Political Philosophy
Code
711031053
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Filosofia
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Diogo Pires Aurélio, Manuel João Matos
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
1 – To understand the problems posed by the question of politics, in its connection with the other aspects of the human experience, mainly ethics and historicity.
2 – To understand the specificity of Political Philosophy, its own methodological questions and its connection with the other scientific fields which are also concerned with politics.
3 – To understand the main schools and currents in Political Philosophy, as well as its main works, problems and concepts.
4 – Ability to set out and to weigh, from a philosophical perspective, contemporary political situations and decisions
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
1. What is politics? Aristotle, Machiavelli, Schmitt.
2. Basic notions in Political Theory: power, sovereignty, representation, state, civil society.
3. From A Discourse upon inequality to The Social Contract: social inequality and political equality.
4. The Social Contract and the principles of political right:
a) The theory of social contract by Hobbes and by Rousseau.
b) The theory of sovereignty: liberty and general will.
c) Government and the principle that makes up the different forms of government.
5. Reshaping Contractarianism in the 20th century: John Rawls and his critics.
Bibliography
Hobbes, T. (1968). Leviathan. London: Penguin Books (trad.de J.P. Monteiro e M.Beatriz Nizza da Silva. Lisboa: INCM).
Kukathas, C., Pettit P. (1990). Rawls. A Theory of Justice and its Critics. Stanford: Stanford University Press (trad. de Maria Carvalho, Lisboa, Gradiva)
Machiavelli, N. (1995). Il principe. Ed. Giogio Inglese. Torino: Einaudi (trad. de Diogo Pires Aurélio. Lisboa: Temas e Debates)
Matos, M. J. (2008). Rousseau e a lógica da democracia. Lisboa: Edições Colibri.
Aurélio, D. P. (2007). Razão e Violência. Lisboa: Prefácio Editora.
Rousseau, J.-J. (2011). Du contrat Social. Paris: Flammarion (trad. de Mário Franco de Sousa. Lisboa: Editorial Presença).
Rawls, J. (1973). A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press (trad. de Carlos Pinto Correia. Lisboa: Editorial Presença).
Teaching method
The syllabus resorts a two main activities, the one in the first hour of the class, the other in the second one. During the first hour, an explanation of theoretical contents is delivered and followed by questions and a wide debate on the previously presented issues. In the second part of the class, there is room for reading, interpretation and analysis of the texts on which the presented contents were based.
Evaluation method
The evaluation is individual, through two written tests: one in the middle of the semester (25%), the other in the end (75%). Moreover, the students will be encouraged to write small papers, supervised by and discussed with the lecturer, that could matter for improving the mark.