Syllabus
POL228(01)
History of Political Philosophy – Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance
Fall 2025
MW 14:30-15:59 (JOH 153)
Dr. Don Dombowsky
Office Hours: By Appointment (NIC 103)
e-mail: ddombows@ubishops.ca
Course Description
A study of the history of Western political philosophy through an analysis of the major classical theories from Plato to the Humanistic age of the Renaissance. Some of the questions explored will include those concerning justice, the state, citizenship, the best constitution, natural law, just war, colonization and genocide. (20th and 21st-century political philosophers discussed will include Leo Strauss, Karl Popper, Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, J. G. A. Pocock, Raphael Lemkin, Carl Schmitt and Immanuel Wallerstein).
Required Texts (available in the bookstore)
Aristotle, The Politics (Penguin Classics).
St. Thomas Aquinas, On Law, Morality, and Politics (Hackett).
Cicero, The Republic and The Laws (Oxford).
Plato, The Republic (Basic Books).
Online Texts (links are provided in the Syllabus).
Course Requirements
1. In-Class Questions: 10%. (Sept. 15th-Dec. 1st)
2. Take-Home Questions on Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, John of Salisbury, Machiavelli, Vitoria, Las Casas, La Boetie: 90%. Instructions TBA.
Extensions on all assignments will be provided only for a compelling reason and if notification has been given prior to the due date. (Having work due in other courses does not constitute a compelling reason.) Otherwise, with each day late you will be deducted 1 mark. Please read the section on Academic Integrity, specifically pertaining to plagiarism, in the Bishop’s University Calendar, p. 19.
SCHEDULE
WK I. Sept. 03: Introduction: What is Political Philosophy and How May We Characterize Classical Political Philosophy? (Lecture based on Leo Strauss, ‘What is Political Philosophy’, 1954-55).
Ancient Greek and Roman Political Philosophy
WK II. Sept. 08: Plato (c. 429-347 BCE), The Republic (c. 380 BCE), Bk I.
Sept. 10: The Republic, Bk II.
WK III. Sept. 15: The Republic, Bks III-IV. (from this date Student Questions are required until Dec. 1st)
Sept. 17: The Republic, Bks V & VII.
WK IV. Sept. 22: The Republic, Bks VIII-IX (Take-Home Question on Plato/Chomsky-Foucault Debate on Human Nature, 1971). Refocus: Karl Popper: The Open Society and its Enemies (1945).
Sept. 24: Aristotle (384-322 BCE), The Politics (350 BCE), Bk I Chs i-xiii, Bk II Chs i-v.
WK V. Sept. 29: The Politics, Bk III Chs. i-xiii.
Oct. 01: The Politics, Bk IV Chs i-xii, Bk VII, Chs i-iii, xiii-xvii. (Take-Home Question on Plato/Chomsky and Foucault Debate due).
WK VI. Oct. 06: The Politics, Bk VIII, Chs i-vii. Refocus: J. G. A. Pocock: The Ideal of Citizenship Since Classical Times (1992). (Take-Home Question on Aristotle).
Oct. 08: Cicero (106-43 BCE), The Republic (54-51 BCE), Bks 1, 3, and 6.
WK VII. Oct. 13-Oct. 17: Reading Week
WK VIII. Oct. 20: Cicero (106-43 BCE), The Republic (54-51 BCE), Bks 1, 3, 6. (Take-Home Question on Aristotle due).
Oct. 22: Cicero, The Laws (52 BCE), Bks 1-3. Refocus: Michel Foucault, Technologies of the Self (1982). (Take-Home Question on Cicero).
Medieval Political Philosophy
WK IX. Oct. 27: An Introduction to Medieval Political Philosophy.
Oct. 29: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), On Law, Morality, and Politics, from The Summa Theologica (1265-74), ‘2. Law’, ST I-II, Questions 90-95. ‘5. War and Killing’, ST II-II, Questions 40 and 64.
WK X. Nov. 03: Aquinas, On Kingship (c. 1271), Book One, Chs 1-13. (Take-Home Question on Cicero due).
https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/DeRegno.htm (Take-Home Question on Aquinas).
Nov. 05: John of Salisbury (1110s-1180), Policraticus (1159), Book Four, Chapters I-IV.
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/salisbury-poli4.asp
Renaissance Political Philosophy
WK XI. Nov. 10: Open Lecture on Jacob Burckhardt, ‘The State as a Work of Art’ from The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). (Take-Home Question on John of Salisbury)
Nov. 12: Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy (1517) ‘Of Conspiracies’, Third Book, Chapter 6. https://identityhunters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/niccolo-machiavelli-discourses-of-livy.pdf (Take-Home Question on Aquinas due).
WK XII. Nov. 17: Open Lecture on Genocide. Refocus: Raphael Lemkin, Convention on Genocide (1948). (Take-Home Question on John of Salisbury due).
Nov. 19: Francisco de Vitoria (1486-1546), Theological Lectures XII, Part 2, The Law of War on Indians Francisco de Vitoria & the Rights of the Indians, Pt. II – De Indis, cont. | FEATHERFOLK NOTES (1532). Refocus: Carl Schmitt: The Nomos of the Earth (1950). (Take-Home Question on Machiavelli).
WK XIII. Nov. 24: Bartolomé De Las Casas (1484-1566), A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1542). https://web.as.uky.edu/history/faculty/myrup/his208/Casas,%20Bartolome%20de%20las%20-%20Short%20Account%20(1992,%20excerpts).pdf
Refocus: Immanuel Wallerstein, ‘Whose Right to Intervene? Universal Values Against Barbarism’ from European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power (2006).
Nov. 26: Étienne de La Boétie (1530-1563), The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (1552-53), Part I-Part II. (Take-Home Question on Machiavelli due).
https://cdn.mises.org/Politics%20of%20Obedience.pdf
WK XIV. Dec. 01: de La Boétie, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (1552-53), Part III.
(Take-Home Questions On Vitoria, Las Casas and La Boetie).
End of Classes.
Significant Readings in the Timeline
Confucius, The Analects (c. 500 BC)
Sun Tzu, The Art of War (c. 500 BCE)
Xenophon, Hiero (c. 474 BCE)
Plato, The Apology (c. 399 BCE)
Plato Gorgias (c. 380 BCE)
Plato, Crito (360 BCE)
Plato, The Statesman (360 BCE)
Plato, The Laws (346 BCE)
Julius Caesar, Seven Commentaries on The Gallic War (58-52 BCE)
Cicero, On Duty (44 BCE)
Sallust, Conspiracy of Catiline (43-40 BCE)
Seneca, On Mercy (56 CE)
Tacitus, Germania (98 CE)
Plutarch, Life of Caesar (110 CE)
Arthashastra (2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE)
St Augustine, The City of God (413-426 CE)
Al-Farabi, The Virtuous City (c. 870-950)
Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed (1190)
Averroes, Commentary on Plato’s Republic (1194)
The Magna Carta (1215)
Bruno Latini, The Book of Treasures (1260-1267)
Ptolemy of Lucca, On the Government of Rulers (c.1300)
Giles of Rome, On Ecclesiastical Power (1302)
James of Viterbo, On Christian Rulership (1302)
John of Paris, On Royal and Papal Power (1302)
Dante Alighieri, De Monarchia (c. 1308-21)
Marsilius of Padua, The Defender of the Peace (1324)
William of Pagula, The Mirror of King Edward III (1332)
William of Ockham, A Short Discourse on the Tyrannical Government Usurped by Some Who Are Called Highest Pontiffs (1342)
John Wycliffe, On the Duty of the King (1377)
Jean Gerson, On the Spiritual Life of the Soul (1402)
Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)
Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Body Politic (c.1407),
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
Thomas More, Utopia (1516)
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Art of War (1519-1520)
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty (1520)
Martin Luther, On War Against the Turk (1520)
Martin Luther, Temporal Authority, To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (1523)
John Calvin, On Civil Government (1534)
Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
John Fortescue, In Praise of the Laws of England (1543)
Jean Bodin, Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576)
Philippe du Plessis-Mornay, Defence of Liberty Against Tyrants (1579)
POL228(01)
History of Political Philosophy – Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance
Fall 2025
MW 14:30-15:59 (JOH 153)
Dr. Don Dombowsky
Office Hours: By Appointment (NIC 103)
e-mail: ddombows@ubishops.ca
Course Description
A study of the history of Western political philosophy through an analysis of the major classical theories from Plato to the Humanistic age of the Renaissance. Some of the questions explored will include those concerning justice, the state, citizenship, the best constitution, natural law, just war, colonization and genocide. (20th and 21st-century political philosophers discussed will include Leo Strauss, Karl Popper, Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, J. G. A. Pocock, Raphael Lemkin, Carl Schmitt and Immanuel Wallerstein).
Required Texts (available in the bookstore)
Aristotle, The Politics (Penguin Classics).
St. Thomas Aquinas, On Law, Morality, and Politics (Hackett).
Cicero, The Republic and The Laws (Oxford).
Plato, The Republic (Basic Books).
Online Texts (links are provided in the Syllabus).
Course Requirements
1. In-Class Questions: 10%. (Sept. 15th-Dec. 1st)
2. Take-Home Questions on Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, John of Salisbury, Machiavelli, Vitoria, Las Casas, La Boetie: 90%. Instructions TBA.
Extensions on all assignments will be provided only for a compelling reason and if notification has been given prior to the due date. (Having work due in other courses does not constitute a compelling reason.) Otherwise, with each day late you will be deducted 1 mark. Please read the section on Academic Integrity, specifically pertaining to plagiarism, in the Bishop’s University Calendar, p. 19.
SCHEDULE
WK I. Sept. 03: Introduction: What is Political Philosophy and How May We Characterize Classical Political Philosophy? (Lecture based on Leo Strauss, ‘What is Political Philosophy’, 1954-55).
Ancient Greek and Roman Political Philosophy
WK II. Sept. 08: Plato (c. 429-347 BCE), The Republic (c. 380 BCE), Bk I.
Sept. 10: The Republic, Bk II.
WK III. Sept. 15: The Republic, Bks III-IV. (from this date Student Questions are required until Dec. 1st)
Sept. 17: The Republic, Bks V & VII.
WK IV. Sept. 22: The Republic, Bks VIII-IX (Take-Home Question on Plato/Chomsky-Foucault Debate on Human Nature, 1971). Refocus: Karl Popper: The Open Society and its Enemies (1945).
Sept. 24: Aristotle (384-322 BCE), The Politics (350 BCE), Bk I Chs i-xiii, Bk II Chs i-v.
WK V. Sept. 29: The Politics, Bk III Chs. i-xiii.
Oct. 01: The Politics, Bk IV Chs i-xii, Bk VII, Chs i-iii, xiii-xvii. (Take-Home Question on Plato/Chomsky and Foucault Debate due).
WK VI. Oct. 06: The Politics, Bk VIII, Chs i-vii. Refocus: J. G. A. Pocock: The Ideal of Citizenship Since Classical Times (1992). (Take-Home Question on Aristotle).
Oct. 08: Cicero (106-43 BCE), The Republic (54-51 BCE), Bks 1, 3, and 6.
WK VII. Oct. 13-Oct. 17: Reading Week
WK VIII. Oct. 20: Cicero (106-43 BCE), The Republic (54-51 BCE), Bks 1, 3, 6. (Take-Home Question on Aristotle due).
Oct. 22: Cicero, The Laws (52 BCE), Bks 1-3. Refocus: Michel Foucault, Technologies of the Self (1982). (Take-Home Question on Cicero).
Medieval Political Philosophy
WK IX. Oct. 27: An Introduction to Medieval Political Philosophy.
Oct. 29: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), On Law, Morality, and Politics, from The Summa Theologica (1265-74), ‘2. Law’, ST I-II, Questions 90-95. ‘5. War and Killing’, ST II-II, Questions 40 and 64.
WK X. Nov. 03: Aquinas, On Kingship (c. 1271), Book One, Chs 1-13. (Take-Home Question on Cicero due).
https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/DeRegno.htm (Take-Home Question on Aquinas).
Nov. 05: John of Salisbury (1110s-1180), Policraticus (1159), Book Four, Chapters I-IV.
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/salisbury-poli4.asp
Renaissance Political Philosophy
WK XI. Nov. 10: Open Lecture on Jacob Burckhardt, ‘The State as a Work of Art’ from The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). (Take-Home Question on John of Salisbury)
Nov. 12: Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy (1517) ‘Of Conspiracies’, Third Book, Chapter 6. https://identityhunters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/niccolo-machiavelli-discourses-of-livy.pdf (Take-Home Question on Aquinas due).
WK XII. Nov. 17: Open Lecture on Genocide. Refocus: Raphael Lemkin, Convention on Genocide (1948). (Take-Home Question on John of Salisbury due).
Nov. 19: Francisco de Vitoria (1486-1546), Theological Lectures XII, Part 2, The Law of War on Indians Francisco de Vitoria & the Rights of the Indians, Pt. II – De Indis, cont. | FEATHERFOLK NOTES (1532). Refocus: Carl Schmitt: The Nomos of the Earth (1950). (Take-Home Question on Machiavelli).
WK XIII. Nov. 24: Bartolomé De Las Casas (1484-1566), A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1542). https://web.as.uky.edu/history/faculty/myrup/his208/Casas,%20Bartolome%20de%20las%20-%20Short%20Account%20(1992,%20excerpts).pdf
Refocus: Immanuel Wallerstein, ‘Whose Right to Intervene? Universal Values Against Barbarism’ from European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power (2006).
Nov. 26: Étienne de La Boétie (1530-1563), The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (1552-53), Part I-Part II. (Take-Home Question on Machiavelli due).
https://cdn.mises.org/Politics%20of%20Obedience.pdf
WK XIV. Dec. 01: de La Boétie, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (1552-53), Part III.
(Take-Home Questions On Vitoria, Las Casas and La Boetie).
End of Classes.
Significant Readings in the Timeline
Confucius, The Analects (c. 500 BC)
Sun Tzu, The Art of War (c. 500 BCE)
Xenophon, Hiero (c. 474 BCE)
Plato, The Apology (c. 399 BCE)
Plato Gorgias (c. 380 BCE)
Plato, Crito (360 BCE)
Plato, The Statesman (360 BCE)
Plato, The Laws (346 BCE)
Julius Caesar, Seven Commentaries on The Gallic War (58-52 BCE)
Cicero, On Duty (44 BCE)
Sallust, Conspiracy of Catiline (43-40 BCE)
Seneca, On Mercy (56 CE)
Tacitus, Germania (98 CE)
Plutarch, Life of Caesar (110 CE)
Arthashastra (2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE)
St Augustine, The City of God (413-426 CE)
Al-Farabi, The Virtuous City (c. 870-950)
Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed (1190)
Averroes, Commentary on Plato’s Republic (1194)
The Magna Carta (1215)
Bruno Latini, The Book of Treasures (1260-1267)
Ptolemy of Lucca, On the Government of Rulers (c.1300)
Giles of Rome, On Ecclesiastical Power (1302)
James of Viterbo, On Christian Rulership (1302)
John of Paris, On Royal and Papal Power (1302)
Dante Alighieri, De Monarchia (c. 1308-21)
Marsilius of Padua, The Defender of the Peace (1324)
William of Pagula, The Mirror of King Edward III (1332)
William of Ockham, A Short Discourse on the Tyrannical Government Usurped by Some Who Are Called Highest Pontiffs (1342)
John Wycliffe, On the Duty of the King (1377)
Jean Gerson, On the Spiritual Life of the Soul (1402)
Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)
Christine de Pizan, The Book of the Body Politic (c.1407),
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
Thomas More, Utopia (1516)
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Art of War (1519-1520)
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty (1520)
Martin Luther, On War Against the Turk (1520)
Martin Luther, Temporal Authority, To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (1523)
John Calvin, On Civil Government (1534)
Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies (1543)
John Fortescue, In Praise of the Laws of England (1543)
Jean Bodin, Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576)
Philippe du Plessis-Mornay, Defence of Liberty Against Tyrants (1579)
- Teacher: Don Dombowsky