Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy

Atty. Juby Ruiz; Saturdays, 10am – 1pm

Course Description: Political Philosophy of ancient and medieval

periods and the emergence of modern political concepts. This course’s
purpose is to introduce students to some of the most important
political thinkers during the said period, with the aim of applying these
concepts on the politics and ethical practices at present.

Course Objective. To apply important political philosophical issues in

human experience; to have a critical and analytical thought about
issues central to political philosophy; to enhance the ability to
communicate knowledge and beliefs about the principal thinkers and
central themes both orally and in writing; to apply the values found in
the subject which may help in being a useful and responsible citizen; to
identify which ancient and medieval political philosophy has influenced
how politics is understood as of today

Paper topic: Papers are due before midterms and finals.

- To discuss any of the current political issues and relate this
particular case to one of the philosophical arguments discussed
in class.
- Pre-approved topic that is related to the course

Required Readings: works of Plato, including but not limited to

Apology, Crito, The Republic; Aristotle, Politics; Aquinas, Treatise on
Law; and Machiavelli’s The Prince. The readings from this course
involve complicated ideas and difficult arguments thus, will be
supplemented with lectures. Discussion and questions are encouraged.
These lectures and discussions will appear on the exams.

Course Requirement: There will be one midterm exam, a final exam,

both a mixture of enumeration, multiple choice and essay, and written
assignments to be part of the recitation grade.

Grading: At the end of the semester, all students who have completed
all the requirements will have a certain number of points out of a
hundred percent. The grade of incomplete will be given only for
circumstances passing quality at examination time but which, because
of circumstances beyond the student’s control. This means that
students may receive an incomplete grade only in the case of sudden
dire emergencies.

Reading Assignments:

Week 1 Introduction: meaning and definition

Week 2 Plato, Apology and Crito: The life Socrates believes

people should lead and his understanding of the good life for politics.

Week 3 Plato, The Republic, Bks 1 and 2: Introduction

Week 4 Plato, The Republic, Bks 3 and 4: Theory of Justice and
its importance in our current Justice system. How Plato defines the
nature of justice and how he describes what it means to be a just
person and how he pictures the just society or state. Is he right or
wrong?

Week 5 Plato, The Republic, Bks 5 and 6: The Philosopher kings

Week 6 Plato, The Republic, Bks 7 to 10: Democracy and

democratic man; allegory of the cave; education; The just man versus
the unjust man

Week 7 Aristotle, Politics Bks 1-3: The ethical theories advanced

by Aristotle compared to the concept of ethics today; Aristotle and
Plato’s different views of what constitutes a good family structure;
Aristotle’s critique of Plato’s views on property: the debate over
communism; Theory of Distributive and its application today and to
basic political and economic issues; the nature of justice

Week 8 Aristotle, Politics, Bks 4-6: view on democracy and

theory of political change; maintaining existing political systems

Week 9 Aristotle, Politics, Bks 7 and 8, Conclusion: "polity" as

the best form of government; Views about the strengths and
weaknesses of democratic political systems; Is he right or wrong as to
the best forms of government?

Week 10 Aquinas, Treatise on Law: combination of the philosophy

of Aristotle and Christianity in Aquinas’ analysis of politics; Distinction
among the different kinds of laws; the idea of natural law; the nature of
justice; the best form of government

Week 11 Machiavelli, The Prince

Week 12 Machiavelli, The Prince

 Excluding midterms and finals week