Instructor: Dr. Harbour
Office: East Ruffner 228
Office telephone: 395-2219
Office hours:
Before or after class or by appointment
harbourwr@longwood.edu
Home phone: 315-0352
Table of Contents
Course
Description
Texts
Course
Objectives
Class
Schedule
Course
Requirements
Grading
Attendance
Policy
Honor
Code
Class
Discussion
Taking
Exams
Bibliography
Course Description:
Survey of modern political theories and philosophies, including the
contributions of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke, and Marx.
Texts:
Niccolo Machiavelli, Selected Political Writings
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
John Locke, The Political Writings
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Essential Rousseau. (Collection of major
works) –now out of print, so will use online readings
Isaac Kramnick. Editor.
The Portable Enlightenment Reader
Leslie Thiele, Thinking Politics: Perspectives in Ancient, Modern, and
Postmodern Political Theory
On Reserve in Dr. Harbour's Office: Dante Germino, Modern Western Political Thought: Machiavelli
to Marx
James Wiser, Political Philosophy: A History
of the Search for Order
(There will be a few assigned chapters from the above two volumes. Other
selections will also be placed on reserve for either required reading or
optional background material.)
Click HERE for the on-line Study Guide for this
course. It includes questions 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.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a capacity for critical and analytical thought about issues central to political philosophy.
2. Demonstrate an ability to communicate their knowledge and beliefs about the principal thinkers and central themes found in the Western tradition of political philosophy both orally and in writing.
3. Discuss the ideas which constitute essential features of the Western political tradition.
4. Identify those values found in Western political thought which have helped to define the various notions of useful and responsible citizenship.
5. Discuss important philosophical and ethical issues associated with the political dimension of the human experience.
6. Interpret the meaning and significance of the symbols which influence political thought and action today.
7. Discuss the major ways in which political philosophy has influenced how political scientists try to understand politics.
8. Discuss how the theories and ideas articulated in Western political thought have shaped and been shaped by the dynamic social forces found in Western societies.
9. Identify the main themes and issues addressed by postmodern political theory.
This course satisfies Goal 13 (The Ethics Goal) of the new General Education requirements adopted by the University for students entering Longwood beginning in 2002-2003 as well as Goal 10 (The Ethics Goal) of the general education system existing for current students already in attendance prior to that time.
Goal 13: The ability to make informed, ethical choices and decisions and to
weigh the consequences of those
choices (junior or senior course, may be departmentally designated or
developed; three credits).
Outcomes: Students will
Identify
the ethical issues implicit in personal behavior and in the operation of
political, social, and economic institutions.
Understand various
approaches to making informed and principled choices
Consider
how these approaches might be applied to conflicts in their personal and public
lives
Understand the impact of
individual and collective choices in society
General Education courses will have at least nine characteristics in common,
reflected in the nine General Education course criteria. Together, they define
what a General Education course is at Longwood. Courses satisfying all
goals except Goals 12
and 15 will:
1. teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry (e.g., literary analysis, statistical analysis, historical interpretation, philosophical reasoning, aesthetic judgment, the scientific method) and provide students with practice in applying their disciplinary mode of inquiry, critical thinking, or problem solving strategies.
2. provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3. consider questions of ethical values.
4. explore past, current, and future implications
(e.g., social, political, economic, psychological or philosophical) of disciplinary
knowledge.
5. encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this
discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.
Class Schedule:
Click HERE for the on-line Study Guide for this
course. It includes questions 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. The study
guide is based on the regular semester version of this course, so you will have
to make adjustments how you locate the material.
Week 1
Monday Introduction to modern political thought; Machiavelli
May 23
Read: Machiavelli, The Prince; 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 and 2; Wiser, Chpt. 6
Norton Critical Edition on
Machiavelli (especially articles by Strauss and Wolin)
Special 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? How does Judith Shklar
explain the central characteristics of political theories and political
ideologies?
What “lessons” did Machiavelli advance about how a prince is to achieve and
maintain power?
Tuesday Machiavelli
May 24
Read: Machiavelli, The Prince and The
Discourses
Read about the Principles of Political Realism at: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/morg6.htm
and http://www.iep.utm.edu/p/polreal.htm
Special Topics:
What are the ethical and political implications of Machiavelli’s advice that
the prince should “learn how not to be good?”
What does Machiavelli admire about the ancient Roman republic?
How do the ideas advanced in The Prince relate to the ideas
advanced in The Discourse? What are his contributions to modern
political thought?
Wednesday Wellsprings of modern political thought; Hobbes
May 25
Read: Hobbes, Leviathan; Thiele, Chpt. 2
Optional Background Material:
Germino, Chpts. 1, 2, 3, 4; Wiser, Chpt.
6, 7, 8, 9
Special Topics:
What were some of the basic elements of Reformation political thought?
From the standpoint of political theory, what were the implications of what
Wiser calls the intellectual revolution of the Seventeenth century?
How does Hobbes view human nature? What does Hobbes believe to be the most
important laws of nature?
Thursday Hobbes
May 26
Read: Hobbes, Leviathan
Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 4; Wiser, chpt. 9
Special Topics:
How does Hobbes explain the origin and justification for the existence and
legitimate authority of the state?
What powers does Hobbes believe should belong to any legitimate government? How
does Hobbes try to explain what causes the dissolution
of governments?
NOTE: Your first test will be given on Thursday, May 20. It will count for 1/4
of your semester grade.
Week 2
Monday, May 30 No Classes Today on Memorial Day
Tuesday John Locke
May 31
Read: Locke, The Second Treatise
and A Letter Concerning Toleration
Optional Background Material: Germino Chpt. 5 and Wiser, Chpt. 10
Special Topics:
What does Locke say about toleration?
What does Locke say about human nature and the origins of government?
What does Locke say about freedom, property, and the basis of legitimate
authority in society?
Are there natural rights?
Wednesday Locke and the
Enlightenment
June 1
Read: Locke, The
Second Treatise; Kramnick, The Portable
Enlightenment Reader
1776 The Virginia Declaration of Rights: http://www.gunstonhall.org/documents/vdr.html
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
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.fdrheritage.org/bill_of_rights.htm
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 6; Wiser, Chpt. 11
Special Topics:
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?
The Emergence of Feminist Thought During the Enlightenment
How did the Enlightenment challenge traditional patterns of thought?
Thursday The Enlightenment and Modern
Liberalism
June 2
Read: Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
Also read: Dr. Peale’s Essay on Ethics
On-line
Optional Background Material: Mill, Utilitarianism: http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm
and On Liberty: http://www.bartleby.com/130/
Germino, Chpts. 6 and 9;
Wiser, Chpts. 11 and 14
Special Topics:
What are some of the most important political implications of Enlightenment
thinking?
What claims were advanced by 18th century materialism and sensationalism?
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
were advanced by these thinkers?
What were the most important economic ideas advanced during the Enlightenment?
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?
Your second test will be given on Thursday, June 2. It will count for
1/4 of your semester grade.
Week 3
Monday Modern Liberalism and
Contemporary Liberalism
June 6
Read: Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment
Reader
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
Also read: Dr. Peale’s Essay on Ethics
On-line
Optional Background Material: Germino, Chpt. 10
Special Topics:
What contributions did John Dewey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Rawls make
to contemporary
liberalism?
Tuesday Rousseau
June 7
Read: Read the following online versions of these works by Rousseau:
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
Special Topics:
What does Rousseau have to say about human nature? How does he explain
the origin of inequality? Are some inequalities justifiable?
What is he 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?
What kind of critique does Rousseau offer of existing societies and forms of
government?
Wednesday Utopian Socialism, Marx,
Marxism, Nineteen Century Radicalism, Communism, and Social Democracy
June 8
Read: Marx & Engels, The Communist
Manifesto: http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html
Thiele, Chpt. 5 pp. 139-154
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/
Eduard Berstein: Evolutionary Socialism: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/bernstein-revsoc.html
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
Special 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?
How have some later thinkers modified the theory advanced by Marx? What
did Lenin contribute to the Marxist tradition? What are the main claims
of Communism?
What are the principal ideas advanced by social democratic theorists? How does
the social democratic tradition differ from revolutionary socialism?
Extra topic for the entire week: 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?
Thursday Burkean Conservatism, Contemporary
Conservatism, and Fundamentalism
June 9
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
Special Topics:
How did Burke critique the Enlightenment and the French Revolution? What
was Burke’s vision of the good society?
How has conservative thought evolved? What are the principal ideas
advanced by contemporary schools of conservative thought?
What are the main criticisms of existing societies advanced by rival versions
of religious fundamentalism?
NOTE: You will have your third test on Thursday, June 9. It will
count for 1/4 of your semester grade.
Week 4
Monday Fascism and Anarchism
June 13
Read: Mussolini, "The Doctrine of Fascism" http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm
On-line statement by Aryan Nations: http://www.aryan-nations.org/about.htm
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
Special Topics:
What ideas about society were put forth by fascism and nazism?
How did anarchists critique existing societies?
Tuesday Feminism, Environmentalism, and Beyond Ideology
June 14
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://www.closeup.org/sentimnt.htm
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
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
Friedrich Nietzsche: http://www.pitt.edu/~wbcurry/nietzsche.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/
http://www.geocities.com/thenietzschechannel/
Special Topics:
What are the most important ideas advanced by modern feminism?
How do environmentalist theories challenge modern society?
How do "beyond ideology" theorists challenge all modern ideologies?
Wednesday Postmodern Political Theory
June 15
Read: Thiele, Thinking Politics, Chpts. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Special Topics:
What does Thiele say about politics, power, and the public good? How does
Thiele distinguish modern from postmodern political theory?
What does postmodern political theory say about identity and difference?
What is the role of feminist theory in debates over identity and difference?
What does Thiele mean by terms like “statecraft” and “soulcraft?" What does postmodern theory say about irony and
ideology?
Thursday June 16
- Review and Final Examination -
Note your final examination will be worth 1/4 of your semester grade.
Course Requirements:
Three Tests
Contribution to class discussion
Final comprehensive exam
Grading:
Your grade will be based upon three tests given during the course of the
semester and a final exam. Each of these will count for 1/4 of your
grade. Each of the exams will involve an essay format. The final
examination will be comprehensive.
Attendance Policy:
The attendance policy for this course is the University policy found in the University
Catalog and Student Handbook.
Honor Code:
Students are expected to live by the Longwood University Honor Code. All work
done for the class must be pledged. Your instructor will not tolerate any form
of cheating.
Class Discussion:
Students are expected to make contributions to class discussion.
Taking Exams:
Exams must be taken on time. You are expected to provide proof for
any legitimate reason (illness, participation in a University-sponsored
activity, or recognizable emergency) you have for missing an exam. Having
another test on the dame day or having problems with the person you are dating
are not valid reasons for missing a test.
Bibliography:
Required Reading:
Machiavelli, Selected Political Writings
Hobbes, Leviathan
Locke, Treatise of Civil Government & A Letter Concerning Toleration
Rousseau, The Essential Rousseau
Kramnick, The Portable Enlightenment Reader
Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France
Marx, Selected Writings in Sociology & Social Philosophy
Thiele, Thinking Politics: Perspectives in Ancient, Modern, and Postmodern
Political Theory
On Reserve:
Dante Germino, Modern Western
Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx
James Wiser, Political Philosophy: A History of the Search for Order
(There will be a few assigned chapters from the above
two volumes. Other selections will also be placed on
reserve for either required reading or optional
background material.)
Suggested Reading or Reference:
Hannah Arendt. The Human Condition
Cesare Beccaria.
On Crimes and Punishments
Eduard Bernstein. Evolutionary Socialism
Edmund Burke. Reflections on the
Revolution in France
Jeremy Bentham. Fragment on Government; An Introduction to the Principles of Morals And Legislation
William E. Connolly. Identity and Difference
Marquis de Condorcet. Sketch of a Historical
Portrait of the Human Mind
Simone de Beauvoir. The Second Sex
Betty Friedan. The Feminine Mystique
Georg Hegel. Philosophy of Right
Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan
Immanuel Kant. Foundations of the Metaphysics of
Morals; The Metaphysical Elements of
Justice
John Locke. Essay Concerning Human Understanding;
Letter Concerning Toleration; Second Treatise of Government
James Lovelock. Gaia: A New Look At Life On
Earth
Jean-Francois Lyotard. The
Postmodern Condition
Niccolo Machiavelli. The Discourse;
The Prince
Herbert Marcuse. One-Dimentional
Man
Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto
John Stuart Mill. On Liberty; Utilitarianism
Baron De Montesquieu. The Spirit of the Laws
Thomas More. Utopia
Friedrich Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of Morals
Lenin. What Is To Be Done?
John Rawls. A Theory of Justice
Jean Jacques Rousseau. A Discourse on the Origin of InequalityAmong Men; The
Social Contract
Adam Smith. The Wealth of Nations
Herbert Spencer. Man Versus
The State
Eric Voegelin. The New
Science of Politics
Mary Wollstonecraft. A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Some Secondary Sources and Collections of Readings of Primary Sources:
Robert Audi. General Editor. The Cambridge
Dictionary of Philosophy. Second Edition.
New York: Cambridge U
University Press, 1999.
Lawrence Cahaoone. Editor. From Modernism to Postmodernism
An Anthology. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell
Publishers, Ltd., 1996.
Steven M. Cahn. Editor. Classics
of Political and Moral Philosophy. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2002.
Robert C. Cummins, Thomas D. Christiano. Editors. Modern Moral and Political
Philosophy. Mountain View,
California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1999.
Dante Germino. Modern Western Political Thought:
Machiavelli to Marx
Steven Luper. Editor.
Social Ideals and Policies: Readings in Social and Political Philosophy.
London: Mayfield
Publishing Company, 1999.
Louis P. Pojman, Robert T. Westmorland. Editors. Equality: Selected Readings. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1997.
George H. Sabine. A History of Political Theory.
Revised Edition. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1958.
James Wiser. Political Philosophy: A History of the
Search for Order
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