Open Educational Resources
Document Type
Syllabus
Publication Date
8-12-2026
Abstract
This syllabus was created for Political Philosophy (PHILO 24600) (POLSC 20401) at Hunter College. It is an intermediate/advanced introduction to key texts in the history of political philosophy. Course description: In this course, we will journey through the major contributions of those thinkers that have shaped the field we call political philosophy. We will begin with Plato and Aristotle, followed by the social contract theorists of the early modern period—Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau—before turning to the critical perspectives of Fanon and Marx. We will then turn to the vastly influential work of 20th century liberal philosopher John Rawls and consider critical responses to his work from Carole Pateman and Charles Mills. Lastly, we’ll close by considering more contemporary ideas about our responsibility for promoting justice from Iris Marion Young and G.A. Cohen, and, finally, reflect on the nature of political philosophy as a tradition of thought and its future.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
CUNY OER Funding
CUNY OER Initiative
Comments
Funded in part by the CUNY OER Initiative. Created as part of the Open Knowledge Fellowship, a program of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Mina Rees Library.