PHILOSOPHY 340:
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
(Fall 1994)
Joel Anderson Busch Hall 218 Tel. 935-4753
Office hours: Thurs. 11-12 & Fri. 10-11, and by appointment
TEXTS FOR THE COURSE: (available at the campus bookstore)
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Edwin Curley (published by Hackett)
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. MacPherson (Hackett)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings (Hackett)
The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert Tucker (Norton)
J.S. Mill, On Liberty (and other writings) (Cambridge Univ. Press)
ADDITIONAL READINGS for the final third of the course will be distributed later in the course. There will be a nominal fee to cover photocopying costs.
EVALUATION
3 Short assignments (45%) The first part of the course treats five "classical" authors: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, and Mill. Of the five, you must pick three, and on each of the three, you must write a 1000-word (3-4 page) essay discussing two assigned questions. Questions are distributed at the end of the first session devoted to the philosopher in question, and are due at the beginning of the next class meeting.
Final Paper (45%): In this 8-10 page (2500 words) paper, you will be asked to address topics from the last third of the course ("Contemporary Theorists" and "Contemporary Issues"). Suggestions for paper topics will be distributed on the next-to-last day of class. If you wish to write on a topic of your own, you must clear it with me before the last day of class.
DUE DATE: Thursday, December 15.
Class participation (10%): This is based on your contribution to the discussion of texts and issues as well as your ability to demonstrate that you have read the texts carefully.
NB: Grades on late assignments will be reduced one full letter grade for each 24-hour period after the beginning of the class period on which they are due. You are required to do your own work. Collaborating on assigments constitutes plagiarism and if you are caught cheating in this way, you may receive an F for the course. All papers and short assignments must be typed, double-spaced, in accordance with the guidelines laid out in the "Style Sheet" (to be passed out in the second week of class).
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS AND READING ASSIGMENTS
Aug. 25: Introduction: logistics and overview of themes.
Aug. 30: Lecture on historical background to Hobbes: The well-ordered universe of medieval Europe. Overview of Hobbes.
Reading: Brief selections from Aristotle, Aquinus, and Filmer.
CLASSICAL THEORISTS
READING FOR HOBBES: Leviathan, pp. lxxiv, 3-5, 57-63, 74-145, 210-219, 489-497.
Sept. 1: Lecture on Hobbes. Questions for short assignment #1 distributed.
Sept. 6: Lecture and discussion. Short assigment #1 due.
Sept. 8: Further discussion; overall assessment of Hobbes's position. Overview of Locke.
READING FOR LOCKE: Second Treatise of Government, pp. 5-30, 42-91, 101-124; Introduction (optional)
Sept. 13: Lecture on Locke. Questions for short assignment #2 distributed.
Sept. 15: Lecture and discussion. Short assignment #2 due.
Sept. 20: Further discussion; overall assessment of Locke's position. Overview of Rousseau.
»» Note: Nat Hentoff will be speaking in the Assembly Series on Sept. 21
READING FOR ROUSSEAU: On the Social Contract, pp. 141-162, 170-186, 195-208, 219-227.
Sept. 22: Lecture on Rousseau. Questions for assignment #3 distributed.
Sept. 27: Lecture and discussion. Short assigment #3 due.
Sept. 29: Further discussion; overall assessment of Rousseau's position.
Oct. 4: Lecture on the transition from Rousseau to Marx & Mill: Kant and Hegel. Overview of Marx.
READINGS FOR MARX (from Tucker's anthology): "On the Jewish Question" (26-46), "Estranged Labor" (70-93), "Money" (103-105), from The German Ideology (155-164), "The Communist Manifesto" (473-491).
Oct. 6: Lecture on Marx. Questions for short assignment #4 distributed.
Oct. 11: Lecture and discussion. Short assigment #4 due.
Oct. 13: Further discussion; overall assessment of Marx. Overview of Mill.
READING FOR MILL: On Liberty (all 110 pp.)
Oct. 18: Lecture on Mill. Questions for short assignment #5 distributed.
Oct. 20: Lecture and discussion. Short assigment #5 due.
Oct. 25: Further discussion; overall assessment of Mill's position.
CONTEMPORARY THEORISTS: LIBERALISM AND ITS CRITICS
(From this point on, all meetings will begin with a brief lecture but focus on discussion. Readings will come from class handouts.)
Oct. 27: Charles Taylor, "Atomism"
Nov. 1: John Hospers, "What Libertarianism Is" and David Gauthier, "The Liberal Individual": Review of arguments for individualism.
Nov. 3: Jürgen Habermas, "Citizenship and National Identity"
»» Note: Jürgen Habermas will be lecturing at Washington U. on Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 am.
Nov. 8: Iris Marion Young, "The Ideal of Community and the Politics of Difference"
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
Nov. 10: CULTURAL LITERACY AND MULTICULTURALISM #1
E.D. Hirsch, Jr. Cultural Literacy, pp. xii-xvii, 10-18, 94-109, 139-145.
Barbara Herrnstein Smith, "Cult-Lit: Hirsch, Literacy, and the 'National Culture'"
Nov. 15: CULTURAL LITERACY AND MULTICULTURALISM #2
Molefi Kete Asante, "Afrocentrism"
Stephen Arons, "Compulsory Education: The Plain People Resist"
U.S. Supreme Court, Yoder v. Wisconsin
Nov. 17 FAMILY OBLIGATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL SELF-REALIZATION #1
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, "Dan Quayle was Right"
Noc. 22: FAMILY OBLIGATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL SELF-REALIZATION #2
Riane Tennenhaus Eisler, "Divorce: Past and Present" and "Sample Marriage Contract"
Sara Ann Ketchum, "Liberalism and Marriage Law"
Nov. 24: THANKSGIVING (no class)
Nov. 29: FREE SPEECH AND HATE SPEECH #1
Charles Lawrence III, "If He Hollers Let Him Go: Regulating Racist Speech on Campus"
Nat Hentoff, "'Speech Codes' on the Campus and the Problem of Free Speech"
Dec. 1: FREE SPEECH AND HATE SPEECH #2
Cass Sunstein, Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech, pp. xi-xx, 1-16.
Stanley Fish, "There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, And It's a Good Thing"
Paper topics distributed.
Dec. 6: FINAL CLASS: Wrap-Up Lecture and Discussion.
Thursday, December 15: FINAL PAPER DUE IN BUSCH 225 AT 3:00 PM