Figures in Social and Political Thought (861V7A)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

The first half of the module examines Hegel's social and political philosophy. You’ll explore its place in his account of human consciousness, historical change and the Absolute. It aims to explain notions such as recognition, spirit, freedom and ethical life in Hegel and their political implications.

In the second half, we examine Marx as an ethical and political thinker. We look at a range of his works, investigating his ideas of freedom, species-being, alienation, class, ideology, fetishism and capital. We also consider on what basis he advocates and expects the replacement of capitalism by communism.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 278 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.