POLI 100 Lecture Notes - Talmud, Communitarianism, Michel Foucault
22 Dec 2011
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Document Summary
Generally focused on the idea of a cyclical history. Used the circle as a model: the wheel of fortune, rota fortuna. The state of things is explained by an appeal to a divine power such as god(s) or nature. Social orders and political power generally understood as divine in origin. Emergence of science and reason in the role of the divine. Machiavelli (1469-1527: displays elements of both modern and pre-modern in his thinking. Human history can be told as a unified tale (history) with a definite beginning, middle, and end. Driven by the needs to overcome contradictions like those found in the master/slave relationship. Ultimate goal is the overcoming of the subjective/objective or universal/particular distinction. Self-actualization of the spirit (geist) (expressed in part by free and equal individuals within an ethic state) The end of history (and the last man)
