IS POLITICS NECESSARY?

We often feel we already know enough about politics. It plays out on our screens, our podcasts and even in our colony parks. Where is the need for an academic course on politics? What can a course tell us that we do not already know?

This course’s perspective on politics is distinguished by our focus on larger questions. These foundational questions are often ignored in partisan arguments that take place around us. For instance, we ask: what purpose do politics and political institutions serve? Are they necessary for peaceful collective co-existence, as British philosopher Thomas Hobbes suggested? Or are they necessary, perhaps as an essential constituent of happy human life itself, like the Greek philosopher Aristotle had surmised.

We also ask what a just political and constitutional order looks like – a question American philosopher John Rawls attempted to answer. Further, is liberal democracy and its talk of law and rights merely a facade for ruling interests, as Marxists argue? This course deals with such philosophical questions about politics and places it on the larger map of human experience. We reflect on the finest writings in the subject, including those of Aristotle, Hobbes, Gandhi, Ambedkar, Richard Rorty and Martha Nussbaum.

Specialised disciplinary knowledge is not a prerequisite for the course. It is open to all adults keen on raising questions central to our political experience. (Note: Unless specified otherwise, primary texts are read via curated selections and excerpts.)