POE-250 Introduction to Political Philosophy
An introductory survey of western philosophical
ideals regarding political economy. In this
course we examine the major philosophies in
western political economy through careful reading
and analysis of short excerpts of original or
translated texts starting with Plato, then going
through Locke, Smith, Mill, Burke, Marx, Lenin,
anarchists, fascists, contemporary liberals,
conservatives, democratic socialists,
fundamentalists, and various views of feminists and
environmentalists. Students do daily written
analyses of the reading before class and then engage
in Socratic dialogue with the professor. There is
very little lecture.