Renaissance Political Thought
- Course Code
- PSCI 0040
- Course Type
- Tutorials
- Subject Credit
- Course Availability
This course presents a detailed historical survey of political thinking in the Renaissance. It was during this period that many important and influential political concepts, such as virtue, liberty, equality, power, republics, kingship, and tyranny began to assume the forms that remain familiar to us today. The course analyses the philosophical underpinnings of those concepts, their historical contexts and development, and their changing constellations.
Sample Topics
Dante Alighieri, Monarchy
Marsilius of Padua, Defender of the Peace
Leonardo Bruni, The New Cicero
Coluccio Salutati, On Tyranny
Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier
Francesco Guicciardini, Dialogue on the Government of Florence
Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince
Nicolo Machiavelli, The Discourses