58勛圖

PY5213 Texts in the History of Political Philosophy

Academic year

2026 to 2027 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

20

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed.

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr A X Douglas

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Alex Douglas

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

In this module a classic text from the history of philosophy will be studied in detail. The goal will be to situate the text in its historical context, to understand it in its relation to other important works by the same author, and to consider the significance of objections to the text made by the author's contemporaries and by more recent political philosophers. Examples of texts that might be studied include, but are not limited to: Plato's Republic; Aristotle's Politics; Augustine's City of God; Hobbes's Leviathan; Locke's Two Treatises of Government; Rousseau's Social Contract; The Federalist Papers; Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France; Kant's Doctrine of Right; Hegel's Philosophy of Right; Mill's On Liberty. The module will concentrate on identifying the author's intentions in the text in question, but not to the exclusion of the determining what resources the text offers to political philosophy today.

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

New Coursework (5,000-word essay) = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

2-hour seminar (x 11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

22

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

182

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.