English
Description
Postmodern critique has changed the discussions of sociology, literature, philosophy, and political theory by pressing feminist and multiculturalist versions of egalitarian liberalism or progressivism in a radical, anti-Eurocentric direction. Explore some ideas - both leftist and conservative - behind postmodernism in politics, as put forth by Cornel West, Michel Foucault, and others.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 18
Language
English
Description
Explore the growing variants of socialism, including a milder, "evolutionary" socialism in western Europe, an intermediate version of "Western Marxist" political theory, and a more radical, authoritarian communism in Russia. Look closely at the ideas of Vladimir Lenin and get a clear explanation of capitalism vs. communism.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 31
Language
English
Description
Environmentalism has been associated with the political left because it is often in the position of opposing major economic interests. Yet it's fundamentally conservative in that it wants to "go back" to an earlier time. Survey some of the ideas and arguments of this movement and gauge its effect on liberal republican political theory.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Modern political philosophy emerged, along with the rise of modernity, out of medieval feudalism. Delve into the history of politics leading up to 16th-century Europe, including the development of ancient political organization, the ideas of Plato and Aristotle - the first Western political theorists - and the contributions of medieval philosophy, such as the notion of "just war."
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