Professor Smith's introduction to political philosophy course at Yale.
Political philosophy
is the study of such topics as: liberty, justice, property, rights, law; and the enforcement by authority of a legal code. With the rise of globalization, the interplay between political philosophers and international relations is also an important area of study in political science.
Political theorists, on the whole, are concerned with how people live together collectively and examine social, economic and political arrangements.
Starting Points for Research Topics
Great Thinkers -- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Machiavelli, Christine de Pizan, Hobbes, John Locke, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hegel, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill, Karl Marx, Susan B. Anthony, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Weber, etc.
Isms or Political Ideologies -- classical Liberalism, socialism, communism, fascism, contemporary conservatism and liberalism, feminism, etc.
Problems or Political Issues -- poverty, religion and public life, democracy, liberty vs. equality, human rights, the welfare state, the environment, etc.
Popular Culture -- movies, architecture, TV shows, blogs, voices of ethnic minorities and women
Reference books about political theory: