MODERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
POSC 332
STUDY GUIDE

This study guide is aligned to the syllabus for Posc 332. It contains lists of questions designed to help reading and reflecting upon the weekly and daily assignment as well as useful links to various web sources on the thinkers and issues being addressed in those assignments.
Links to many very good web sites on political theory may be found at the following University of Michigan site:
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/pstheory.html
Another good source of material on political theory may be found at the LSU site at:
http://www.artsci.lsu.edu/poli/theoryx.html
One may obtain some useful background material on theories and theorists associated with modern political philosophy by going to encyclopedia articles and links found at the Britannica site at: http://search.eb.com/  In order to access the Britannica articles you may have to go through the Longwood University Library site, look under general references, and then go to Briannica to make free use of this source.
The University Tennessee at Martin maintains The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/
Useful articles on various thinkers and concepts may be found at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: http://plato.stanford.edu/

DAILY READING ASSIGNMENTS AND QUESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION

TABLE OF CONTENTS BY WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

PART 1  WEEKS 1 - 4
Week 1  Introduction to modern political thought; Machiavelli
Week 2  Machiavelli
Week 3  Wellsprings of modern political though; Hobbes
Week 4  Hobbes

PART II  WEEKS 5 - 8
Week 5  Locke
Week 6  Locke and the Enlightenment
Week 7  The Enlightenment and Modern Liberalism
Week 8  Modern Liberalism and Contemporary Liberalism

PART III  WEEKS 9 - 12
Week 9  Rousseau
Week 10  Utopian Socialism, Marx, Marxism, Nineteen Century Radicalism, Communism, and Social Democracy
Week 11  Burkean Conservatism, Contemporary Conservatism, and Fundamentalism
Week 12   Fascism and Anarchism

PART IV  WEEKS 13 - 14
Week 13   Feminism, Environmentalism, and Beyond Ideology
Week 14   Postmodern Political Theory

DEVELOPING YOUR ESSAYS


PART I  WEEKS 1 -4
Week 1  Introduction to modern political thought; Machiavelli

Assignment 1, Topics: What is political philosophy? What sets modern political thought apart from the earlier Western tradition? What does Leslie Thiele say about the nature of political theory and the various ways of theorizing? What are the central characteristics of political theories and political ideologies?
Read: Thiele, Thinking Politics, Introduction and Chpt. 1; Britannica article on Ideology: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9106294/ideology#230829.hook
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 1
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What is political philosophy all about?
2. What are some of the characteristics modern political thought?
3. How does Thiele describe the nature of political theory?
4. How does Thiele describe the characteristics of a good political theory?
5. What does Thiele mean in saying that "hermeneutics" is central to political theory?
6. What are the different meanings given to the term ideology?
7. How can one best understand the role of political ideologies over the past two centuries?
8. How did Marx and Mannheim understand the origin and role of ideologies in society?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 1
After reading Thiele's views on what political philosophy attempts to do, write a three page essay in which you explain what questions political philosophers address and the methods they try to employ in dealing with basic social and political issues. In this essay you need to demonstrate an understanding of how political philosophers undertake their inquiries.

Assignment 2, Topic: What "lessons" did Machiavelli advance about how a prince is to achieve and maintain power?
Read:  Machiavelli, The Prince
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 1 and 2; Wiser, Chpt. 6
   Norton Critical Edition on Machiavelli (especially articles by Strauss and Wolin)
Links to many excellent web sites on Machiavelli may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. Why is Machiavelli writing The Prince?
2. What advice does Machiavelli give to a prince as to how one might go about getting and maintaining power?
3. What does he mean when he says that the prince must be both a lion and a fox?
4. What does Machiavelli have to say about fortune?  Why is is concept of fortune so important to his political thinking?
5. What do you think about the advice Machiavelli gives to the prince?
6. Is Machiavelli making any worthwhile contribution to our understanding of politics?


Week 2  Machiavelli

Assignment 3, Topic: What are the ethical and political implications of Machiavelli’s advice that the prince should “learn how not to be good?”
Read: Machiavelli, The Prince
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 1 and 2; Wiser, Chpt. 6
   Norton Critical Edition on Machiavelli (especially articles by Strauss and Wolin)
Links to many excellent web sites on Machiavelli may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. Why does Machiavelli say that a prince must "learn how not to be good?"
2. How does such a view tie into the rest of the advice he gives on how a prince can get and maintain power?
3. What are the ethical and political implications of the view Machiavelli is advancing?
4. Do you agree or disagree with his position? Why?
5. Is Machiavelli advancing or setting back political thought?
6. Why does Strauss argue that Machiavelli is a teacher of evil?
7. How does Wolin go about defending Machiavelli from the charge that his discussion of violence and dishonesty involves the teaching of evil?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 2
After reading The Prince, write a three page essay in which you explain and evaluate the ethical implications of Machiavelli's
assertion that in politics "one must learn how not to be good."  Develop your own position as to whether or not the central
claims of what is called "political realism" are ethically defensible.

Assignment 4, Topic: What does Machiavelli admire about the ancient Roman republic?
Read: Machiavelli, The Discourses
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 1 and 2; Wiser, Chpt. 6
    Norton Critical Edition on Machiavelli (especially articles by Strauss and Wolin)
Links to many excellent web sites on Machiavelli may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What kind of political theory is being presented in The Discourses?
2. Why does Machiavelli admire the ancient Romans?
3. Why does he admire the old Roman Republic?
4. Who are his heroes? Why?
5. What implications do his ideas in The Discourses have for democratic political theory?

Assignment 5, Topic: How do the ideas advanced in The Prince relate to the ideas advanced in The Discourse?  What are his contributions to modern political thought?
Read: Machiavelli, The Discourses
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 1 and 2; Wiser, Chpt. 6
    Norton Critical Edition on Machiavelli (especially articles by Strauss and Wolin)
Links to many excellent web sites on Machiavelli may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How do the ideas found in The Prince relate to the ideas advanced in The Discourses?
2. Are his views consistent in the two works?
3. Which work best represents his "real" views?
4. What are Machiavelli's most important contributions to the Western tradition of political thought?
5. What are some of the major competing interpretations one might give to his works?
6. What was he really trying to do?
7. What is his significance to later political thought?
8. How do you evaluate his work?


Week 3  Wellsprings of modern political though; Hobbes

Assignment 6, Topic: What were some of the basic elements of Reformation political thought?
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 3; Wiser, Chpt. 7
Links to many excellent web sites on Machiavelli may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What were some of the more important theological and political issues which served as wellsprings to the Protestant Reformation?
2. What is the importance of what Luther seemed to be saying about the sources of authority in the life of the individual and society?
3. What were the most important political ideas put forth by Luther?
4. What were the most important political ideas put forth by Calvin and some of his followers?
5. What were the most important implications and consequences of their political ideas?
6. How do you evaluate their political thinking?

Assignment 7, Topic: From the standpoint of political theory, what were the implications of what Wiser calls the intellectual revolution of the Seventeenth century?
   Optional Background Material:  Wiser, Chpt. 8
Links to many good sites on Francis Bacon may be found at the online Britannica site.
Links to many good sites on Descartes may be found at the online Britannica site.
A Britiannica article, "Deconstructing the 'Science Wars' by Reconstructing an Old Mold," by Stephen Jay Gould may be found by doing a search at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What are the most important consequences of the method of thinking and obtaining knowledge put forth by Francis Bacon?
2. What are the most important consequences of the method of thinking and obtaining knowledge put forth by Descartes?
3. To what extent should political theory make use of the methods of obtaining knowledge found in mathematics and the natural sciences?
4. What are the political implications of the ideas of Bacon and Descartes?
5. To what extent are their ideas about knowledge still influential today?

Assignment 8, Topics: How does Hobbes view human nature? What does Hobbes believe to be the most important laws of nature?
Read: Leviathan, Introduction, Chpts. 1-15
  Optional Background Material On Reserve: Germino, Chpt. 4, Chpt. 9
Links to many excellent sites on Hobbes may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What kind of methodology does Hobbes employ in his political theory?
2. How does he use the social contract theory/
3. What does he say about human nature?
4. Is he right about human nature?
5. What do you think of his way of looking at politics?
6. What does he mean by "the right of nature" and a "law of nature?"
7. What does he say are the most fundamental laws of nature?
8. Upon what are covenants based?
9. How does he define the nature of justice?
10. What is the content of what he calls the true moral philosophy?
11. What do you think of his principal claims?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 3
After reading Hobbes theory about the "laws of nature," write a three page essay in which you explain his argument that these laws constitute the true moral philosophy.  In this essay you should evaluate the claims advanced by Hobbes and develop your own position as to whether or not ethics should rest upon self interest.


Week 4  Hobbes
Assignment 9, Topic: How does Hobbes explain the origin and justification for the existence and legitimate authority of the state?
Read: Leviathan, Chpts. 16-17
   Optional Background Material On Reserve: Germino, Chpt. 4, Chpt. 9
Links to many excellent sites on Hobbes may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How does Hobbes go about explaining the origin and justification for authority?
2. What does he mean when he says that the commonwealth is an artificial person?
3. How are states created?
4. What do you think of his theory about the justification for the authority of the state?
5. Could political authority be justified along any other lines?

Assignment 10, Topics: What powers does Hobbes believe should belong to any legitimate government? How does Hobbes try to explain what causes the dissolution of governments?
Read:  Leviathan, Chpts: 18-31
   Optional Background Material On Reserve: Germino, Chpt. 4, Chpt. 9
Links to many excellent sites on Hobbes may be found at the online Britiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What are the rights and powers Hobbes gives to the sovereign?
2. How does he describe the different forms of government?
3. Which form of government does Hobbes prefer and why?
4. What are the differences between a commonwealth by institution and a commonwealth by acquisition? How are they alike?
5. How does Hobbes define liberty?
6. Under what circumstances may a person be justified in not obeying the government, according to Hobbes?
7. What is his view of property and property rights?
8. What does he say about civil law?
9. What does he say about crime and punishment?
10. What does Hobbes say about what causes the dissolution of commonwealths?
11. What his final claims regarding his own theory?
12. How do you evaluate his political theory?

Assignment 11, First Test - NOTE: Your first test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.


PART II  WEEKS 5 - 8
Week 5  Locke
Assignment 12, Topic: What does Locke say about toleration?
There are links to some good web materials on Locke at the online Britannica site.
Below is a site that will take you to some of the key works of John Locke.  The main texts are online.
http://readroom.ipl.org/cgi/i/ipl/ipl.books-idx.pl?type=browseauthor&q1=L
A Letter Concerning Toleration may be found at: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/text/locke/tolerat.htm
The Second Treatise of Civil Government may be fount at: http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/etext/l/l81s/
Read: Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration
   Optional Background Material: Germino Chpt. 5 and Wiser, Chpt. 10
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What are the arguments which Locke advances against persecuting people for their ideas?
2. What are his arguments for toleration?
3. What important assumptions are found at the root of his arguments?
4. Are there any problems with his arguments?
5. Could one make a stronger case for toleration?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 4
After reading Locke's work on toleration, write a three page essay in which you explain his main arguments for toleration and apply those arguments to important issues in your own life regarding toleration.  In this essay you should also demonstrate how those arguments relate to contemporary issues regarding our political, social, and economic institutions.

Assignment 13, Topic: What does Locke say about human nature and the origins of government?
Read: Locke, The Second Treatise
    Optional Background Material: Germino Chpt. 5 and Wiser, Chpt. 10
There are links to some good web materials on Locke at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How does Locke use the social contract theory?
2. How does he describe the state of nature?
3. What does he say about human nature?
4. What does he say about the state of war?
5. How do his views on these matters compare and contrast with the views of Hobbes on these issues?
6. What does he say about slavery?

Assignment 14, Topic: What does Locke say about freedom, property, and the basis of legitimate authority in society?  Are there natural rights?
Read: Locke, The Second Treatise
    Optional Background Material: Germino Chpt. 5 and Wiser, Chpt. 10
There are links to some good web materials on Locke at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What are Locke's ideas regarding property?
2. How do his views on property relate to debates about capitalism and socialism?
3. What does he say about parental power?
4. What is the basis for the legitimate authority of government?
5. Are there natural rights?
6. How do Locke's views relate to the development of liberalism and to contemporary libertarianism?


Week 6  Locke and the Enlightenment
Assignment 15, Topic: What is Locke’s vision of a good society?  What are the purposes of government?  What are the rightful powers of government? What are the limits on the authority of government?
Read: Read: Locke, The Second Treatise
   Optional Background Material: Germino Chpt. 5 and Wiser, Chpt. 10
There are links to some good web materials on Locke at the online Britannica site.
Examine these various listings of rights:
1776 The Virginia Declaration of Rights: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/virginia.asp 
1776 Declaration of Independence: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: http://www.constitution.org/fr/fr_drm.htm
1789-1791 Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
                                                                                  http://www.legalmatch.com/lawyer-resource-center.html
1791 Declaration of the Rights of Woman: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/lavender/decwom2.html
1941 Four Freedoms: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrthefourfreedoms.htm
1944 The Economic Bill of Rights: http://www.apj.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
One may also see some background on the debate regarding three generations of human rights at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_generations_of_human_rights#Second-generation_human_rights

Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How does rightful political power differ from paternal power, according to Locke?
2. What does Locke say about civil society?
3. What does Locke say about the beginning of government and the idea of majority rule?
4. What goals should be served by government?
5. What are the rightful powers of government?
6. What does Locke say about executive prerogative?
7. What does he say about the different branches of government?
8. What does he say about paternal, political, and despotical power?
9. What does Locke say about usurpation?
10. How does he define the nature of tyranny?
11. What limits should be placed on the powers of government?
12. On what grounds may government be dissolved?
13. When may we resist government?
14.  Is there a right to revolution?
15. What does Jefferson and the American tradition of political thought owe to Locke?

Assignment 16, Topic: How did the Enlightenment challenge traditional patterns of thought?
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
   Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 6, 9; Wiser, Chpts. 11, 14
There are links to some good web materials on the thinkers and issues of the Enlightenment at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What were the contributions of French thinkers like Voltaire, Diderot, and D'Alembert to the Enlightenment?
2. How did Locke influence so many of these thinkers?
3. What did Turgot and Condorcet say about progress?
4. What is the significance of the challenge to traditional authority undertaken by so many thinkers of this period?

Assignment 17, Topic: The Emergence of Feminist Thought During the Enlightenment
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader (Section with Selections on Race and Gender)
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What were some of the competing views about women advanced during the 18th century?
2. What were the central arguments advanced by Mary Wollstonecraft regarding the rights of women?
3. What contributions to feminist thought were advanced by Mary Astell, Judith Sargent Stevens (Constantia), and Olympe de Gouges?
4. How did the above thinkers challenge their century?
5. How did they reflect their century?
6. What were some of the competing gender and racial views advanced by some of the leading male thinkers of the period who where otherwise considered radical or advanced in their theories?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 5
After reading the works of some important 18th century feminists, write a three page essay in which you explain the critique they advance regarding the ideas of other Enlightenment thinkers and their society.  In this essay you should also develop your own position as to the merits of their critique and the alternative ideas they advanced.


Week 7  The Enlightenment and Modern Liberalism
Assignment 18, Topic: What are some of the most important political implications of Enlightenment thinking?
What claims were advanced by 18th century materialism and sensationalism?
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
       Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 6 and 9; Wiser, Chpts. 11 and 14
       Optional Background Material: Mill, Utilitarianism: http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm  and On Liberty: http://www.bartleby.com/130/
The Hume Archives site has useful material at: http://www.utm.edu/research/hume/hume.html
There are some links to some good materials and encyclopedia articles on David Hume, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, Helvetius, and Baron d Holbach at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What criticisms did Hume direct against the social contract theory and ideas about natural law and natural rights?
2. What are the basic ideas involved in Hume's political thinking?
3. What were the most important ideas advanced by Adam Smith?
4. How did Smith's ideas relate to various themes of Enlightenment thought?
5. What contributions did Montesquieu make to Western political thought?
6. Do Montesquieu's ideas make any sense today?
7. What claims about the nature of human knowledge were made by the advocates of sensationalism?
8. What did Helvetius have to say about human nature?
9. What political ideas were advanced by Holbach?
10. What were the most important implications of the ideas advanced by the sensationalist and materialist wings of the Enlightenment?
12. What do all the above ideas imply about the role of education in society?
13. What are some of the 20th century implications of the above ideas?
14. What contemporary movements and theories owe a big debt to the above thinkers and ideas?

Assignment 19, Topics: What ideas about justice and the nature of the good society were advanced by utilitarian thinkers such as Bentham and Mill?  What ideas about ethics are put forth by these thinkers?
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader: Schumaker, Ideological Voices, Chpt. 2
          Also read: Dr. Peale’s Essay on Ethics On-line      

Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpts. 6 and 9; Wiser, Chpts. 11 and 14
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What did Bentham say about human nature?
2. What did he say about justice and the principles of a good society?
3. What did Mill have in common with Bentham?
4. How did Mill disagree with Bentham?
5. What are the strong points and weak points of utilitarian theory?
6. What did utilitarian liberalism share in common with natural rights liberalism?
7. How did utilitarian liberalism differ from natural rights liberalism?
8. What views did the utilitarians advance regarding punishment and legal reform?
8. What did the utilitarians owe to Locke and Hobbes?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 6
After reading Bentham and Mill, write a three page essay in which you explain the how utilitarianism suggests we should go about making ethical decisions in own personal lives and in our social, economic, and political systems.  In this essay you should clearly state the criteria used by the utilitarian approach and develop your own position as to whether or not you think this theory is justifiable as a way to solve conflicts in our personal and public lives.

Assignment 20, Topic: What were the most important economic ideas advanced during the Enlightenment?
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What economic ideas were advanced by the Physiocrats?
2. How did Enlightenment thinkers set the stage for free market ideas?
3. How did Enlightenment thinkers justify economic ambitions?
4. What is the meaning of Mandeville's "The Fable of the Bees"?
5. What are the most important ideas advanced by Adam Smith?


Week 8  Modern Liberalism and Contemporary Liberalism
Assignment 21, Topics: What contributions did Kant make to the discussion of ethics?  What were his contributions to modern liberalism? How does the Kantian approach to ethical and political issues differ from the utilitarian approach to those issues?
Read:  Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
Also read:  Dr. Peale’s Essay on Ethics On-line   
                Thiele, Chpt. 5 pp. 100-118
                Article on John Dewey: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dewey-political/
                Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
                John Rawls, "A Kantian Conception of Equality" http://princetonindependent.com/issue01.03/item10c.html             
                Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 10
There are links to some good web materials on Kant at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What does Kant say about good will and duty?
2. What is his formula for a universal law?
3. What is behind his categorical imperative?
4. What does he mean by autonomy?
5. What are the implications of his theory of law?
6. What is the basis for his critique of utilitarianism/
7. What are Kant's contribution to the liberal tradition?
8. What do you think about his ideas regarding ethics and law?
9. How can one see his ideas at work today in many political arguments, movements, and disputes?
10. How does the Kantian approach to ethical and political issues differ from the utilitarian approach to those issues?

Assignment 22, Topics: What contributions did John Dewey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Rawls make to contemporary
            liberalism?
Read: Schumaker, Ideological Voices, Chpt. 8
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What does welfare state liberalism retain from the earlier liberal tradition?
2. How does welfare state liberalism differ from the earlier liberal tradition?
3. What does Dewey say about democracy?  How do his ideas represent a transition from earlier to more contemporary forms of liberalism?
4. How do the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr. make earlier liberal ideas applicable to later political issues?  How does he justify civil disobedience?
5. How does Rawls use Kantian ethics and the social contract theory to revitalize political philosophy and combine traditional liberal values with a defense of contemporary liberalism?
Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 7 After reading the selections from Kant in The Portable Enlightenment Reader, write a three page in which you explain the basic claims of Kant’s ethical theory.  How does his understanding of ethics differ from the utilitarian approach to ethics?  How did Kant’s ethical theory influence his political theory about the best form of government, law, and international relations?

Assignment 23, Second Test - NOTE:  Your second test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.


SPRING BREAK


Week 9  Rousseau
Assignment 24, Topic: What does Rousseau have to say about human nature?  How does he explain the origin of inequality?  Are some inequalities justifiable?
Read:  The Social Contract, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, and Discourse on the Origin of Inequality found in The Basic Political Writings
           For combined versions of The Social Contract, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, and Discourse on the Origin of Inequality:
           http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=638&layout=html
           Or for the individual works:      
           The Discourse on the Origins of Inequality:  http://www.constitution.org/jjr/ineq.htm
           The Social Contact:  http://www.constitution.org/jjr/socon.htm
           The Creed of a Savoyard Priest:http://www.e-text.org/text/Rousseau%20-%20THE%20CREED%20OF%20A%20SAVOYARD%20PRIEST.txt
           (From Emile) 
        Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 7 and Wiser, Chpt. 12
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How does Rousseau challenge the confidence and optimism of so many of his contemporary thinkers?
2. Which assumptions and beliefs so important to most Enlightenment thinkers are attacked by Rousseau in his Discourses on the Arts and Science?
3. What is his purpose in writing The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality?
4. What does he say about human nature?
5. How does he use the social contract theory?
6. How does his use of the social contract theory differ from Hobbes and Locke?
7. What are the two different types of inequalities addressed by Rousseau?
8. How does he explain the origin of social inequalities?
9. How does he go about condemning certain forms of inequality?
10. Are some inequalities justifiable?
11. What do you think about his views?

Assignment 25, Topic: What is Rouseau trying to prove in his use of the social contract theory?  What is his picture of the good society and the best form of government?
Read:  The Essential Rousseau: The Social Contract
    Optional Background Material On Reserve: Germino, Chpt. 7 and Wiser, Chpt. 12
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What is the central issue Rousseau believes he is addressing in The Social Contract?
2. What problem is he trying to solve?
3. Why do we need government?
4. What does he want government to do?
5. What does he say about slavery?
6. What is the basis for legitimate government?
7. What is the general will and what role does it play in his political theory?
8. Why and how does he distinguish between the general will and the particular will?
9. Why does he believe that society should be guided by the general will?
10. How can one recognize the general will?
11. Who gets to determine just what is the general will?
12. What is the role of majority rule in all of this?
13. Could a minority claim to rule on the basis of better knowledge of the general will?
14. How does he describe the nature of a good society?
15. What does he think is the best form of government?

Assignment 26, Topic: What kind of critique does Rousseau offer of existing societies and forms of government?
Read:  The Essential Rousseau
    Optional Background Material On Reserve: Germino, Chpt. 7 and Wiser, Chpt. 12
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What does society do to man, according to Rousseau?
2. Does society corrupt man?
3. What is at stake in the debate over Rousseau's assertions on these matters?
4. How do Rousseau's views on human nature and his use of the social contract theory compare and contrast with what was developed by Hobbes and Locke in their theories?
5. What do his ideas suggest regarding modern societies?
6. What is he saying about the division of labor?
7. Would people be happier in simpler societies?
8. How does Rousseau challenge the legitimacy of most societies and governments?
9. Do his criticisms have merit?
10. Do his solutions to the problems he talks about make sense?
11. What are the stronger points of his political theory?
12. What are the weaker points of his political theory?
13. What does he say about religion?
14. What kind of civic religion does he advocate?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 8
After reading Rousseau's account of the origins of inequality and injustice in the world, write a three page essay in which you explain Rousseau's view that evil in the world is caused by faulty social, economic, and political structures.  In this essay you must also develop your own position on his account of injustice.  Basically you need to engage in the debate as to whether evil in society is caused by bad people or by bad social systems. Do bad choices by individuals cause social evils or do unjust social structures create bad people?


Week 10  Utopian Socialism, Marx, Marxism, Nineteen Century Radicalism, Communism, and Social Democracy
Assignment 27, Topics:  What were the main claims of utopian socialism and nineteenth century radicalism?
How does Marx understand society?  What is his method of analysis?  What are the central elements of historical materialism?  How does Marx go about developing his critique of capitalism? What is the vision of the good society put forth by Marx?
   Read: Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto: http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html
                Thiele, Chpt. 5 pp. 139-154
                Eduard Bernstein:  Evolutionary Socialism:  http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/bernstein-revsoc.html               
                Britannica Article on Saint-Simon: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064947/Henri-de-Saint-Simon
                Britannica Article on Auguste Comte: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9025064/Auguste-Comte
                Britannica Article on Robert Owen: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057793/Robert-Owen
                Britannica Article on Charles Fourier: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035043/Charles-Fourier
                Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Hegel: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel/
                Britannica Article on Eduard Bernstein: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078867/Eduard-Bernstein               
                Britannica Article on Lenin: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9108666/Vladimir-Ilich-Lenin
               Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 14; Wiser, Chpt. 16, Wiser, Chpt. 17, pp. 400-406
There are good links to materials on Marx and all the thinkers named below found at the online Britannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What did the Utopian Socialists have in common?
2. What were the most important ideas advanced by Saint-Simon?
3. What were the most important ideas advanced by Fourier?
4. What were the most important ideas advanced by Robert Owen?
5. What were the most important ideas advanced by Auguste Comte?
6. What did these thinkers owe to the Enlightenment?
7. How did they contribute to the socialist tradition of thought?
8. How did they influence Marx and his followers?
9. What is meant by the "scientism" of Saint-Simon and Comte?
10. How did Hegel try to explain the nature of society and the course of human history?
11. How did Hegel try to understand the nature of man, society, and history?
12. What was the method of analysis he employed?
13. How did he describe  the course of human history?
14. What was his view of human nature?
15. What did he say about freedom?
16. What kind of society and government did he most admire?
17. What do you think of his ideas?
18. What did the Young Hegelians do with his ideas?
19. How does Marx explain the course of human history?
20. What is historical materialism?
21. How did capitalism develop, according to Marx?
22. What does Marx view as the achievements of capitalism?
23. How does Marx explain what he call surplus value and alienation?
24. Why does Marx believe capitalism is doomed?
25. Where does he see capitalism heading?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 9
After reading Marx, write a three page essay in which you explain his method (historical materialism) of analyzing society and how that method has influenced different disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. How does his mode of inquiry add to our understanding of social, economic, and political developments?  In this essay you must also demonstrate an understanding of what his theory suggests about our moral and political beliefs.

Assignment 28 Topics: How have some later thinkers modified the theory put forth by Marx? What did Lenin contribute to the Marxist tradition?  What are the main claims of Communism?
Read: Schumaker, Ideological Voices - Chpts. 5, 6
There are good links to materials on Lenin found at the online Brtiannica site.
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What will the communist society of the future look like?
2. What will happen to alienation and the division of labor in the future classless society?
3. In what way will people be free?
4. What will happen to the state in the future communist society?
5. What is meant by the two stages of socialism?
6. How do we get to this future order?
7. What problems confronted Marxism and socialism after the death of Marx?
8. How did the social democrats make use of his ideas?
9. How did Lenin modify his theory?
10. How did Mao approach the Marxist tradition?
11. How did Marcuse modify the theory?
12. What problems confront Marxist and socialist theory with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union?

Assignment 29, Topics: What are the principal ideas advanced by social democratic theorists? How does the social democratic tradition differ from revolutionary socialism?
Read:  Read: Schumaker, Ideological Voices - Chpt. 9
Questions for Class Discussion:
1.  How did Eduard Bernstein try to make the ideas of Marx applicable to the conditions after the death of Marx?
2.  What are the main values at the heart of Bernstein's theory of evolutionary socialism?
3.  What were the claims of Fabian socialism?
4.  How does Carole Pateman merge the ideas of participatory democracy with social democratic theory?
5.  What do Michael Walzer and Michael Harrington say about the reasons for inequalities in contemporary societies and what do they propose as solutions?
6.  How do contemporary social democrats picture the requirements for a more just and humane society?

Extra questions for consideration during the three assignments listed above: What did various nineteenth and twentieth century radicals say about social and economic inequalities, the nature of justice, and the best form of government?  How do these political theorists link together fundamental concerns of many different social sciences and provide insights that reveal the connections between  thinkers in all the social sciences and humanities?


Week 11  Burkean Conservatism, Contemporary Conservatism, and Fundamentalism
Assignment 30 Topics: How did Burke critique the Enlightenment and the French Revolution? What was Burke’s vision of the good society?
Read:   Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France:  http://www.constitution.org/eb/rev_fran.htm
                Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Edmund Burke: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/burke/
                Michael Oakeshott: "Rationalism in Politics" http://www.conservativeforum.org/EssaysForm.asp?ID=6102
                Essay on Communitarian Theory by Amitai Etzioni: http://www.conservativeforum.org/EssaysForm.asp?ID=12542     
                George Will, "The Case for Conservatism" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053002026.html
                Do additional web-based research on contemporary conservative ideologies
                Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 8; Wiser, Chpt. 13; Harbour volume
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. Why was Burke so critical of the Enlightenment?
2. Why was he so critical of the French Revolution?
3. What modes of political reasoning are attacked by Burke?
4. What does he think about revolution and reform?
5. How did Burke influence the development of Conservative thought?
6. Why did Burke value tradition?
7. What is the place of freedom in his thinking?
8. What does he say about authority and order in society?
9. What in his view are the most important elements of a good society?
10. Does he offer any justification for his basic values?
11. Is there a natural law element to his thinking?

Assignment 31, Topics: How has conservative thought evolved? What are the principal ideas advanced by contemporary schools of conservative thought?
Read:  Schumaker, Ideological Voices, Chpts. 10
    Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 8; Wiser, Chpt. 13; Harbour volume
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What debt does contemporary conservatism owe to nineteenth century liberalism?
2. What are the principal concerns of contemporary conservatism?
3. What problems has conservatism faced in America?
4. How has conservative thought evolved since the time of Burke?
5. Can we define conservatism?
6. What are some contending schools of thought within contemporary conservatism?
7. How do contemporary conservatives view capitalism and free market economics?
8. What are the principal divisions among contemporary conservative schools of thought?
9. What positions do conservatives take on most contemporary political issues?

Assignment 32, Topics: What are the main criticisms of existing societies advanced by rival versions of religious fundamentalism?
Read:  Schumaker, Ideological Voices, Chpts. 11
Questions for Class Discussion:
1.  What do Christian, Jewish, and Islamic fundamentalists see wrong with their contemporary societies?
2.  How do Christian, Jewish, and Islamic fundamentalists define the basis of a good society?
3.  How would these groups like to change their societies?
4.  What does religious fundamentalism in politics share in common with conservatism?
5.  How does religious fundamentalism in politics differ from conservatism?
6.  What are the strengths and weakness of these political movements?
7.  How do these movements challenge liberalism and socialism?

Critical Thinking Writing Exercise No. 10
After reading the selections by Burke and some contemporary conservatives, and doing additional web-based research on contemporary conservative ideologies, write a three page essay on the place of Burkean ideas among conservatives today.  Explain the extent to which his ideas are still important to conservatives and the extent to which some on the political right today have abandoned his ideas.


Week 12   Fascism and Anarchism
Assignment 33, Topic: What ideas about society were put forth by fascism and nazism?
Read:  Mussolini, "The Doctrine of Fascism" http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm             
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. How did the Fascists and Nazis repudiate much the the Enlightenment?
2. What did they see as wrong with their existing societies?
3. What kind of society did they wish to create?
4. How did they understand human nature?
5. Why did they value war?
7. What are the main claims of contemporary neo-fascist and neo-nazi groups?

Assignment 34, Topic:  How did anarchists critique existing societies?
Read:     Emma Goldman, "Anarchism: What It Really Stands For" http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Writings/Anarchism/anarchism.html
              Peter Kropotkin, "Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal" http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kropotkin-peter/1890s/x01.htm
              Mikhail Bakunin, "Marxism, Freedom, and the State" http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_Archives/bakunin/marxnfree.html#chap3
Questions for Class Discussion:
1.  What did Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, and Emma Goldman see wrong with their societies?
2.  How did they define the nature of the good society?
3.  How did their theories relate to other 19th and 20th century political ideologies?  What do they share in common with some of these other ideologies?  How do they differ?
4.  What are some of the main claims of contemporary anarchist thinkers and movements?

Assignment 35  Third Test -  NOTE: Your third test will count for 1/6 of your semester grade.


Week 13   Feminism, Environmentalism, and Beyond Ideology
Assignment 36, Topic: What are the most important ideas advanced by modern feminism?
Read:  Thiele, Chpt. 5 pp. 118-139
                Also check out the material found at the following sites and its links:
                Senaca Falls Declaration of Sentiments: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage1848/a/seneca_declartn.htm
                Betty Friedan, excerpts: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/betty_friedan.htm
                Kate Millett, Sexual Politics: http://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/millett-kate/sexual-politics.htm
                Betty Friedan, Interview: http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/friedan.htm
                Betty Friedan, The Problem That Has No Name: http://www.h-net.org/~hst203/documents/friedan1.html    
                Shulamith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex: http://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/firestone-shulamith/dialectic-sex.htm
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What are the main claims of The Seneca Falls Declaration in the 19th century?
2. What are the most important theoretical claims of various branches of 20th century feminism?
3. What did Betty Friedan bring to the feminist agenda?
4.  What the the main claims of liberal feminism?
5.  What are the main claims of marxist feminism?
6.  What are the main claims of radical feminism?
7.  What does Carol Gilligan say regarding ethical thinking and gender?

Assignment 37, Topic:  How do environmentalist theories challenge modern society?
Read:  Petra Kelly: http://peopleinaction.com/petrakelly/
                Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic: http://home.btconnect.com/tipiglen/landethic.html
                Green Party Platform: http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/intro.html#998204
Questions for Class Discussion:
1.  What are the main claims of liberal environmentalism?
2.  What are the main claims of radical environmentalism?
3.  How did Aldo Leopold challenge existing views of nature?
4.  What are the main claims of the Greens?
5.  How did Petra Kelly try to blend environmentalism with other contemporary ideological movements?
6. What are the most important ideas advanced by the animal rights movement?

Assignment 38, Topic:  How do "beyond ideology" theorists challenge all modern ideologies?
Read:                  Friedrich Nietzsche:  http://www.pitt.edu/~wbcurry/nietzsche.html
                                                  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/    
Questions for Class Discussion:
1. What were the implications of the ideas advanced by Nietzsche regarding ethics and politics?
2. How did Nietzsche criticize earlier philosophers?
3. What was the basis for his attack on traditional moral ideas?
3. Why did he attack Christianity?
5. What did he mean by the will to power?
6. What is nihilism?
7. What kind of man does Nietzsche praise?
8. What does Glenn Tinder mean by the "idea of humane uncertainty"?
9. What are the main claims advanced by Francis Fukuyama in his essay, The End of History?
10.  Is ideology dead or very much alive?


Week 14   Postmodern Political Theory
Assignment 39, Topics: What does Thiele say about politics, power, and the public good?  How does Thiele distinguish modern from postmodern political theory?
Read:  Thiele, Thinking Politics, Chpts. 3, 4
Questions for Class Review:
1. What does Thiele say about the role of power in politics?
2. How does he define the nature of politics?
3. How does he try to defend politics?
4. How does he describe the key elements of modernity?
5. How does he describe the key elements of what he calls postmodernity?
6. What does he believe modernity and postmodernity have in common?
7. What does he see as the differences?
8. What do you think of his analysis of the two concepts?

Assignment 40, Topics: What does postmodern political theory say about identity and difference?  What is the role of feminist theory in debates over identity and difference?
Read:  Thiele, Thinking Politics, Chpt. 5
Questions for Class Review:
1. How do debates about identity and difference shape contemporary political thought?
2. What have feminist theorists contributed to this discussion?
3. What have marxist theorists contributed to this discussion?
4. How do issues involving gender and class shape contemporary political thought?
5. What are Thiels's views on the above matters?

Assignment 41, Topics: What does Thiele mean by terms like “statecraft” and “soulcraft?" What does postmodern theory say about irony and ideology?
Read:  Thiele, Thinking Politics, Chpts. 6, 7
Questions for Class Review:
1. What insights from the ancient Greeks does Thiele wish to use in his discussion of contemporary concerns among political theorists?
2. What does he say about positive and negative liberty?
3. What kind of theory about liberty is he advancing?
4. What does he say about the role of reason in human life?
5. What are the different forms of reason he addresses?
6. What do you think of his views on liberty and reason?
7. What does Thiele say about ideology and the possibility of escaping from it?
8. What does he say about irony and its role in postmodern political thought?
9. How does he explain the power of words?
10. Where does he see contemporary political theory going?
11. What do you think of his analysis?
12. What do you see as the value of political theory?


DEVELOPING YOUR ESSAYS

Part I  Format

The papers will be done according to the Turabian format for a research paper. You will be encouraged to relate the issues raised in your research report to the broader themes examined in this course.
 A shorter version of that style manual can be found on the History style manual at the following web address: <http://www.longwood.edu/history/HDPTSTS2.htm>
 The following web site will introduce you to several useful links on how to document sources from the Internet:
<http://www.h-net.msu.edu/about/citation/>
The links found there will give general rules and specific examples of how to document according to the Turabian style manual (University of Chicago Press Manual) used in history and political science.

Part II  Writing Resources
The following are some useful books on how to conduct research and write good papers in political science:
Gregory M. Scott & Stephen M. Garrison. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual.
    Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1998.
Kate T. Turabian. A Manual For Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Sixth Edition.
    Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
Howard S. Becker. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or
    Article. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Diane Hacker. A Pocket Style Manual. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
Diane E. Schmidt. Expository Writing in Political Science: A Practical Guide. New York: Harper
    Collins College Publishers, 1993.

Part III  Research

While this online Study Guide obviously uses web materials, you will need to read the works (books and articles) written by the theorist(s) you choose to investigate for your research project. Search the library, use inter-library loan if necessary, and consult with your instructor in order to cover principal primary and secondary works in your topic area.  While encyclopedias, especially the online Britannica service will be a good place for some general background information, one does not document from encyclopedia in a scholarly paper at the University level. Do not overlook articles in academic journals, and make use of the Social Sciences Index and the Humanities Index.

While you should avoid overlying on internet materials for your projects, and avoid the use of worthless junk often found on the web, there are many excellent sites you will want to become familiar with as you prepare to enter an age in which individuals will have to become comfortable and proficient in finding and making good use of the electronic information resources. If you ever go Longwood University Library web site you will find a guide with useful links to different information packets available at the library. There are also some excellent listings of good web sites by academic discipline under the Subject Guide <http://www.longwood.edu/library/subj.htm> If you go to the political science listing <http://www.longwood.edu/library/Polysci.htm> you will find great resources, including a listing of web sites. Note that in the first part of this Study Guide one can find links to many web sites on various thinkers and theories.