The course introduction to Social and Political Philosophy is a 2 credit course, which
introduces students to the concept of the State and the citizen; the nature of man and the origins
of the state. Nature of political obligation; the ideal state and the individual. Thus, the course
study the basic Concepts of political and social philosophy, its method and relevancies to
human society, major themes and figures in the history of social and political thought.
Historical background to phases of development in political and social philosophy.
Contribution of early philosophers on Justice and the state (Socrates Plato, Aristotle, Rawls, Iris Young). Nature and contribution of medieval social and political philosophy (Saint
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas), the Modern period; power and Authority (Machiavelli and
Hobbes), State of Nature and Social Contract (Hobbes and Locke Baruch Spinoza, General
Will (Rousseau) Majority Rule (Locke), Liberty (Mill Jeremy Bentham, Revolution and
Alienation (Marx and Engels), Democracy, (William G. Sumner, Ferdinand Lassalle). The
contemporary period (John Rawls, Robert Nozick, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jurgen Habermas, Herbert
Marcuse, Michel Foucault etc . Communism, Colonialism, Racism etc. The aim is to equip
students with the skill to identify, explain and express the basic concepts and a broad
understanding of political philosophy. The course also enables students relate
- Teacher: Yakubu Abubakar