Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL1026: Early Modern Political Thought

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

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.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
26.5123.50

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity16.511 x 1.5 hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity1010 x 1 hour tutorials
Guided Independent study73.5Preparation for essays and exam
Guided Independent study50Reading for tutorials

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/