FOUNTAIN UNIVERSITY, OSOGBO.
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT & SOCIAL SCIENCES
2015 / 2016 ACADEMIC SESSION (1ST SEMESTER)
COURSE: POL. 203 – HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
LECTURER: Dr. RAJI AdesinaAbdulfattahB.Sc. (Hons.), M.A, M.Sc, PGDE, Ph.D
DURATION: Two Hours Per Week
E-mail: [email protected];[email protected]
1. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Political philosophy consists of two sorts of intellectual activities. The first is
the analysis of the concepts which are used by political actors and the second
type is the statement and defense of the moral truths which ought to govern men
in their political behavior: the proper goals of the state, the principles of justice,
the rights and duties of the citizens.
The study of history of classical and modern political thinkers is to investigate
their adopted methods either historical, logical or philosophical approach to
study politics. Therefore, the course provides the students with the knowledge
of political institutions and conflicts of different historical societies. It discusses
some very significant problems in a logical manner and thus exposes the
students to the art of systematic and rational thinking on political issues.
2. COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to introduce students to several issues in the study of
political thoughts of some selected classical and modern political thinkers.
Basically, it is to discover how the political thought later developed into
veritable ideas dealing with the origin of state, the theory of state, the form of
state and sovereignty power. It is to examine how these political thinkers
developed their opinions into theories, and how these differences in their
theories resulted into different school of thought that substantially laid the
foundation of understanding the history of political thought.
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Course Outline
2015/2016 Academic Session
3. COURSE REQUIREMENT
As a matter of fact, for any student to be able to scale through at the end of this
course, the underlisted conditions must be duly fulfilled:
(i)
Class attendance
(ii)
Seminar / assignment
(iii)
Mid-semester test
(iv)
Semester examination
However, the evaluation of students in this course will be based on 30%
continuous assessment which will be composed of class attendance,
assignment/seminar and test, while 70% is for the semester examination.
Meanwhile, the students are reminded that failure to obtain 70% attendance
would automatically disqualify any students from sitting for the final exams.
Accordingly; to allow students to be quite familiar and exposed to some ideas in
the History of Political Thought, the mode of instruction will include formal
lectures and seminar presentations by students on the assigned topics.
4. COURSE OUTLINE
The course is structured to examine the following selected classical political
thinkers:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(ix)
(x)
Plato
Aristotle
Niccolo Machievelli
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Karl Marx
Frantz Fanon
L.S Senghor
Kwame Nkrumah
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5. READING LIST
‘A man who does not read has no advantage over a man who cannot read’ To
broaden students intellectual horizon and prepares them adequately for
thorough analysis of issues, the following relevant books should be consulted.
1. Colletti, L. (1972). From Rousseau to Lenin : Studies in ideology and
society. New York : Monthly Review Press.
2. Colletti, L. (ed.) (1975). Karl Marx: Early writings. London : Pelican.
3. Hobbes, T. (1968). Leviathan.Harmondsworth : Penguin
4. Hibbin, S. et al (eds.) (1978). Politics, ideology and the state. London :
Lawrence &Wishart.
5. Jessop, B. (1982). The capitalist state. Oxford: Martin Robertson.
6. MaChiavelli, M. (1988). The Price. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
7. Blackburn, R. (ed.) (1972). Ideoolgy in social science. London : Fontana
.
8. Rosenberg, A. (1995). The philosophy of social science. Boulder, Co:
Westview Press.
9. Rugman, A. (2000). The end of globalization. London Random House.
10.Mutico, G.C. &Rohio S. W. (eds.) (1987). Reading in African political
thought.Nigeria : Heinemann Educational Books Limited.
11.Berlin, I. (1996). Karl Marx. New York: Oxford University Press.
12.______. (1992). Political thinkers. Forth Warth: Holt Reinhart and
Winston, Inc.
13.Curtis, M. (ed.) (1962). The great political theories. New York: Avan
14.Dahl, R. (1991). Modern political analysis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice
Hall
15.Easton, D. (1965). A framework for political analysis. Englewood cliffs,
N.J :Prentice Hall.
16.Luth, R. (1997). Political science in theory and practice: The “politics”
model. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe
17.Laver, M. (1992). Private desires political actions: An invitation to the
politics of rational choice. Thousand Oaks, C.A: Saga publication.
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18.Lipset, S. M. (1981). Political man: The social bases of politics.
Baltimore, M.D: Johns Hopkins University press.
19.Swenson, J. (2000). On Jean – Jacques Rousseaus considered as one of
the first authors of the revolution. Stanford, C.A: Stanford University
Press.
20.Tannenbaum, D & David, S. (1998). Investors of ideas: An introduction
to Western political philosophy. New York. ST. Martins.
21.Lane, J, David, M & Kenneth, N. (1996). Political data handbook.
London: Oxford University Press.
22.Wrong, D. (1979). Power.New York: Harper & Row.
23.Wolf, R. P. (ed.) (1966). Political man and social man: Readings in
political philosophy. Canada Random House, Inc.
24.Heywood,A. (2004). Political theory: An introduction. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
25.Cress, D. A. (trans.) (1987). Jean – Jacques Rousseau: The basic political
writings. Indianapolis / Cambridge: Hackett Publishing company.
26.Althusser, I . (1969). For Marx.London : Allen Lane.
27.Avieri, S. (1968). The social and political thoughts of Karl Marx.
Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Note: The references are the basis of all academic study, and they are
particularly important in enabling curious mind to pursue a research
independently and outside a small group of specialists. Therefore, the ability
to consult most of these books will place the course in proper perspective
and facilitate the indepth and thorough understanding of issues as contained
in the course outline.
6. SEMINAR QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of political thought? Explain the relevance of
political thought to the study of political science.
2. Compare and contrast the main thrust of Plato and Aristotle thoughts.
3. Examine the relevance of John Locke’s Social Contract Theory to the
contemporary political system
4. Discuss the contributions of Machiavelli to political development in
Europe.
5. Write short notes on any two (2) of the following
a. Karl Marx
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2015/2016 Academic Session
b. Thomas Hobbes
c. John Locke
d. Kwame Nkrumah
6. Why was Thomas Hobbes regarded as the promoter of an absolute
government?
7. Critically examine the position of Plato on the issue of private property.
8. Identify and explain the defining characteristics of political thought
9. Discuss the arguments of Niccolo Machiavelli and Morality and Politics
10.Examine the arguments of Aristotle on:
a. Nature and Purpose of the State
b. Constitution and Government
c. Discuss the contribution of Thomas Hobbes to the history of political
thought
11.Although John Locke is a social contract theorists like Thomas Hobbes,
he disagrees with Hobbes on the best form of government and powers of
the state. Discuss.
12.Advice a new “prince” on the concept of power and the military.
13.Political thought has been described as man’s conscious attempt at
understanding and solving and problems of his group life and
organization as they relate to politics. Discuss.
14.Write a short note on each of the following theories of state
a. The Natural Theory
b. Divine Theory
c. Theory of Social contract
d. Marxist theory
15.Is “The Republic”, Plato condemned Democracy and prescribed what was
termed Philosophical Aristocracy. Do you agree with him?
16.Provide brief exposition of Aristotle’s Theory of State
17.(a)Discuss the Machiavellian condition for a stable government as
espoused in ”The Prince”.
(b) The Polis explains the Greek conception of the political community,
what were the features of Polis?
18.Discuss the relevance of Political Thought in a modern society.
19.Give detailed analysis of the assumptions of Social Contract theorists on
the emergence of the state.
20.What is the major cause of revolution in human society? Explain the
basic defining elements of a revolution.
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21.Discuss the contributions of Aristotle’s of Political Thought in the
following areas:
i.
Type of Government
ii.
Purpose of Government
iii. Constitution
22. Examine the arguments of Niccolo Machiavelli on the use of the State
Power and Political Morality.
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