Lectures / Disk 3
A.DVDS
Power Over People: Classical and Modern Political Theory (Part I)
Prof. Dennis Dalton (Barnard College/Columbia University)
DISK 3.1
Lecture 1: The Hindu Vision of Life
A very interesting lecture focusing on the Hindu vision of life by describing the four stages in the Hindu journey of life: the student stage is the 1st stage, the householder stage is the 2nd, the third is called ‘forest seeker’ or the solitary seeker of truth and the final state is the ‘saintliness’ which depends on the previous.
Lecture 2: Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War
Your background knowledge of the Peloponnesian war and Thucydides will help you make the most of this lecture as it describes Pericle’s portrayal of Athenian democracy and his view on Politics.
Lecture 3: Law and Rule in Sophocle’s Antigone
Sophocles’ tragic play Antigone offers a literary context for Plato’s philosophy. This lecture compares and contrasts various understandings of law and various types of political rule presented in Sophecle’s Antigone and relates these types to each protagonist’s view of women.
Lecture 4: Socrates and Socratic Quest
In this lecture professor Dalton reviews the thought and educational method of Socrates. Socrates’ views on the purpose of life and the method for pursuing knowledge of truth are examined.
DISK 3.2
Lecture 5: Plato – Idealism and Power
Plato’s Republic and the fundamental issues it raises are described in this lecture as well as in the next one. Issues such as, origins of right and wrong conduct, obedience to the law, mutual obligations of individuals and the state.
Lecture 6: Plato – Idealism and Power (cont.)
Plato’s critique of democracy is continued in this lecture.
Lecture 7: Aristotle’s Critique of Plato’s Republic
Aristotle was Plato’s greatest student, a well known fact to everyone but are you aware that they followed very different methodologies and came to different conclusions on what makes up the best political regime? Listen to a critique of these differences as well as a presentation of their similarities in this lecture.
Lecture 8: Machiavelli’s Theory of Power Politics
Professor Dalton lectures on the transition between the classical and the modern political traditions. The professor examines the work of the diplomat Machiavelli by comparing and contrasting him with Plato and Aristotle.