IRS223

History of Political Thought

Objectives: What is political thought or political philosophy? It simply looks like a branch of political science. One could argue that political thought is yet another subfield of political science just like Turkish politics, international relations, or comparative politics. However, as its purpose is to lay bare the fundamental problems, concepts, and categories which frame the study of politics, political thought is actually the oldest and most fundamental part of political science. In this respect, it constitutes the foundation of the entire discipline. Without grasping the stakes involved in the history of political thought, students of politics could adopt shallow and reductionist positions with respect to contemporary politics. When it is interpreted as the study of the great books or great thinkers of the past, political thought could easily degenerate into a kind of antiquarianism, which risks overlooking the issues of our contemporary world. Students of political science study the classical texts of political thought because they provide us with the most basic questions that continue to guide our field. They remain in many ways constitutive of our most basic outlooks and attitudes regarding the deepest problems of political life. They provide us with a repository of fundamental questions that political scientists still continue to rely on in their work. Among the great thinkers, however, there is profound disagreement over the answers to even the most fundamental questions of political science concerning justice, politics, morality, liberty, and so on and so forth and it is precisely this disagreement that makes it possible for us to enter into their conversation.