History of Political Theories

The western political reflection begins at the time of the Greek polis: the course will therefore start from an examination of the thought of Plato and Aristotle. Then we shall discuss in some depth the problem of the State, on the onset of modernity. We will focus on its main interpreters: above all, Machiavelli and Hobbes. The main doctrinal developments of classical liberalism (Locke, Smith and Hume; Montesquieu, Constant and Tocqueville; J.S. Mill and Herbert Spencer), democratic radicalism (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) and socialism (Marx) will also be examined. Particular attention will be paid to the American experience, an alternative to the parable of the modern state. The analysis of Italian elitists (Mosca, Pareto) and of scholars such as Weber and Schmitt, as well as reflections on the just society, will be at the center of the investigation on the twentieth century.