Class Description
Philosophy has often been accused of detachment—of gazing at the world rather than acting upon it. Yet the history of political thought tells a different story: behind every upheaval, every struggle for power, every dream of a just society, there were thinkers who dared to make philosophy a form of action. Philosophy in Action revisits that legacy.
From Machiavelli’s counsel to princes and republics, through Hegel’s rapture at Napoleon’s march, to Marx’s reflections on the Paris Commune and Lenin’s redefinition of the Party, this course traces moments when thought intervened directly in history—when philosophers were not spectators but participants. We will see how theory became an instrument of struggle, how ideas were forged in battle, and how revolutions shaped the very concepts that sought to explain them.
All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.
Ahmed Dardir (PhD in Middle East Studies from Columbia University) is the co-founder of the Institute for De-Colonising Theory (IDCtheory). He has taught courses on political theory, revolutions, colonialism, dramatizing the archive, and literature.
What to Expect
Format: Virtual
Class Capacity: 18
Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged
Materials List
Required
- Patrick Curry and Oscar Zarate, Introducing Machiavelli: A Graphic Guide. Icon Books, 2011. ISBN: 9781848311756
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince. Any edition.
- Full text online through Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive.
- Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks. International Publishers Co, 1971. ISBN: 978-0717803972 (Please Note: We are unable to stock this book, but you can find used copies for sale at online stores like AbeBooks.)
- Full text online through the Internet Archive.
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel’s Phenomenology of the Spirit.
Oxford University Press, 1977. ISBN: 9780198245971
- Full text online through the Internet Archive (different edition than instructor).
- Louis Althusser, On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. Verso, 2014. ISBN: 978-1781685242
- Full text available as an ebook through Libcom.
- The Invisible Committee. The Coming Insurrection. MIT Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-1584350804
- Full text online through the Internet Archive.
- Other Instructor-Distributed Materials, including articles and films
Note: If you are unable to acquire any of the required texts, please contact the instructor for access to the assigned readings.
Recommended
- Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge. Pantheon Books, 1980. ISBN: 978-0394513577
- Lisa Duggan, The Twilight of Equality. Beacon Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0807079553
First Reading
- Read The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
- Read pp. 3-58 from Machiavelli: A Graphic Guide
A Brief Syllabus
- The Philosopher and the Prince
- The Philosopher and the Conqueror
- The Philosopher and Revolution
- The Philosopher and the Movement; Philosophers and/as Organizers
- 1968 and the Philosopher
- Theory Now
Cost and Registration
6 Sessions, $270 ($243 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($270), Community Supported ($250), and Sponsor ($290). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
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