The Classroom

Send us Fan Mail In late 1786, a total of 77 delegates were invited to gather in Philadelphia in May 1787. These delegates were authorized by the Continental Congress and had a singular objective: to revise the Articles of Confederation. The designated date for the meeting was May 14th, 1787. However, due to transportation challenges, only two delegates had arrived in Philadelphia on that day, whi...

Send us Fan Mail John Stuart Mill was born on May 20th, 1806, in London. His father James Mill was determined to mold John into a well‐​educated leader. John was given an extremely rigorous education from a young age. He learned Greek at the age of three, Latin at eight, and read Plato’s dialogues in the original language before his tenth birthday. His book " On Liberty"; Published  in 1...

Send us Fan Mail In January 1776 Thomas Paine anonymously released a pamphlet called common sense. Common sense was a radical and impassioned call for America to free itself from British rule and to set up an independent republican government.  Paine's pamphlet was in plain language and it spoke directly to the common people and mass audience in the American colonies. In this episode Professo...

Send us Fan Mail In 1789  French people overthrew their monarchy and took control of the government. The French revolution was no different than any other revolutions. French people wanted to completely change their social and political system and to create a new system.  Through it all they killed each other at the highest rate and destroyed their way of living. An Englishman, and a political thi...

Send us Fan Mail On June 11, 1776, the second continental congress appointed a five-guy committee to draft the declaration of independence. The men were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingstone, and John Adams. Eventually, it was a one-man job and Thomas Jefferson ended up being the main author of the document. It took Jefferson less than 30 days to complete and submi...

Send us Fan Mail The Declaration of Independence is the most iconic/controversial document in the American history.  Penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, the document didn't just declare what America was about at the time of independence, it also declared what America posterity will be about.  In order to understand this document, we want to understand how America came to be America.  In this...

Send us Fan Mail The Declaration of Independence is the most iconic/controversial document in the American history.  Penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, the document didn't just declare what America was about at the time of independence, it also declared what America posterity will be about.  In order to understand this document, we want to understand how America came to be America. In this e...

Send us Fan Mail The Declaration of Independence is the most iconic/controversial document in American history.  Penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, the document didn't just declare what America was about at the time of independence, it also declared what America's posterity will be about.  In order to understand this document, we want to understand how America came to be America.  In th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron Cline discusses the contents of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's book "On the Social Contract", which was published in 1762. Rousseau, a significant political philosopher of the 18th century, was born in Geneva, an independent Calvinist city-state, in 1712. The focus of the discussion is Rousseau's concept of a politica...

Send us Fan Mail During this episode, Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron Cline delve into the impact of John Locke's book, "Second Treatise of Government." John Locke, a British philosopher, Oxford academic, and medical researcher, this book was published in 1689, Locke proposed that sovereignty should lie in the hands of the people. The student and professor discuss Locke's ide...

Send us Fan Mail During this episode, Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron Cline explore the topic of presidential power, specifically executive orders, proclamations, pardons, and signing statements. They discuss the historical background of these powers, their differences, and what the constitution says about them. The episode also delves into the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of these presid...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron Cline focus on "Leviathan," a book written by Thomas Hobbes in 1651. Hobbes, who was the first philosopher to write in English about political philosophy, also pioneered the concept of a social contract. In "Leviathan," Hobbes explores the idea of a state of nature, covenant, and social contract. He argues that...

Send us Fan Mail During this episode, Erick Nganyange and Professor Ron Cline delve into the infamous book "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. Although the book was published in 1532, five years after the author's death, it remains a significant work in political philosophy. Machiavelli, who was an Italian Renaissance diplomat, philosopher, and writer, was born in 1469 and died in...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to this introduction episode, where the student(Erick) and his professor(Ron) discuss the ins and outs of the podcast and what you should expect. Also, the Professor goes into detail breaking down the main subject of the podcast: What is political philosophy ? how it started and why you should care about it. How does political philosophy affect our lives? Why have some boo...