Ancient political thought and its medieval legacy

Tutor: Caroline Humfress

This module explores major themes and topics within ancient political thought, examining how, where and in what contexts key ancient political thinkers from Plato to St Thomas Aquinas developed distinct approaches to the relationship between individuals and their political communities. We shall pay particular attention to debates over the relationship between law, theology and theories of political action. Another major theme of the course will be the relationship between texts and theorists: the formation of different and distinctive 'schools' of thought and the gradual development of a canon of texts which remains foundational for modern Western political theory today. We will study some of the important and influential theorists in the history of ancient political thought - such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero and St Augustine - contextualising their ideas in the time and circumstances under which they were writing, as well as exploring some key aspects of their legacy in later ‘medieval’ political thought.

Outline of Classes:

1. Introduction to Key Themes and Methods

2. Justice, Goodness and the Gods: Plato's Republic

3. The Polis and the Lawgiver: Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and Politics

4. Life as a Dog: Epicurus and the 'Apolitical' Cynic

5. Cicero on Friendship and the Roman State (Cicero, On Duties)

6. Platonopolis - Transforming Plato under the Roman Empire (Late Roman Neo-Platonists)

7. Roman Citizenship and Christian Ethics: Augustine and the City of God.

8. Roman Law, Property and Political Obligation: Justinian and Beyond

9. 'Theological' and 'Political' Virtues: Thomas Aquinas

10. Slavery: Theory and Practice, from Ancient to Medieval

Preliminary Reading [* denotes introductory and/or reference work]:

*Canning, J.P., A History of Medieval Political Thought (1996)

*Coleman, J., A History of Political Thought. From Ancient Greece to Early Christianity (2000)

* Burns, J.H. (ed.), The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought c.350-1450 (1988)

Finnis, J., Aquinas (1998)

Kraut, R., Aristotle: Political Philosophy (2002)

Nussbaum, M.C., The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy (1986) chs. 11-12

Ober, J., Political Dissent in Classical Athens (1998)

O'Meara, D., Platonopolis. Platonic Political Philosophy in Late Antiquity (2003)

Rawson, E., Intellectual Life in the Roman Republic (1985)

*Rowe, C. and Schofield, M. (eds.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought (2000)

Schofield, M., Plato: Political Philosophy (2006)

Sharples, R., Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics (1996)

Yack, B., The Problems of a Political Animal (1993)