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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

PIED3601 Exploring Political Theory

20 creditsClass Size: 15

Module manager: Graham M Smith
Email: ipigms@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

Pre-requisite qualifications

Some prior knowledge of basic political theory would be helpful, but not essential.

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

What is politics? As students of politics it is surprising how rarely we stop to consider this question. Who should be included in politics, and why? What role do visions of a good political society play in politics? What can we do when we cannot achieve what is good – and what forces play an unspoken role in the shaping of political life? Ultimately where do our values come from, and can politics offer real direction and meaning? This module offers the opportunity to explore the question of the meaning of politics through the exploration of the thought of just two seminal thinkers: Aristotle and Nietzsche. The module gradually explores the ideas of these figures building-up a picture of their thought which will animate it as a complex and living whole. The views that these thinkers offer are sometimes surprising, but they are important as they offer a comprehensive vision or understanding of the meaning and scope of politics. Thus, through a reconstruction and critical engagement with the thinkers’ ideas as a complex whole, we will also come to understand how these thinkers answer the question of ‘what is politics’ – and find that their answers often offer a radical and sometimes unsettling challenge to our own.

Objectives

1. Introduce students to the thought and writings of two seminal figures in political theory.
2. To encourage students to read the texts of those thinkers as systematic wholes.
3. Development of ability to critically engage with complex ideas through reading and analysing the key primary texts.
4. Development of students’ understanding (i.e. a knowledge of structure and connections and an ability to ask new and relevant questions about this structure) of the links between political theory and the wider philosophical, religious, and social positions in which it is situated.
5. To challenge students to develop a conceptualisation of the meaning and scope of ‘the political’.

Learning outcomes
1. A knowledge of key ideas and texts of the thinkers under review.
2. An understanding of how the primary political ideas of those thinkers link together, and how they also link with wider problems/aspects of the figure’s thought.
3. An understanding of the problems that the texts are seeking to identify and address, and their relevance for contemporary theorisations of the political.

On completion of this module students should be able to develop a reasoned argument, synthesise relevant information, exercise critical judgement, and manage and self-critically reflect on, their own learning and make use of constructive feedback. They should be able to communicate effectively and fluently, use communication and information technologies to retrieve and present information. They are expected to work independently and in groups, show initiative, self-organisation and time-management.

Syllabus

This module explores the thought of just two thinkers: Aristotle and Nietzsche. Each week a different section of their texts will be read to build up an understanding of their key political ideas as comprehensive whole. In so doing, students are challenged to consider the meaning and scope of ‘the political’.

Aristotle

Aristotle is often considered to be the founder of political science and first claimed that man is a ‘political animal’. In The Politics Aristotle offers a systematic account of the nature and potential of political life, detailing arrangements for the household, property, slavery, citizenship, just and unjust rule, and the preservation of constitutions. In so doing Aristotle answers the central questions of political theory: who should rule and why; and who gets what and when.

Nietzsche

Although Nietzsche never produced a systematic work of political theory this does not mean that his work is devoid of an account of the political. Endorsing the view that he was an ‘aristocratic radical’ Nietzsche offered an account of politics which saw a constant struggle for order and value. Nietzsche’s great hope was to refashion society to aim for the production of higher types whose health and vitality would give overcome the nihilism of European society after the ‘death of God’.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	11	1.00	11.00
Private study hours			178.00
Total Contact hours			22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students are required to read the core and additional publications listed in the module bibliography in preparation for seminar discussions and essays. This requires careful and reflective reading, note taking, summarising, and preparation for class discussion. Students will be provided with a list of questions to guide their reading and reflection. Where appropriate ‘worksheets’ will be provided to help guide students through the core text.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored by means of the following formative modes of assessment:

Student contributions to class discussion.

Two seminar ‘quizzes’ which will help a student to identify their progress (and areas where more study is required).

Weekly worksheets guiding students through the readings and enabling them to identify the key points.

Opportunities for individual discussions outside seminar times.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 3,000 word, end-of-semester, essay	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 00 mins	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 17/03/2015

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