HST4623 – The Foundations of Modern Thought: Introduction to Intellectual History

This is a module in the history of ideas that introduces students to important shifts in the ways in which history, society and politics have been thought about from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. The module will cover key figures in the history of political thought and philosophy, including Niccolo Machiavelli, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, Mohandas Gandhi and Hannah Arendt, and will address influential debates about such issues as the relationship between politics and morality, the justification for violence, the nature and causes of inequality, the rise of capitalism, imperialism and the rights of women. Attention throughout will be focused on a careful scrutiny of primary sources. By the end of the module, students will have deepened their understanding of some of the critical issues that have dominated modern history.