INQ-300 | Politics and the Passions

Full Title: Politics and the Passions: Beyond the Rational Political Subject

Topic Description:

Is politics governed by reason alone? Traditional theories of politics sought ways to govern rationally. The goal was to mitigate the role of emotions in politics as much as possible. More recent theories, however, have sought to show the ways in which human activity is thoroughly embodied. The result of this theorizing has been the destruction of the stark dichotomy between reason and the emotions. Furthermore, recent advances in cognitive science and complexity theory have lent support to rethinking politics as a complex affective system, rather than the imposition of reason on the unruly passions of the masses. This course will explore some of these recent advances in an effort to facilitate a research project directed at some concrete facet of political life.

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: March 2011