Ideas in Politics

by Jeremy Shearmur

24 lectures on 12 audio cassettes with two study guides in two cases.

L01 - Setting the Table
L02 - Liberalism Introduced
L03 - Liberalism
L04 - Liberalism in Dispute
L05 - Libertarianism
L06 - Conservatism, Part I
L07 - Conservatism, Part II
L08 - How Society Works
L09 - Social Capital, Part I
L10 - Social Capital, Part II
L11 - Socialism
L12 - Non-Marxist Socialism
L13 - Socialism - Problems and Objections
L14 - Ecological Ideas, Part I
L15 - Ecological Ideas, Part II
L16 - Feminism
L17 - Problems of Liberal Feminism
L18 - Feminism Concluded
L19 - Nationalism
L20 - Multiculturalism
L21 - Gay And Lesbian Politics
L22 - Religion and Politics in the West
L23 - Toleration, Censorship and Pornography
L24 - The End Of History

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Audiobook, Nonfiction

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Abdulaziz Fagih · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent presentation skills and material content, the presenter will introduce variety of subject and will argue in super objective view. These lectures are thought provocative and enjoyable

[Don Heiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prof Jeremy Shearmur’s Teaching Company course “Ideas in Politics” was released in 2001. The lectures present liberal, conservative, and socialistic principles that are foundational to political ideologies about ecology, feminism, sexual orientations, and multiculturalism. These foundational principles also underpin his discussions of how the role of religion and social diversity influence secular politics. It has been 21 years since the release of these lectures and they are still thought provoking. The lectures helped me expand my prospective of liberal democracy; and helped me rethink the role of morality in conservative political value sets. The lectures also profoundly influenced my thinking about economic justice, gender-social bias, and international politics of 2022 and beyond. (P)

[Jeff Grundman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of every major idea in domestic western politics with the arguments for and against laid out in a clear and largely unbiased way.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Ideas in Politics' is a set of twenty-four lectures (each about 30 minutes long) dedicated to political ideas that have dominated politics of United States and other 'similar' countries over last century or so. Liberalism and conservatism stand in the center of the lectures, although liberitarianism, nationalism and socialism get their due. In second part of the lectures, professor Shearmur proceeds with analysis of more recent ideas such as feminism and civil rights for different minorities as well as role of religion and toleraion in western countries.

The lectures themselves are somewhat too conversational in their structure and that lack of clear structure was a bit difficult for me to get over at the beginning. In my opinion, the concepts are often presented in somewhat oblique and open-ended manner which leaves a lot to think about for the audience. Also, the lecturer takes a lot of care to present different ideas in an objective manner, there is no stand-taking whatsoever - something that I at least appreciated a lot.

Overall, it's a very informative and thoughtful set of lectures. The issue I have with it is that its, for the lack of better word, open-ended form made me feel it didn't provide any definite conclusions. On one hand I understand perfectly well why professor Shearmur chose this path (after all, it's a presentation, not indoctrination), but nevertheless, his tangibly ambiguable approach to the topic provides in the end a somewhat anticlimactic experience.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

7: A bit too basic but some parts are really interesting