HIST 130
History of European Political Thought
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Introduction to principal themes in history of European political thought from classical antiquity to close of early modern period. Study of outstanding contributions to history of social, political, and moral philosophy in texts of major thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, More, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Reconstruction of broad intellectual and ideological contexts from which their work emerged to help students make sense of works of political philosophy in their relevant historical setting and to know something about Athenian democracy and its critics, Roman republic and its empire, Renaissance, early modern European civil wars, American and French Revolutions, and Enlightenment. Focus on emergence of some crucial concepts during this period--ideas about state, self, rights, sovereignty, liberty, private property, and more--that define way we think about politics and society in modern world. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - I had to join this class a few weeks into the quarter and the professor basically refused to work with me. He had announced that the midterm would be in person the first week of class... when I wasn't there... so I missed it. Would have basically failed if I didn't drop the class during week 5. Also the TA was an obnoxious a**. Professor seemed nice enough on a personal level but sort of played favorites and didn't lecture very clearly. Mind you I'm a political science major, and have taken plenty of political theory classes during my time at UCLA. This class should have been a breeze, he just was a harsh grader and not great at lecturing.
Spring 2025 - I had to join this class a few weeks into the quarter and the professor basically refused to work with me. He had announced that the midterm would be in person the first week of class... when I wasn't there... so I missed it. Would have basically failed if I didn't drop the class during week 5. Also the TA was an obnoxious a**. Professor seemed nice enough on a personal level but sort of played favorites and didn't lecture very clearly. Mind you I'm a political science major, and have taken plenty of political theory classes during my time at UCLA. This class should have been a breeze, he just was a harsh grader and not great at lecturing.