POLS 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Political Philosophy, Hard Power, Soft Power
Document Summary
Instrumental value: valued for other things it does lead to a job = money, bigger home, etc. Intrinsic value: something that is valued for it"s own sake (does education have intrinsic value?) Different ideas and emotions have influenced the governance of human affairs. Understanding our past can help us better prepare for the future. Sub-disciplines of political science: comparative politics, canadian politics, It is a normative (rather) than descriptive endeavour. Primarily concerned with how we ought to live together. As such it invokes political concepts and ideals (like freedom, equality, authority, democracy, etc. ) to help us evaluate the legitimate functions of government. Bad qualities example: monetary limitations that restrict individuals that are not wealthy from governing. Focus on historical context and look at the historical elements in which the writer used, when, how, etc. = the context of the political thinker (hobbes) Link important thinkers together (e. g. liberals, socialists, conservatives, etc. ) History of political thought = battle of ideologies.