Alle afleveringen
96 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Aquinas and De Regno
17 mei 2022 · 1 uur
Alex and Benjamin read Thomas Aquinas' De Regno, focusing on what Aquinas does with Aristotle's regime typology.
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Iamblichus and the Politics of Theurgy
24 april 2022 · 1 uur 12 min
Alex and Benjamin talk about Iamblichus, and the strand of neo-Platonism that gets interested in theurgy. They compare Iamblichus with Plotinus. Is part of the soul in the realm of the intelligibles, or has all of it descended? The answer matters, politically. There's also some discussion of the religious politics of Emperor Julian, whose philosophical views were heavily influenced by Iamblichan ideas. Lees meer
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James Harrington with Edmund Wilson
10 april 2022 · 1 uur 25 min
Edmund Wilson joins Alex and Benjamin to discuss James Harrington. They compare Harrington with Hobbes, discuss Harrington's influence on Marxism, and think about how Harrington is positioned in various accounts of the history of thought.
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Marsilius of Padua
27 maart 2022 · 1 uur 12 min
Alex and Benjamin discuss Marsilius of Padua's argument for the supremacy of the Holy Roman Emperor over the church. They get into the Fraticelli, disputes about whether priests can own property, and ideas of imperial consensus and collective knowledge. Lees meer
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Skinner and the State
27 februari 2022 · 1 uur 19 min
Alex and Benjamin discuss a couple Quentin Skinner lectures, focusing mainly on his genealogies of the state and liberty.
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Dante's De Monarchia
3 februari 2022 · 1 uur 18 min
Alex and Benjamin discuss Dante's political thought. They delve into divine right of kings theory, comparing it with other monarchical legitimation stories. There's Pope Boniface VIII, the Byzantines, and more.
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Plato's Timaeus
18 januari 2022 · 1 uur 5 min
In Alex's inaugural episode, we discuss the Timaeus and the relationship between Plato's metaphysics and his politics.
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G.A. Cohen and the September Group
14 december 2021 · 1 uur 29 min
In Edmund's farewell episode, we discuss the September Group, including G.A. Cohen, Jon Elster, and Philippe Van Parijs. We discuss theories of history, the influence of Darwinian evolution on Marx, the differences between analytic and continental political theory, and the possibility of bridging that divide. Edmund and Benjamin will do one last Patron Q&A episode, and then Political Theory 101 will continue with a new student co-host. Lees meer
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Alexis de Tocqueville
9 november 2021 · 1 uur 37 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Tocqueville. They discuss his thoughts on both America and France, his contributions on civic education, civil society, equality, liberty, and so much more.
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The Concept of Representation
20 oktober 2021 · 1 uur 57 min
Andrew Osipov joins Benjamin and Edmund to discuss his thesis on the concept of representation. They discuss the many ways representation has been understood in recent decades.
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Sieyes and the French Revolution
9 september 2021 · 1 uur 22 min
Andrew Osipov returns to discuss Abbé Sieyès and the French Revolution. There's discussion of the evolution of the concept of representation and the nation, as well as comparisons with the American project.
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Montesquieu: Honor, Monarchy, and the Prologue to the French Revolution
1 augustus 2021 · 1 uur 15 min
Andrew Osipov joins Benjamin and Edmund to discuss Montesquieu's political thought. They focus on virtue & honor, monarchy and republicanism, and discuss some of the factors that led to the French Revolution.
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States of all Sizes & Polarity
14 juli 2021 · 1 uur 26 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss states of different sizes and different distributions of power among states. There's lots of discussion of polarity, hegemony, and other big ticket international relations ideas.
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Politics and Morality
29 juni 2021 · 1 uur 36 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss more recent discussions of the relationship between politics and morality, positioning them in relation to some of the historical theories they've previously discussed.
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Concepts of Currency
3 juni 2021 · 2 uur 3 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the changing understanding of currency, from the gold standard to Bretton Woods and even quantitative easing. They also spend some time debunking myths about Roman money in the 4th century...
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Aesthetics and Politics
25 april 2021 · 1 uur 33 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss aesthetic theory and how it intersects with the political. Many Germans feature in this episode--Kant, Harder, Fichte, and so on.
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Meditation and Buddhism with Charlotte Newman
4 april 2021 · 1 uur 35 min
Edmund and Benjamin are joined by Charlotte Newman for a discussion of the political potential of meditation and Buddhism. Charlotte has a YouTube Channel, 'Talking Calm', which you can find here:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCeYZB54YTxPmDslkeMIg0xA -
Concepts of Liberty
22 maart 2021 · 1 uur 24 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss different conceptions of liberty. They go beyond Isaiah Berlin's positive/negative distinction, examining republicans ways of thinking about the concept, its relationship to 'freedom', and some of the reasons why the emphasis has shifted over the centuries. Lees meer
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Concepts of Equality
7 maart 2021 · 1 uur 54 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the very different ways equality can be understood, including different units of comparison, currencies of justice, and distributive principles. They also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of equality as a radical paradigm. Lees meer
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The Late Frankfurt School and the Cultural Turn
16 februari 2021 · 1 uur 52 min
Edmund and Benjamin return to the Frankfurt School, discussing the evolution of the theory of history as theorists incorporated more and more thoughts from Weber, Freud, and Heidegger. In the hands of the Americans, this process culminates in Habermas-influenced liberal accounts of deliberative democracy... Lees meer
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Weber on Maturity, Capitalism, and Protestantism
31 januari 2021 · 1 uur 59 min
Edmund & Benjamin return to Max Weber! This time, we're discussing Weber's thoughts on the "immaturity" of the German bourgeoisie, along with the way Weber connected capitalism to religion.
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Durkheim and Lukacs on Alienation, Anomie, and Reification
16 januari 2021 · 1 uur 41 min
Edmund and Benjamin put Marx's theory of alienation into conversation with Durkheim's theory of anomie, examining how we can't live with social roles or without them. This leads to a discussion of how social roles are reified, via Lukacs.
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Bentham, Mill, and the Utilitarians
3 januari 2021 · 1 uur 34 min
Edmund and Benjamin run through the history of utilitarianism, focusing both on its radical and conservative aspects and running through some of the problems utilitarians have grappled with. Featuring Sidgwick, Moore, Singer, and Parfit, among others... Lees meer
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Fenelon, Mandeville, and 18th Century Thoughts on Commerce & Luxury
15 december 2020 · 1 uur 26 min
We discuss reactions to economic change in the 18th century, conflicts with traditional understandings of virtue, and how theorists thought about the problem before Smith & Bentham came on the scene. Lees meer
To skip the full reading of Fable of the Bees, go to 25:30
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Hobbes, Hume, Spinoza, and the Politics of Human Nature
3 december 2020 · 1 uur 26 min
We discuss the influence of theories of human nature on political theory, comparing and contrasting Hobbes, Hume, and Spinoza.
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The Frankfurt School and the Rise of the Interventionist State
22 november 2020 · 1 uur 29 min
Edmund and Benjamin delve into Marxist reactions to the rise of the interventionist state, both in the interwar and postwar periods. Featuring Adorno, Fraenkel, Habermas, Horkheimer, Kirchheimer, Marcuse, Pollock, Neumann
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Marxism After Marx
5 november 2020 · 1 uur 27 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the trajectory of Marxism during the decades following Marx's death. They focus on the limitations of both democratic and revolutionary approaches, attempts to find a golden mean between the two, and why this mean was so elusive. Lees meer
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Nietzsche, Arendt, and Aesthetic Struggle
20 oktober 2020 · 1 uur 27 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss what happens when political theorists make struggling their primary objective, comparing Nietzsche and Arendt to the theorists who prioritise unity, order, or truth.
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Marx and Materialism
27 september 2020 · 1 uur 59 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Marx's theory of history, positioning Marx in relation to his German predecessors and to some of the Marxists that follow him. The Greeks make an appearance, too.
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Hegel and the German Conception of Freedom
14 september 2020 · 1 uur 18 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Hegel's effort to bridge the gap between the individual and the collective with mediating institutions. They position Hegel in relation to the German theorists who came before and after him and discuss his critique of the Greeks. Lees meer
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Kant, Fichte, and the Liberal Origins of Nationalism
27 augustus 2020 · 1 uur 27 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss Kant's autonomy-heavy moral theory, emphasising Kant's reluctance to apply his moral theory to politics. This, however, did not stop Fichte, who called for a "self-sufficient" German nation-state. By shifting the autonomous subject from the individual person to the individual nation, Fichte is able to turn Kant's liberal moral theory into a nationalist political theory. Featuring Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Schmitt Lees meer
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Machiavelli, Smith, and the Separation of Politics and Morality
1 augustus 2020 · 1 uur 42 min
To escape the subordination of politics to theology under the church, Machiavelli creates a new kind of strictly political normativity, leaving morality behind. We examine why Machiavelli had to do this, and how this leads to new liberal moral theories, like the one Adam Smith describes in his Theory of Moral Sentiments. Featuring Augustine, Dante, and Kant Lees meer
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Hirschman, Goodin, and the End of the Chronic Legitimacy Crisis
6 juli 2020 · 1 uur 19 min
Edmund and Benjamin combine the last two episodes together to talk about "chronic legitimacy crises". They discuss how these crises work and how they end--through solving, settling, and sinking.
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Williams, Rawls, and Legitimation Stories
19 juni 2020 · 1 uur 13 min
In our follow-up to our previous episode on "crisis", Edmund and Benjamin talk about how legitimacy works. They start with the disagreement between Bernard Williams and John Rawls over whether legitimacy is an "internal" or "external" concept. Then they use Benjamin's PhD thesis to delve into the different kinds of legitimation stories states tell. Lees meer
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Gamble, Streeck, and Theories of Crisis
31 mei 2020 · 1 uur 31 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss theories of crisis, comparing Reinhart Koselleck's old-school theory to more recent contributions from Andrew Gamble and Wolfgang Streeck. They also chat about 20th century crises and how our crisis today is a bit different. This is the first in a three part series on "Legitimacy Crises". Lees meer
https://www.patreon.com/politicaltheory101
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Mearsheimer, Wendt, and International Relations Theory
13 mei 2020 · 1 uur 48 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the four schools of international relations theory--realism, liberalism, Marxism, and constructivism. They consider the influence of materialism and idealism on the schools, along with the role of domestic politics and international institutions. Featuring Benjamin's John Mearsheimer impression. Lees meer
https://www.patreon.com/politicaltheory101
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Cicero, Seneca, and the Transition from Republic to Empire
30 april 2020 · 1 uur 55 min
Edmund and Benjamin dig into Roman history, focusing on shifts in the legitimation stories as the republic becomes an empire. They discuss the evolution of the Platonic academy in the Roman period and spend some time with Stoicism. Lees meer
https://www.patreon.com/politicaltheory101
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Isocrates, Thucydides, and the Relationship between Rhetoric and Knowledge
15 april 2020 · 1 uur 27 min
Edmund and Benjamin explore rhetoric, drawing on a variety of Greek thinkers. The Greek theorists' attitudes to rhetoric stem from their attitudes to knowledge. Is the crowd wise? Can rhetoric share wisdom with the crowd? Or is rhetoric where wisdom comes to die? Lees meer
https://www.patreon.com/politicaltheory101
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Fanon, Burke, and Theories of Change
18 februari 2020 · 1 uur 13 min
Edmund and Benjamin compare and contrast Edmund Burke and Frantz Fanon. Both theorists were critical of commercial society, but adopted very different strategies for opposing it based on entirely different theories of change.
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Rawls, Hayek, and Liberalism's Relationship with the Market
4 februari 2020 · 1 uur 34 min
Edmund and Benjamin return from the winter vac to talk about what happens when markets are depoliticised.
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MacKinnon, Rousseau, and the Origins of Inequality
2 december 2019 · 1 uur 19 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the many different origin stories of inequality, drawing on Catharine MacKinnon and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Lees meer
Edmund on power:
https://edmundjwilson.com/2019/11/01/on-power-tech-the-state-and-class/Benjamin on Yang:
https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2019/08/14/andrew-yang-is-playing-hide-and-seek-with-the-left-press/ -
Augustine, Schmitt, and Political Theology (w/Raeffe Gibson)
15 november 2019 · 1 uur 30 min
Raeffe Gibson joins Benjamin and Edmund to discuss the idea that states need to be unified around common values.
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Caesar, Weber, and the Power of Charisma
9 november 2019 · 1 uur 31 min
Edmund and Benjamin discuss the role of charismatic leaders in politics in the Roman Empire, interwar Germany, and more recently.
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Aristotle, Constant, and the Distribution of Time
14 oktober 2019 · 1 uur 17 min
Benjamin and Edmund discuss the ancient zero-sum conception of liberty, attempts by later political theorists to universalise it, and some of the ways understandings of liberty have changed to accommodate that. Lees meer
Draws most heavily on Aristotle's "Politics" and Constant's "The Liberty of the Ancients Compared With That of the Moderns" and "Adolphe".
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Hobbes, Plato, and the Rise of the State
8 oktober 2019 · 1 uur 16 min
Benjamin and Edmund discuss why both Hobbes and Plato think the state is necessary, comparing and contrasting the two along the way.
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Welcome to Political Theory 101
3 oktober 2019 · 17 min
Benjamin Studebaker and Edmund Wilson welcome you to a new series about the history of political thought and some of the people who have contributed to it.