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POLI 355 Course website

Political Science (POLI) 355
Political Philosophy: Plato to Machiavelli (Revision 1)

Revision 1 closed April 23, 2008, replaced by current version.

Delivery mode: Individualized study or grouped study.

Credits: 3 - Social Science

Prerequisite: None

Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies

POLI 355 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Course website

Overview

POLI 355: Political Philosophy: Plato to Machiavelli provides an overview of classical political thinking about the best life for humankind and the best ways to live together as a community in which members share similar aspirations. The course is divided into two parts; seven units form Part 1 and six units make up Part 2. Part 1 addresses the main similarities and differences in the political ideas of Plato and Aristotle, and forms two-thirds of the course content. These thinkers, arguably, have been the most intellectually significant as well as the most influential philosophical thinkers then or since. Part 2 discusses a handful of philosophers who embroidered in interesting ways on some of the earlier ideas about politics.

Outline

POLI 355 comprises thirteen units in two parts as described below.

Part 1: Perspectives on Political Philosophy

Unit 1: Perennial Questions and Political Philosophy

Unit 2: Plato on Philosophical Inquiry and the Good

Unit 3: Plato on Education

Unit 4: Plato on Decay and Corruption

Unit 5: Aristotle on Human Association and Happiness

Unit 6: Aristotle's Typology of Constitutions

Unit 7: Aristotle on Education, the Ideal State and Revolution

Part 2: Medieval to Modern Political Philosophy

Unit 8: St. Augustine

Unit 9: Hildegard of Bingen

Unit 10: St. Thomas Aquinas

Unit 11: Machiavelli on the Sources of Political Power

Unit 12: Machiavelli on Successful Political Leadership

Unit 13: Conclusion: Changing Answers to Perennial Questions

Evaluation

To receive credit for POLI 355, you must achieve a mark of at least 60 per cent on the final examination and obtain a course composite grade of "D" (50 per cent) or better. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Assignment 3 Final Exam Total
20% 20% 20% 40% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Aquinas, Thomas. St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics. Trans. and Ed. Paul E. Sigmund. New York: Norton, 1988.

Aristotle. The Politics and The Constitution of Athens. Ed. Stephen Everson. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. New edn. Trans. George Bull. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1999.

Plato. Republic. Trans. Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993.

Other materials

The course materials also include a study guide, student manual, a reading file, and forms.