Dr Kai Spiekermann and Dr Joseph Mazor

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Political Theory. This course is not available as an outside option.

This course provides a systematic introduction to the philosophical and methodological foundations of political theory. It aims to give students a conceptual toolbox that can be brought to bear on many different substantive problems and research questions in political theory and neighbouring fields. Examples of topics covered are: the basics of philosophical reasoning and argumentation; the aims and justifications of political theory; different approaches to the history of political thought and the analysis of political texts; comparative political theory and postmodern theory.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the MT. 1 hour of lectures in the ST.

Week 6 will be a reading and feedback week.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the MT and 1 essay in January.

David Leopold and Marc Stears (eds.) (2008) Political Theory: Methods and Approaches Oxford: (Oxford: Oxford University Press); George Klosko (ed.) (2011) The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press); John S. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig and Anne Phillips (eds.) (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press); Gerald F. Gaus and Chandran Kukathas (2004) Handbook of Political Theory (London: Sage); Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit (eds.) (1993) A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy (Oxford: Blackwell).

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.