Codes of Power: Political Thought From Plato's Cave to Game Theory (Portable Professor Series) by Joshua Kaplan

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Synopsis

How can people with different preferences agree on a common course of action? How can self-interested individuals be persuaded to cooperate rather than fight? Questions such as these have been addressed by concerned thinkers since the days of ancient Greece, and they are no less relevant today. From Plato to Machiavelli, Hobbes to Marx, history's great political philosophers and theorists have sought to make people see their world differently, to think about the order of things and the tenuous balance of forces that exists in society: self-interest versus public interest, strong leadership versus free will, etc. In this illuminating course, Professor Joshua Kaplan engages the classic works of political theory, showing how they can reveal insights into where we came from and where we are going.

Biography

Joshua Kaplan has taught at the University of Notre Dame since 1987. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz and earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago, schools renowned for two very different approaches to political theory. He teaches courses in political theory, constitutional law, and American politics, and is the Political Science Department's associate director of undergraduate studies. He has been awarded Notre Dame's Kaneb Award for Excellence in Teaching.