In a fit of spite, Professor Kozlowski condenses his discussion of landmark British political philosophers Hobbes and Locke - forerunners of the American constitution - into a single joint lecture. We'll compare and contrast the two states of nature proposed by these thinkers, examine their divergent attitudes toward the authority of government, and root their philosophical conclusions in the tumultuous history of the English Civil War.
Hooray for English philosophers - no translations necessary for these texts! Here are the Project Gutenberg texts of Hobbes' Leviathan, and Locke's Second Treatise Concerning Government.
Additional readings for this lecture include some more 17th-century English classics: Bacon's scientific Utopia, New Atlantis; Milton's epic masterpiece, Paradise Lost; and Swift's satirical classic, Gulliver's Travels. Finally, for my video gamers, I recommend the colonization-based management sim/city builder Anno 1404 (it may not be the most period-appropriate game in the series, but I think it is the best mechanical representation of this era without the industrialization mechanics of Anno 1800).
If you're interested in Professor Kozlowski's other online projects, check out his website: professorkozlowski.wordpress.com
