Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL1026: Early Modern Political Thought

This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

1) Machiavelli’s ideas on states, politics and republics;

2) Hobbes’s science of politics and conceptions of the state of nature, contract and sovereignty;

3) Locke’s ideas on the law and right of nature, property, the limits of obedience and the right to rebellion;

4) Rousseau’s critique of modern society, account of inequality, and ideas on liberty, sovereignty and contract;

5) Burke’s critique of the French Revolution and defence of conservatism.

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
26.5	123.5	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	16.5	11 x 1.5 hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	10	10 x 1 hour tutorials
Guided Independent study	73.5	Preparation for essays and exam
Guided Independent study	50	Reading for tutorials

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).