Political Thought-Syllabus Semester-II

Hidayatullah National Law University
Paper- II: (Political Thought)

(Traditions in Western and Indian Political Philosophy)
Course Objective:
Political thought is that branch of human thought which inquires into the nature, purpose and
goals of political activity. It suggests the methods to be followed for conducting such an
inquiry. It endeavours to prescribe the means and methods of achieving the ideal state and
government. It can be described as a philosophic scientific enquiry and a normative-
prescriptive study of the nature and foundations of political activity and behaviour. In other
words, it is a rational quest of reliable knowledge, an attempt at scientific explanation
combined with consideration of normative ideas and prescriptive ideals aimed at improving
the quality of political life.
The course aims at acquainting the undergraduate students with the broad intellectual
traditions in Western and Indian political philosophy that decisively shaped the contours of
political thought. It covers a few representative philosophers chronologically in the history of
ideas and aims to evaluate their philosophy with specific reference to the context in which
particular thinkers lived and the historical factors that shaped their ideas. The interpretation of
these thinkers involves striking a balance between the text and the context, and relates to the
core ideas of each of the thinkers. The students are expected to study the key ideas of the
following western and Indian political thinkers.
The Classical Tradition

1. Plato
1.1. Life and Works
1.2 Ideal State
1.3 Rule of Philosopher King
1.4 Theory of Education
1.5 Communism of Wives and Property
1.6 Theory of Justice
1.7 Changes in Platonic Stand from ‘The Statesman’ to ‘The Laws’
1.8 Plato’s Contribution to Political Thought
2. Aristotle
2.1 Life and Works
2.2 Theory of State and Ideal State or the Best Sate
2.3 Theory of Justice
2.4 Revolution
2.5 Slavery
2.6 Citizenship
2.7 Aristotle’s Contribution to Political Thought
The Renaissance Tradition
3. Nicolo Machiavelli
3.1 Life and Works
1
3.2 Machiavelli as a Modern Thinker
3.3 Machiavelli on Human Nature
3.4 Ideas Morality and Religion
3.5 Ideas on State and Its Preservation as reflected in Prince
3.6 Machiavelli’s Contribution to Political Thought
The Social Contract Tradition
4. Thomas Hobbes
4.1 Life and Works
4.2 Ideas on Human Nature
4.3 State of Nature
4.4 Social Contract
4.6 Ideas on Sovereignty, Law, Rights and Liberties
4.7 Hobbes as an Individualist as well as Absolutist
4.8 Hobbes’ Contribution to Political Thought
5. John Locke
5.1 Life and Works
5.3 State of Nature
5.4 Social Contract
5.5 Theory of Rights
5.7 Locke as an Individualist
5.8 Locke’s Contribution to Political Thought
6. Jean Jacques Rousseau

6.1 Life and Works
6.3 State of Nature
6.4 Social Contract
6.5 Theory of General Will and Popular Sovereignty
6.6 Rousseau’s Contribution to Political Thought
The Utilitarian Tradition
7. Jeremy Bentham
7.1 Life and Works
7.2 Utilitarianism of Bentham
7.3 Bentham on State and Government
7.4 On Reforms in Law and Justice Administration System
7.5 On Punishment and Prison Reforms
7.6 Bentham’s Contribution to Political Thought
8. John Stuart Mill

8.1.Life and Works
8.2 Utilitarianism of Mill
8.3 Mill’s Ideas on Liberty
8.4 Ideas on State and Representative Government
8.5 Mill as a champion of Women’s Rights
2
8.6 Mill’s Contribution to Political Thought
Modern Indian Political Thought

9. M. K. Gandhi
9.1 Life and Works
9.2 Concept of Satyagraha and Non-violence
9.3 Gandhi on Religion and Politics - Spiritualization of Politics
9.4 Gandhi on End and Means
9.5 Gandhi on Gram Swaraj, Swadeshi and the Theory of Trusteeship
9.6 Gandhi’s Contribution to Political Thought
10. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

10.1 Life & Works
10.2 Ambedkar as a Critique of Ancient Social Order and Inequality
10.3 Ambedkar’s Contribution to Political Thought
10.4 Annihilation of the Caste System
Reading List
Basic Texts
Aristotle, The Politics, Translated Ernest Braker, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998 edn.
Hobbes, Thomas, The Leviathan, Amherst New York, Prometheus Books, 1988.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Fredrik, The Philosophy of Right, Translated by T.M. Knox Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 1942.
Machiavalli, Niccolo, The Prince and The Discourses, translated L. Ricci, New York,
Modern Library, 1950.
Kant, Political Writing, Translated by H.B Nisbet, edited by Hans Reiss, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Secondary Texts
George H Sabine and Thomas L Thorson, A History of Political Theory, Oxford & IBH
Publishing Co. Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi, 1973. (Available in HNLU Library)
Wanlass C. Lawrence, Gettell’s History of Political Thought, Surjeet Publications, Delhi,

2001. (Available in HNLU Library)
Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought Vol-I and II, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2007. (Available in HNLU Library)
Wolin, Sheldon S., Politics and Vision, Princeton University Press, Princeton ,2006.
(Available in HNLU Library)
Kymlicka Will, Contemporary Political Philosophy: an Introduction, Oxford University

Press, Oxford, 2008. (Available in HNLU Library)
3
Goodin E. Robert and PettIt Philip, A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy,
BlackwellPublishing, Malden, USA, 2005. (Available in HNLU Library)
Mehta, V. R., Foundations of Indian Political Thought, New Delhi, Manohar Publishers,
1992. (Available in HNLU Library)
Arora Prem and Grover Brij, Selected Western and Indian Political Thinkers, Cosmos
Bookhive (P) Ltd, New Delhi, 1998. (Available in HNLU Library)
Ian Adams and R.W. Dyson, Fifty Great Political Thinkers, Routledge, London, 2004.
Sukhbir Singh, History of Political Thought vol-I and II, Rastogi Publications, Meerut, 2003.
Strauss, Leo and Joseph Cropsey edited. History of Political Philosophy. Chicago, University
of Chicago Press, 1973.
Mehta, V.R. and Thomas Pantham (eds), Political Ideas in Modern India: Thematic
Explorations, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2006.
Kangle, R.P, Arthashastra of Kautilya, 1960, Motilal Benarasidass, 1965.
Pantham, Thomas and Kenneth L. Deutsch (ed), Political Thought in Modern India, New
Delhi, Sage, 1986
Parekh, Bikhu and Thomas Pantham (ed), Political Discopurse, Explorations in Indian and
Western Political Thought, New Delhi, Sage, 1987.
Pantham, Thomas and Kenneth L. Deutsch (eds), Political Thought in Modern India, New
Delhi, Sage, 1986.
Dalton, Dennis Gilmore, India’s Idea of Freedom; Political Thought of Swamy Vivekananda,
Arobindo Ghose, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, Academic Press, 1982.
Avineri Shlomo, Hegel's Theory of the Modern State, Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press, 1972.
Beiner, Ronald and William James Booth, Kant and Political Philosophy New Haven, Yale
University Press, 1993.
Cohen, G.A, Karl Marx's Theory of History, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1978.
Lukacs, G., History and Class Consciousness, Merlin, 1978.
'Machiavelli' by Quentin Skinner, 'Hobbes' by Richard Tuck, 'Mill' by William Thomas,

'Marx' by Peter Singer in Great Political Thinkers. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992.
Maclntyre, Alasdair, A Short History of Ethics, Oxford, Aldern Press, 1967.
Macpherson, C.B., The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 1962.
O'Neil, Onora, Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant's Practical Philosophy,

Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989.
4
Pocock J.G. A., The Machiavellian Moment, Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press,
1975.
Raphael D.D., Hobbes: Morals and Politics, Great Britain, Cambridge •University Press,
1977.
Rawls, John, Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, Cambridge, Harvard University
Press, 2000.
Reiss, Hans, Kant Political Writings, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1970.
Taylor, Charles, Hegel, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Wiser, L James, Political Philosophy: A History of the Search for Order, Prentice-Hall, 1983.
Chris Sparks and Stuart Isaacs, Political Theorists in Context, Routledge, 2004.
Nelson, Brian, Western Political Thought: From Socrates to the Age of Ideology, Prentice
Hall (2nd Edition), 1995.
Boucher, David & Paul Kelly (eds.), Political Thinkers: From Socrates to the Present,
Oxford University Press (2nd Ed.), 2009.
Jha, Shefali, Western Political Thought: From Plato to Marx, Pearson Publications.
Mukherjee, Subrata, A History Of Political Thought: Plato To Marx, Prentice-Hall Of India,

2009.

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Hidayatullah National Law University

Paper- II: (Political Thought)

The Classical Tradition

The Renaissance Tradition

The Social Contract Tradition

6. Jean Jacques Rousseau

The Utilitarian Tradition

8. John Stuart Mill

Modern Indian Political Thought

10. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Wanlass C. Lawrence, Gettell’s History of Political Thought, Surjeet Publications, Delhi,

Kymlicka Will, Contemporary Political Philosophy: an Introduction, Oxford University

Kangle, R.P, Arthashastra of Kautilya, 1960, Motilal Benarasidass, 1965.

Lukacs, G., History and Class Consciousness, Merlin, 1978.

'Machiavelli' by Quentin Skinner, 'Hobbes' by Richard Tuck, 'Mill' by William Thomas,

Maclntyre, Alasdair, A Short History of Ethics, Oxford, Aldern Press, 1967.

Macpherson, C.B., The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism, Oxford, Oxford

University Press, 1962.

O'Neil, Onora, Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant's Practical Philosophy,

Mukherjee, Subrata, A History Of Political Thought: Plato To Marx, Prentice-Hall Of India,

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