Political Theory 101

Edmund and Benjamin discuss the many different origin stories of inequality, drawing on Catharine MacKinnon and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Edmund on power: https://edmundjwilson.com/2019/11/01/on-power-tech-the-state-and-class/ Benjamin on Yang: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2019/08/14/andrew-yang-is-playing-hide-and-seek-with-the-left-press/

Political science expert Raeffe Gibson joins Benjamin and Edmund to discuss the concept of unity in political thought, exploring the connection between Augustine and Schmitt in political theology. They explore Schmitt's view on state action and ethics in politics, the significance of divine kingship in achieving legitimacy, and the debate between Cicero and Augustine on justice and the pursuit of the good.

Edmund and Benjamin discuss the role of charismatic leaders in politics in the Roman Empire, interwar Germany, and more recently.

Benjamin and Edmund discuss the ancient zero-sum conception of liberty, attempts by later political theorists to universalise it, and some of the ways understandings of liberty have changed to accommodate that. Draws most heavily on Aristotle's "Politics" and Constant's "The Liberty of the Ancients Compared With That of the Moderns" and "Adolphe".

Benjamin and Edmund discuss why both Hobbes and Plato think the state is necessary, comparing and contrasting the two along the way.

Benjamin Studebaker and Edmund Wilson welcome you to a new series about the history of political thought and some of the people who have contributed to it.