Introduction

Question 0

What is the object of philosophy?

Answer 0

Epistemology: (thinking) can we acquire knowledge about reality? How? But: difference to cognitive psychology?
Logic: how should we think?

Behaving
Ethics: what should we do? What is good? But: difference to sociology?

Being: metaphysics
What does it mean for something to be? What exists? What is existence?
But difference to physics?

Question 1

What is philosophy?

Answer 1

Philo : Love, friend

Sophia: wisdom, knowledge

But what is the object of philosophy? What is the method of philosophy?

Question 2

What is political philosophy/ political theory?

Answer 2

Political theory “is united by a commitment to theorize, critique, and diagnose the norms, practices, and organization of political actions in the past and present, in our own places and elsewhere..”( dryzek, 2006, p.4)

Question 3

Political theory is..

Answer 3

Partly normative
Is located between political science, philosophy and history
Asks critical questions
Conserves the history of political ideas

Question 4

Topics in political theory

Answer 4

Justice
Power
Pluralism
Democracy
State
Equality
Liberty
Nation property
Identity
Human rights 
Privacy
Politics
Law
Constitution
Republic 
sovereignty
Legitimacy
Authority
Fairness
Society 
Rule of law
Common good
Religion

Question 5

What is history of political thoughts?

Answer 5

First disciplinary approaches:
Robert Blakey : (professor of logic and metaphysics at queens university in Belfast)1855 history of political literature from the earliest times.

William dunning ( professor of history and political philosophy at Columbia university) 1902 history of political theories

George Sabine ( professor at Cornell university) 1937 history of political theory

Sub discipline of political science
Traditionally: commentary of one wise man on the writings of another wise man ( Locke on filmer, Plato on Socrates, thomas of aquin on Aristotle)
In the 19th Century: theories and concepts of a long line of famous thinkers,( not just a chronological line, but the evolution of thought)

Methodology
Interprets historic texts
Contextualism: past political thought is ( partly) explained by the author’s biography and historical context
Comparative approach: thoughts of political thinkers are better understood if compared with each other

History of political thought is “ manifestly unsuited for training political scientists “, because it does not help if we want to create “ a theory of a good political system”; there is a need for becoming more behavioral, positivistic, ahistorical.
(David Easton, 1953 “the political system: an inquiry into the state of political science”)