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More from Political Theory 101

1. 

   9 Jan 2024 · 1 hr 12 min

   Christian Wolff

   Alex and Benjamin talk about 18th century German philosopher Christian Wolff. Wolff suggested that there are reasons behind our motivations. Even a soldier who deserts his post is motivated to desert for a reason. Does that mean that rebels are motivated to rebel for reasons? And when two states are motivated to war with one another, does that mean that they both have reasons to go to war?

2. 

   1 Dec 2023 · 1 hr 14 min

   Monks in the City

   Alex and Benjamin talk about the explosion of monasteries in late antiquity. As it turns out, withdrawing from politics can be yet another way of trying to do politics.

3. 

   15 Nov 2023 · 1 hr 9 min

   G.K. Chesterton & G.B. Shaw as Political Theorists

   Alex and Benjamin explore a debate G.K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw had a century ago concerning political economy, then we dive into their political writings.

4. 

   6 Oct 2023 · 1 hr 18 min

   Lyotard

   Alex and Benjamin discuss Jean-François Lyotard's critique of Marxism, his "evil book," intersections between politics, art, and science, and how Lyotard answered the charge of relativism.

5. 

   19 Sep 2023 · 1 hr 7 min

   Deleuze & Guattari

   Alex and Benjamin explore the agonistic political thought of Deleuze and Guattari, focusing especially on their ideas about territory, change, and flow.

6. 

   28 Aug 2023 · 1 hr 19 min

   Althusser & Foucault, Ideology & Power

   Alex and Benjamin kick off a series on French political thought in the second half of the 20th century with an episode on ideology and power.

7. 

   6 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

   Kojève & the End of History

   We talk about Alexandre Kojève, whose reading of Hegel gave rise to a theory of recognition and of an "end of history". We also discuss Kojève's influence on Francis Fukuyama and on contemporary liberalism.

8. 

   4 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

   Murray Edelman & Symbolic Politics

   We discuss the work of American political scientist Murray Edelman, whose work on symbolic politics predates later French theory on the "spectacle".

9. 

   27 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 41 min

   Clarence Streit and International Federalism

   We discuss Streit's 1939 proposal for a international federation of democracies to avoid a new world war. We explore the limits of argumentation and the difference between making an argument and doing politics.

10. 

    8 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 27 min

    Friedrich List and the National System

    We discuss Friedrich List's many careers, his struggle for a German customs union, his belief that nationalism would lead to the "uniting of all nations under a common law of right", what happened instead, and why.

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