POSC 151 - Politics and Moral Vision (TH)

This introduction to political theory addresses the ways in which personal morality and ideas of human flourishing determine one’s perceptions and responses to political institutions that shape the life and culture of one’s nation. Using a wide variety of texts, the moral underpinnings of different political systems are discussed in terms of fundamental normative concepts such as right, duty, virtue, liberty, and equality. Other essential terms, basic to building a foundational political vocabulary, such as liberalism, conservatism, individualism, communalism, and modernity are also explored. This introduction to normative political theory gives special emphasis to the genesis and development of liberal democracy and the tensions between its component parts, particularly as they relate to visions of a well-lived, moral life. This course is designed to enrich one’s perceptions of the evening news and the political discourse of our times. (TH)

Credits: 1.00
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: No Senior
Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
Liberal Arts CORE: None

Click here for Course Offerings by term