Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL1026: Early Modern Political Thought

This module descriptor refers to the 2024/5 academic year.

1) Machiavelli’s ideas on states, politics and republics;

2) Hobbes’s science of politics and conceptions of the state of nature, contract and sovereignty;

3) Locke’s ideas on the law and right of nature, property, the limits of obedience and the right to rebellion;

4) Rousseau’s critique of modern society, account of inequality, and ideas on liberty, sovereignty and contract;

5) Burke’s critique of the French Revolution and defence of conservatism;

6) Wollstonecraft’s defence of the rights of women, her critique of male tyranny, and her proposals for political and educational reform.

7) Understanding the ideas that shaped the Haitian Revolution

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate knowledge of the major political theories of the Western tradition between the Renaissance and the French Revolution; 2. Understand, summarise, and interpret complex and abstract arguments in politics 3. Analyse major works of political theory;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. 4. Identify and discuss the major concepts deployed in a political theory and their argumentative articulation 5. 5. Engage in both sympathetic interpretation and reasoned criticism of such theories, and evaluate different interpretations in the light of appropriate evidence
Personal and Key Skills	6. Evaluate ideas, arguments and texts 7. Develop and assess communication skills 8. Take a critical attitude towards their work and learn from others 9. Work independently, within a limited time frame, to complete a specified task.