PLSC 114 - Lecture 1 - Introduction: What Is Political Philosophy?

Lecture 1 - Introduction: What Is Political Philosophy?

Overview

Professor Smith discusses the nature and scope of "political philosophy." The oldest of the social sciences, the study of political philosophy must begin with the works of Plato and Aristotle, and examine in depth the fundamental concepts and categories of the study of politics. The questions "which regimes are best?" and "what constitutes good citizenship?" are posed and discussed in the context of Plato's Apology.

Resources

Plato, Apology, translated with an introduction by Benjamin Jowett
Courtesy of the University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection

http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/plato/p71ap/

Assignment

Plato, Apology of Socrates

Course Media

Transcript

html

Audio

mp3

Low Bandwidth Video

mov [100MB]

High Bandwidth Video

mov [500MB]