POLITICS
D E P A R T M EN T of
& P U BL I C A D M I N I S T RA T I O N
PO4022 Modern European Political Thought
Andrew Shorten; F1014; [email protected]
Aims and Objectives
This module will introduce you to some of the main authors and themes of the western tradition of
political thought. We will concentrate on seven major political thinkers: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau,
Wollstonecraft, Bentham, Mill and Marx. A number of important questions will be explored: Why do
some persons have the right to rule over others? Why should citizens obey the law? How far is
government compatible with the liberty of the individual? What makes for a just law? What rights do
individuals have against the state?
In the language of political theory these are questions about authority, obligation, legitimacy, justice,
liberty, equality, autonomy and consent. Such issues have been examined by political thinkers from
earliest times who have addressed them in different ways and offered conflicting solutions to each. We
study these seven political theorists because they have explored these questions with exceptional insight
and thoroughness.
Contents
The Problem of Political Obligation; Hobbes on the State of Nature; Hobbes on Absolute Sovereignty;
Locke on the State of Nature; Locke on Consent and Political Authority; Locke and Distributive Justice;
Rousseau and the State of Nature; Rousseau on Political Legitimacy; Rousseau on the General Will;
Wollstonecraft, Burke and 1789; Wollstonecraft on Reason, Gender and Society; Bentham and
Utilitarianism; Bentham on Hedonism; Bentham on Punishment; Mill on the Liberty Principle; Mill on
Freedom of Expression; Marx on Class; Marx on History and Capitalism; Marx on Communism.
Core Readings
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Leviathan (1651)
John Locke (1632-1734), Second Treatise of Government (1689)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-88), The Social Contract (1762)
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97), A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789)
John Stuart Mill (1806-73), On Liberty (1859)
Karl Marx (1818-83) & Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), The Communist Manifesto (1848)