Undergraduate Course: Freedom In Political Theory (PLIT10074)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Liberty, or freedom, is one of the most fundamental concepts in political theory. (Indeed it could be argued that all political theory is, at root, about freedom.) All political theories say something about its proper weight and limits, its relationship with other political values and concepts such as autonomy, justice, authority, legitimacy, coercion, equality, power, citizenship, and obligation, and its implications for institutional organisation, interpersonal relationships, and person-institution relationship such as that between the individual and the state. Freedom and autonomy underlie, or at least feature significantly in, classical social contract theory and modern contractarianism, theories of democracy and self-determination, and theories of sovereignty; and structure both left/right and traditional/progressive ideological divides. A detailed understanding of the concept of freedom and its associated (modern) theory will help students towards a deeper understanding not only of political theory but also of current developments in both domestic and international politics. The course draws on the convenor?s developing research interest in this field. It will add a new area of study to the existing suite of offerings in political theory in the Department, thus complementing both the existing course on the classical texts in political thought and the courses in modern political theory, currently focused around justice, human rights, and the ethics of war. The course will also supplement and extend some of the work in political theory undertaken by students in 2nd year SPT. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 4 Politics/International Relations courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Section for admission to this course **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of key theories and texts that are central to the concept's development and deployment.
- understand and analyse complex theoretical arguments.
- interrogate and evaluate complex theoretical arguments.
- acquire a grounding in relevant debates.
- better apply ideas of freedom and responsibility to the management of their own studies.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
This course has a quota. Preference will be given to Politics and IR students. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Requirement is participation in 1 x weekly 2 hr seminar only. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lynn Dobson
Tel: (0131 6)51 1285
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Alexander Dysart
Tel: (0131 6)51 5197
Email: |
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