Topic:  Max Weber and Twentieth-Century European Political Thought

This course rests on a simple premise: Max Weber is not only one of
the intellectual giants of recent political and social thought, but
we can only make sense of  the key figures and movements of
twentieth-century political theory by trying to understand how they
confronted Weber’s imposing legacy. Weber’s analysis of
the “rationalization” of modern society, his attempt to provide a
defensible vision of political action amid the conditions of
a “disenchanted” universe, and his concern with preserving
individual freedom in a world where liberal democratic political
forms seem fragile, constitute the starting point for the theorizing
of Carl Schmitt, Hans Morgenthau, Leo Strauss, Herbert Marcuse,
Juergen Habermas, as well as many others.
	
The course begins with a thorough introduction to Weber’s work. We
then examine how a variety of authors, located at may different
places on the political and intellectual spectrum, offered distinct
responses to Weber in their own work. Only by understanding their
engagement with Weber can we fully make sense of their intellectual
agendas. In short, the course is designed as a (selective) survey in
recent European political thought, with special emphasis on the
manner in which Weber played a decisive formative role.