This course introduces students to the intellectual history of Western Europe from the Greeks and late medieval thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas through 20th-century philosophers such as Nietzsche. It will focus on the ideas that inspired many of the political systems and movements that are the foundation of the modern western political world. It will also explore the relationship between intellectual history and the social, religious, cultural and economic movements and reforms that helped to shape and define European society. Primary sources will be used extensively and students will be asked to explore the ideas of such thinkers as Plato, Machiavelli, Locke, Kant, Rousseau, Mill, Burke, Smith, Marx, Hegel and Freud.

Prerequisite: Completion of grade 11 history requirement or departmental approval. UC approved.

Interview with: Dr. Meyer

Produced by: Evan Cheng