The class was a natural follow-up to the class on Ancient Greek perspectives on the good life. Ideas were less abstract; rather than consider the essence of life, more specific political issues were introduced, property rights the most apparent one. Machiavelli was the most interesting character to me: in "The Prince", his cynicism and view of power as amoral offered a basis for understanding strategy and diplomacy, and the consistent human nature that underpins it. The class was essay-heavy, with an emphasis on teasing out contradictions within arguments and resolving them or reaching a further conclusion in a Hegelian dialectic.