Professor Kozlowski Lectures

Dive into the brilliance of Machiavelli and Ibn Khaldun as they reshape political philosophy. Discover how Khaldun's insights on the rise and fall of dynasties offer a cautionary tale against complacency. Unravel Machiavelli's pragmatic approach, emphasizing realpolitik amidst Italy's power struggles. Explore the rich connections between Islamic thought and Renaissance ideas, revealing the impact of cultures in shaping governance. Lastly, enjoy the unique blend of classic texts with gaming, connecting history to contemporary discussions.

Today Professor Kozlowski takes on the political philosophy of the Medieval (and early modern) Christian world, as a cross-section of ideas and interpretations made by Christian political philosophers. Our readings for today hail from:City of God by Augustine of HippoSumma Theologica by Thomas Aquinas"Temporal Authority: To What Extent it Should be Obeyed" by Martin Luther (requires a free Internet Archives account to borrow)Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin (Chapter XIX: par. 15 and Chapter XX: On Civil Government, par. I, II, III, and XXIX)Along the way we'll encounter a wide variety of different interpretations of Biblical theology, and an even wider variety of applications for Christians trying to figure out how to live their lives in secular society. And we might even find some surprise cameos by ideas thought to originate in later, less Christian times.Additional readings this week mostly surround historical events, but I recommend Dante's De Monarchia and, for my gamers, Crusader Kings II (I haven't played III yet, but it's probably also good...)If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Professor Kozlowski embarks on yet another discussion of politics and the Bible. Here we will look at the basic outline of the gospel, as well as key passages from Genesis, Deuteronomy, Judges, 1 Samuel, Matthew, Acts, and 1 Timothy that illuminate the Biblical perspective on politics and government - if there is one.https://www.biblegateway.com contains a wide variety of Biblical translations, including all the passages discussed in this lecture. I recommend the ESV for beginners.No official additional readings for today, though I do recommend and make reference reference to other Biblical, apocryphal, and related texts, like: 1 & 2 Kings, Acts, 1 & 2 Maccabees, and Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and Wars of the Jews. For my gamers, I'll recommend Afterlife - but mostly as a joke.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Today Professor Kozlowski takes on the Roman Empire - its legacy (historical and mythological), its organization, and the ideas of some of its most influential thinkers: Cicero and Polybius. Many great political thinkers take Rome as the closest thing to a perfect government ever created - hopefully we can reach some conclusions about what made Rome work, and why this obsession with Rome might be a result of the greatest propaganda campaign in history.Readings today come from Cicero's De Legibus and Polybius' Universal History, Book VI.Additional Readings include Virgil's Aeneid, Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, the writings of Seneca, and Rome: Total War for my gamer fans.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Professor Kozlowski presents a woefully inadequate look at some key ideas in the political philosophy of China and India, specifically:Lao-Tzu's Tao Te ChingThe Analects of ConfuciusMo-TzuThe Laws of ManuAlong the way we'll talk about the differences between Eastern and Western attitudes toward virtue, rule, and government, as well as how these texts take on a very different perspective from those we've seen in Ancient Greece....and then we won't talk about them again until the 20th century or so. Alas - we still need to make room for all that Marx and Hobbes.I will (one day) upload the document I've produced for my students, which excerpts each of the above texts, to my website, so you may be able to find it there.Additional readings include: Mencius, Sun-Tzu's The Art of War, Intrigues of the Warring States, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Bhagavad-Gita, and Fire Emblem for my gamer fans.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠⁠⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

CW: Slavery (but not racism); Tyrannical Tactics, w/ examples from Hitler, Stalin, etc.Today Professor Kozlowski turns from Plato's Republic to the other great masterpiece of Greek political philosophy - Aristotle's Politics. Typical of Aristotle, we'll discuss his basic assumptions about government, his understanding of different forms of government, and the ways that revolutions, demagogues, and dissension can undermine democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies. (Or preserve them, if you happen to be a tyrant looking for hints on keeping your crappy government going as long as possible before the inevitable crash.)You can find the full text of Aristotle's Politics for free at: ⁠https://sacred-texts.com/cla/ari/pol/pol05.htm⁠Additional readings include: Sophocles' Antigone, Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War, Plato's Protagoras, and Impressions Games' Zeus + Poseidon for my gamer fans.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

CW: Incest, Infanticide, and Misogyny as philosophical ideas and historical realitiesProfessor Kozlowski tackles the rest of the Republic by ranging over the three excerpts in the Cohen textbook and several excluded passages. On the docket:Equality for women (yay!)Open marriages (yay!?)Communal child-rearing (wut?)Eugenics (boo!)The Allegory of the Cave (yay!)How governments fall apart (Aristotle to follow)The Myth of Er (w00t)Professor Kozlowski apologizes in advance for how much brutally heinous s#!t will be discussed in these lectures. Especially when we get to Fascism and Social Darwinism.You can find the full text of Plato's Republic for free on Project Gutenberg; this lecture uses Lane Cooper's translation in Princeton Readings in Political Thought ed. Mitchell Cohen.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Professor Kozlowski tackles the origins of Plato's Republic proper - following Socrates as he describes the earliest organization of government through its growth into a "fevered" state of luxuries and wealth. And, bonus - we get a ten-minute tangent on the Laws of Lycurgus! - which influenced many ancient thinkers (including Plato and Aristotle) and will continue to haunt us for the rest of the class.You can find the full text of Plato's Republic for free on Project Gutenberg; this lecture uses Lane Cooper's translation in Princeton Readings in Political Thought ed. Mitchell Cohen.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: ⁠professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

For the first reading in History of Social Thought, Professor Kozlowski *finally* tackles that greatest of philosophical classics: Plato's Republic. Today we'll look at the famous opening argument and get some preliminary answers to the question "What is Justice?" as well as Plato's practical example for dealing with Internet edgelords trying to win debates rather than understand truths.You can find the full text of Plato's Republic for free on Project Gutenberg; this lecture uses Lane Cooper's translation in Princeton Readings in Political Thought ed. Mitchell Cohen.If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: professorkozlowski.wordpress.com

Professor Kozlowski embarks on a new scholastic project: preparing an introductory course on political philosophy for the fall semester. Several months and dozens of books later, he might not have much in the way of knowledge or answers, but he'll spend three hours talking about it anyway.Follow Professor Kozlowski's other projects online at his webpage: professorkozlowski.wordpress.comAnd please contribute to the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski