The Philosophy of Politics and Power

 

1. Introduction: What is Political Philosophy? by YaleCourses

Political Philosophy

The above YouTube video provides an introduction to political philosophy.

Our discussion in class will be based mainly on chapter 4, The Philosophy of Politics and Power, of the book 'Philosophy for Busy People: Everything You Really Should Know' by Alain Stephen.  Please see the file via the link below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16Clo8yLxVRk6DRQKhv7Eq6wPQMkFWyYh/view?usp=sharing

Philosophy of Power

Chapter 2.5: Michel Foucault, Power by Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities

The above YouTube video gives an introduction to the Philosophy of Power.  

Chapter 4 from the above book discusses Foucault on Power and Knowledge.  I plan to discuss that in class as well.

Some Questions

Plato's Republic

1. Plato/Socrates outlines a three part hierarchical structure of the human soul, which they believe is immortal.  The soul, as believed by Plato/Socrates, is equivalent to what we now consider to be the mind.  Do you think that the tripartite soul is an accurate depiction of the human mind?
2. Should the choice of a political system be based on an assumed best way of managing the human mind, which is a biological system?  Is a society analogous to the human mind?

Monty Hall Problem - Numberphile

 Sleeping Beauty Paradox - Numberphile

Monty Hall paradox and other puzzles

Please find below the link to the PDF file of the document with the Monty Hall paradox and other puzzles.  This document is an extract from the book "There Are Two Errors in the the Title of This Book" page 90 - 96:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cnIY9g3V0-hPXZPryyddaR6Z0eU5OqrP/view?usp=sharing