Skeiðsgongd

Course information

Title: Political Theory and History of Ideas
Course number: 2143.16
Academic year: 2024-2025
ECTS: 10.00
Level: Bachelor
Faculties: History and Social Sciences
Educations: BA in History, BSSc in Political Science, BSSc in Social Sciences
Prerequisites: Secondary education or equivalent qualifications.
Language of instruction: Faroese
Registration: Students on the third semester of Bachelor of Arts in History are automatically enrolled. Applicants for an individual course must apply via the Student Service Center at lss@setur.fo
Beginning date: Sunday, September 1, 2024
End date: Thursday, December 5, 2024

Academic content

Purpose: The course will give the student an overview of, and insight into, main concepts in political thought from Plato to today.
Learning outcomes: The student shall: • Know the names of the key thinkers in political thought, when they lived, and the historical background and circumstances (context) they lived in. • Be able to explain the main ideas and main lines of reasoning in the political thinking of the studied authors. • Independently describe and analyse the importance of selected political thinkers for contemporary society.
Content: What is the best way to organise a society? What are the advantages of a democratic system compared to a dictatorship? Plato was sceptical about both systems and Churchill thought that democracy was the worst of all political systems, except for all other political systems. The question about how to best organise society has occupied philosophers over 2500 years. We live in a world with many political systems and the question will most likely re-emerge as long people live together in a community. In this course the student will learn about the key thinkers in political thought throughout history. Some of the key thinkers explored are Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Hobbs, and Rawls (the lecturer decides on the final list).
Learning and teaching approaches: The course (30 hours in total) consists of lectures and active student participations in class.

Assessment

Assessment method: Oral exam with ½ hour preparation. It is permitted to bring all course material from the course and ones own notes into the preparation hall.
Examination (internal/external): External
Grading scale: 7-scale
Exam date/dates: The oral exam is set for the 10th of January, 2025
Deadline for withdrawal from exam: Sunday, September 1, 2024

Academic responsibility and teachers

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