From the Ancient Greeks to Modern Pluralism: Political Thought from Aristotle to Berlin

This course is an exploration of some of the key writers in the History of Political thought, centering on the question of how best to govern a people. Students will engage with the changing approaches to this issue from Aristotle’s six-part categorisation of government through to twentieth-century approaches to democratic pluralism.

Through their reading, students will gain an appreciation of the importance of context, the role of ideas and concepts in history and politics, and the varieties of ways one can think about governance.