The learning direction I chose for this project is political philosophy. Under the leadership of my tutor, Anna Whiston, we explored the age of democracy before liberalism of Plato and Aristotle in turn; power, legitimacy and republicanism of Niccolò Machiavelli; social contract of Thomas Hobbes; natural law and colonialism of John Locke; freedom and equality of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx and political liberalism of John Stewart Mill and John Rawls.
In the past two months of learning, I have realized the necessity and importance of reading a large number of classic literature. During the reading process, it is inevitable to encounter situations where one cannot understand or comprehend. However, in the process of summarizing after reading and with the help of the teacher, I gradually became able to grasp the main meaning of the literature and attempted to analyze the historical and theoretical background of each idea. I also tried to contact contemporary political practice to raise questions and engage in discussions with classmates and teachers.
In the ASMs, I gained a clearer understanding of how to present myself, how to plan and write my paper in the early stages, and the teacher pointed out and provided suggestions for the problems I encountered in my paper writing. In addition, teachers have also provided specific suggestions on how to think about philosophical issues and how to organically combine daily reading with their own academic research.
After this project, my interest in political philosophy has become even stronger. Thank to the tutors and teaching assistants who helped and supported me in this project. Looking forward to our meeting again in the future!
