AT 13-001_FA22: What does it take to establish?and maintain?political power? Why do some political actors succeed where others fail? And what do such experiences tell us about what it means to be politically engaged? This course grapples with an author who purports to have discovered radically new answers to these questions: Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli?s ideas have been subject to controversy and disagreement since their publication 500 years ago. Indeed, among the Italian diplomat?s adherents we can find a cast of individuals as diverse as James Madison, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Rove, and Tupac Shakur. This course is devoted to a number of issues, including: the relationship between morality and politics, the nature of oppression, and the meaning of political freedom. Students will also consider how they might apply Machiavelli?s perspective to current-day concerns.
- Teacher: Boris Litvin