ADM2121 HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT I
| Course Code: | 3102121 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 6.0 |
| Department: | Political Science and Public Adm. |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Assoc.Prof.Dr. MEHMET OKYAYUZ |
| Offered Semester: | Fall Semesters. |
Course Objectives
- Enabling the students to understand reference points for modern political systems, theoretical-philosophical approaches and conceptualizations of state and society
- Enabling the students to understand the meaning of words, that means their real content within the framework of material and ideal processes during history
- Enabling the students to understand different ‘types’ of thinking during time, and the historico-social conditions in which they emerged
- Enabling the students to understand interrelations of the above mentioned historico-social conditions with a ‘history of mind’
- Having the above mentioned objectives in mind the students should be enabled to ‘read between the lines’ rather than to make solely pure textual readings
Course Content
This two-semester course aims to give the students a broad perspective on the developments in the history of political philosophy. It starts with the pre-Socratic philosophers of nature and Socratic criticism of conventions through dialogue. Following the significant turn brought by the Platonic-Aristotelian tradition, the course examines Hellenistic worldviews and medieval outlook to political affairs. Some of the themes that are surveyed in this course are early philosophical reflection on nature and human essence, time and matter, theory of forms, questions of justice, equality and freedom, practices concerning the self and the good life, and, the rising or declining significance attributed to political participation.
Course Learning Outcomes
After a successful completion of the course the students should be able to:
- Understand concepts such as ‘freedom’, ‘authority’, souvereignty’, ‘power’, ‘citizenship’, ‘politics’, ‘society’ and more, which have structurized and are continuing to structurize contemporary approaches to state and society, in a comprehensive sense
- Locate and evaluate the above mentioned concepts in concrete political statements and progammes
- Understand, analyze and evaluate attempts to define and organize socio-political and cultural patterns of transformation by understanding the theoretical-philosophical basis of these attempts
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Ability to reach the information they need in their daily lives, and to interpret it | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Being in command of the basic concepts of law | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Understanding the political, economical, and social transformations that occur in a wide range of areas including local and international levels | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Defining and solving problems encountered in political, social, and economic life | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Being conscious, effective and rational citizens who can comprehend the transformations taking place in Turkey and in the world today | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Being professionals who can operate as productive participants in any public organization | ✔ | |||
| 7 | Having the knowledge about how public organizations function and how their decision making processes and mechanisms work | ✔ | |||
| 8 | Developing original solutions to the problems faced in relation to their own area of interest | ✔ | |||
| 9 | Critical thinking ability | ✔ | |||
| 10 | Being in command of the interdisciplinary approaches | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution