GS Political Science 6010 6.0: Symposium in Political Theory
POLITICAL THEORY CORE COURSE
Fall/Winter 2019 - 2020
Friday 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Verney Room
Course Director: Stephen L. Newman
Office: S659 Ross
Phone: 416 736-2100 ext. 33869
416 736-5265 (POLS department office)
E-mail: snewman@yorku.ca
Web site: https://snewman.info.yorku.ca/
Office hours (subject to change): Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m..; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Course Objectives
The Political Theory Core Course is designed to expose those doctoral candidates who declare Political Theory as either a Major or Minor field to a number of classic texts in the history of political theory. The Core Course is additionally an opportunity to introduce students to the Graduate Faculty in the Theory Field in areas related to their research interests. Finally, the Core Course is intended to prepare students to satisfy the Qualifying Examination requirement in the Theory Field expeditiously. Any theory core course syllabus is perforce selective, and this one is no exception. While a more comprehensive survey would be desirable, it is not clear how to accommodate additional thinkers without removing or reducing selections from an already crowded syllabus. A further caveat: even for those theorists on the list, the required readings are still merely selections and cannot do full justice to their political thought. This syllabus features a substantial (though by no means exhaustive) list of recommended secondary readings for each of the authors we cover. Although the first priority is that you engage seriously with the primary readings, you are encouraged to delve into the secondary literature to learn more about the historical context from which the primary texts emerged.
Course Requirements and Calculation of Final Grade
The course has been organized to expedite the completion of all work within the term, thus obviating incompletes.
1. Four 10-15 minute presentations on the readings, two each in the fall and winter terms: 20%
The oral presentations are not expected to be comprehensive and should be designed to initiate seminar discussion.
2. Two 5-7 page papers on a primary text of the student’s choice, one each in the fall and winter terms: 30%. The term papers are to be viewed as exercises in textual analysis and should NOT be turned into major projects. In order to facilitate their swift completion, it is recommended that you base your short papers on your class presentations. The short papers are normally due within two weeks of your first presentation each term.
3. Two 10-14 page papers on one or more primary texts, one each in the fall and winter terms: 50%
(It is not required that you use secondary sources in writing the long papers, however, you are free to do so and may find it advantageous to take this opportunity to familiarize yourself with different approaches to the study of political theory.) The long papers are due no later than two weeks after the last meeting of the seminar each term.
**Please note: Each term, both papers for that term must be in my hands no later than two weeks after the last meeting of the class. **
**Students with physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities may request reasonable accommodations in teaching style or evaluation methods, as outlined in Appendix A of the Senate Policy on Students with Special Needs. They should advise the course director at the earliest opportunity, so that appropriate arrangements may be with the assistance of the Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Counselling Development Centre or the Learning Disabilities Program.**
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The books assigned for the course are on sale in the York Bookstore; however, you can no doubt find used copies in bookstores around the city and some texts may even be available online.
TOPICS AND READINGS
Fall Term
**Sept. 4 is the first day of classes**
Week 1: Sept. 6 Introduction & Assignment of Oral Presentations
Discussion: What is it we do when we do political theory (and why do we do it)?
Required Reading*:
Leo Strauss, “What is Political Philosophy,” pp, 9-55 in L. Strauss, What is Political Philosophy and Other Studies.
Sheldon Wolin, “Political Philosophy and Philosophy,” chapter one of S. Wolin, Politics and Vision (1960 edition), pp. 1-27.
Neal Wood, "The Social History of Political Theory," Political Theory 6 (1978), pp. 345-367.
Quentin Skinner, "Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas," History and Theory 8 (1969), pp. 3-53.
Wendy Brown, “At the Edge,” Political Theory 30:4 (2002), pp. 556-576.
* The journal articles may be accessed electronically using JSTOR, available through the university library’s Web site. Wolin’s Politics and Vision is available in hard copy and as an e-book in Scott Library. Strauss’s What Is Political Philosophy and Other Essays is available in hard copy in Scott Library. I will try to make a Xerox of the title essay available in the POLS department prior to the beginning of term.
Recommended for further reading:
Richard Ashcraft, "On the Problem of Methodology and the Nature of Political Theory," Political Theory 3 (1975)
Terence Ball, Reappraising Political Theory
C. Condren, The Status and Appraisal of Classic Texts
John Dunn, Rethinking Modern Political Theory
John Dunn, The History of Political Theory and other essays
John Gunnell, The Descent of Political Theory
Margaret Leslie, "In Defense of Anachronism," Political Studies, 18 (1970)
J.G.A. Pocock, "Languages and Their Implications: The Transformation of the Study of Political Thought," in his Politics, Language and Time: Essays on Political Thought and History
David Ricci, The Tragedy of Political Science: Politics, Scholarship, and Democracy
Melvin Richter, The History of Political and Social Concepts
Mary Lyndon Shanley and Carole Pateman (eds.) Feminist Interpretations and Political Theory
Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing
Leo Strauss, What is Political Philosophy and other essays
Charles Taylor, “Social Theory as Practice,” in C Taylor, Philosophy and the Human Sciences: Philosophical Papers 2
J. Tully, (ed.), Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and his Critics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988).
James Tully, “Political Philosophy as a Critical Activity,” Political Theory 30, no.4 (2002):9 533-555.
Week 2: Sept. 13 Plato
Required Reading: The Apology and The Republic, Books I -V
**Sept. 17 is the last day to add a course without permission of the instructor.
Week 3: Sept. 20 Plato
Required Reading: The Republic, Books VI-X
Recommended for further reading:
A.W.H. Adkins, Merit and Responsibility
Danielle S. Allen, Why Plato Wrote
Julia Annas, An Introduction to Plato's Republic
Julia Annas, “Plato’s Republic and Feminism”
Ernest Barker, The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle
Mark Blitz, Plato’s Political Philosophy
Allan Bloom, "Interpretive Essay," in Bloom (ed.), The Republic of Plato
Natalie H. Bluestone, Women and the Ideal Society: Plato's Republic and Modern Myths of Gender
Christopher Bobonich, Plato's 'Laws': A Critical Guide
Roger Chance, Until Philosophers are Kings: A Study of the Political Theory of Plato and Aristotle in Relation to the Modern State
Leon Craig, The War Lover: A Study of Plato's Republic
Joseph Cropsey, Plato's World: Man's Place in the Cosmos
J. Peter Euben, The Tragedy of Political Theory, chapter 8
M.I. Finley, Democracy Ancient and Modern
M.I. Finley, Politics in the Ancient World
George Klosko, The Development of Plato’s Political Philosophy
Laurence Lampert, How Philosophy Became Socratic: A Study of Plato's "Protagoras," "Charmides," and "Republic"
David M Leibowitz, The Ironic Defense of Socrates: Plato's Apology
Mark McPherran, Plato`s ‘Republic’: A Critical Guide
Josiah Ober, The Athenian Revolution
Josiah Ober, Political Dissent in Democratic Athens, chapter 4
Susan Moller Okin, “Philosopher Queens and Private Wives: Plato on Women and the Family,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 6 (1977)
Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought
Robin Osborne, Athens and Athenian Democracy
Terry Penner, “Socrates,” in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, eds. C. Rowe and M. Schofield
C.D.C. Reeve, Philosopher-Kings: The Argument of Plato's Republic
D. Roochnik,, Beautiful City: The Dialectical Character of Plato’s ‘Republic’
Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Republic: A Study
___________, Plato's Statesman: The Web of Politics.
Thanassis Samaras, Plato on Democracy
Gerasimos Santas, Understanding Plato’s Republic
Arlene Saxonhouse, Women in the History of Political Thought, chapter 3
Malcolm Schofield, “Approaching the Republic,” in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, eds. C. Rowe and M. Schofield
Malcolm Schofield, Plato
D.J. Sheppard, Plato's Republic.
Leo Strauss, Studies in Political Philosophy
Leo Strauss, The City and the Man
Christina H. Tarnopolsky, Prudes, Perverts and Tyrants: Plato’s Gorgias and the Politics of Shame
Nancy Tuana (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Plato
Gregory Vlastos, “Was Plato a Feminist?” Times Literary Supplement, March 17-23, 1989
Gregory Vlastos (ed.), Plato II: Ethics, Politics, and Philosophy of Art and Religion
Ellen Meiksins Wood, Peasant-Citizens and Slave: The Foundations of Athenian Democracy
Neal and Ellen Wood, Class Ideology and Ancient Political Theory, chapter 4
Week 4: Sept. 27 Aristotle
Required Reading: Nichomachean Ethics, entire.
Recommended for further reading:
A.W.H. Adkins, "The Connection between Aristotle's Ethics and Politics," Political Theory, 12 (1984), pp. 29-49. Reprinted in D. Keyt and F.D. Miller, Jr. (eds.) A Companion to Aristotle's Politics
Tom Angier, Techne in Aristotle's Ethics: Crafting the Moral Life
Richard Bodeus, The Political Dimension of Aristotle's Ethics, trans. J. Garrett
Anthony Burns, Aristotle and Natural Law
John Madison Cooper, Reason and the Human Good in Aristotle
Hans Georg Gademer, The Idea of the Good in Platonic-Aristotelian Philosophy
Terrence Irwin, Plato’s Ethics
Richard Kraut, Aristotle on the Human Good
Christopher Long, Aristotle on the nature of Truth
Alasdair MacIntryre, After Virtue, 2nd ed., chapter 12
Jean Roberts, “Justice and the Polis,” in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, eds. C. Rowe and M. Schofield
C.J. Rowe, The Eudemian and Nichomachean Ethics: A Study in the Development of Aristotle's Thought
Nancy Sherman, The Fabric of Character: Aristotle's Theory of Virtue
Stephen Salkever, Finding the Mean: Theory and Practice in Aristotelian Political Philosophy
J.O. Urmson, Aristotle's Ethics
Jennifer Whiting, Aristotle
Week 5: Oct. 4 Aristotle
Required Reading: The Politics, entire.
Recommended for further reading:
Ernest Barker, The Political Theory of Plato and Aristotle
A.C. Bradley, "Aristotle's Conception of the State," in A Companion to Aristotle, D. Keyt and F.D. Miller, Jr. (eds.)
Bradley Bryan,. "Approaching Others: Aristotle on Friendshipfs Possibility." Political Theory 37.6 (2009).
Roger Chance, Until Philosophers are Kings
Cherry, Kevin M. "The Problem of Polity: Political Participation and Aristotle's Best Regime." The Journal of Politics 71.4 (2009)
Michael Davis, The Politics of Philosophy: A Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics
Mary G. Dietz, “Between Polis and Empire: Aristotle's Politics,” American Political Science Review 106 (2012)
M.I. Finley, “Aristotle and Economic Analysis,” in M.I. Finley (ed.), Studies in Ancient Society
Cynthia Freeland (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle
Curtis Johnson, Aristotle’ s Theory of the State
D. Keyt and F.D. Miller, Jr. (eds.), A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics
Hope May, Aristotle's Ethics: Moral Development and Human Nature.
Mei, Todd S. "The Preeminence of use: Reevaluating the Relation between use and Exchange in Aristotle's Economic Thought." Journal of the History of Philosophy 47.4 (2009).
Fred Miller, Jr., “Naturalism,” in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, eds. C. Rowe and M. Schofield
R.G. Mulgan, Aristotle’s Political Theory
Mary P. Nichols, Citizens and Statesmen: A Study of Aristotle's Politics
Josiah Ober, Political Dissent in Democratic Athens, chapter 6
Spencer J. Pack, Aristotle, Adam Smith and Karl Marx: On some Fundamental Issues in 21st Century Political Economy
Pangle, Thomas L. "The Rhetorical Strategy Governing Aristotle's Political Teaching." Journal of Politics 73.1 (2011).
Christopher Rowe, “Aristotelian Constitutions,” in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, eds. C. Rowe and M. Schofield
Judith Swanson, The Public and the Private in Aristotle's Political Philosophy
Wolfgang von Leyden, Aristotle on Equality and Justice
Leo Strauss, The City and the Man
Wilson, James Lindley. "Deliberation, Democracy, and the Rule of Reason in Aristotle's Politics." American Political Science Review 105.2 (2011).
Neal and Ellen Wood, Class Ideology in Ancient Political Theory, chapter 5
Bernard Yack, The Problems of a Political Animal: Community, Justice, and Conflict in Aristotelian Political Thought
Week 6: Oct. 11 Cicero
Required Reading: Cicero, On Duties, entire.
Recommended for further reading:
J. Jackson Barlow, “The education of Statesmen in Cicero’s ‘De Republica’,” Polity 19:3 (1987)
Richard Brooks, Cicero and Modern Law
Cicero, On the Commonwealth and the Laws (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)
Alfred John Church, Roman Life in the Days of Cicero
Joy Connolly, The State of Speech: Rhetoric and Political Thought in Ancient Rome
Andrew Dyck, A Commentary on Cicero, De Officiis
Anthony Everitt, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician
Mathew Fox, Cicero’s Philosophy of History
John Hall, Politeness and Politics in Cicero’s Letters
Dean Hammer, Roman Political Thought and the Modern Theoretical Imagination
Douglas Kries, “On the Intention of Cicero's ‘De Officiis’,” The Review of Politics 65:4 (2003)
Walter Nicgorski, “Cicero’s Focus: From the Best Regime to the Model Statesman,” Political Theory 19:2 (1991)
Martha Nussbaum, “Duties of Justice, Duties of Material Aid: Cicero’s Problematic Legacy,” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 54:3 (2001)
Thomas Pangle, “Socratic Cosmopolitanism: Cicero’s Critique and Transformation of the Stoic Ideal,” Canadian Journal of Political Science 31:2 (1998)
Gary Remer, “Political Oratory and Conversation: Cicero Versus deliberative Democracy,” Political Thoery 27:1 (1999)
Malcolm Schofield, Saving the City of Philosopher-kings and other Classical Paradigms
D.L. Stockton, Cicero: a Political Biography
Michael B. Trapp, Philosophy in the Roman Empire: Ethics, Politics and Society
Neal Wood, “The Economic Dimensions of Cicero’s Political Thought: Property and State,” Canadian journal of Political Science 16:4 (1983)
_________, Cicero’s Social and Political Thought
**Oct. 12 - 18 is Fall Reading Week. The University is open (with the exception of 10149, which is Thanksgiving, a statutory holiday), but classes do not meet.
Week 7: Oct. 25 Machiavelli
Required Reading: Machiavelli, The Prince, entire
Week 8: Nov. 1 Machiavelli
Required Reading: Machiavelli, The Discourses, entire
Recommended for further reading:
Sir Isaiah Berlin, “The Originality of Machiavelli,” in Berlin, Against the Current (ed. Henry Hardy)
Philip Bobbitt, Machiavelli's The Prince
Gisela Bock, Quentin Skinner, and Maurizio Viroli (eds.), Machiavelli and Republicanism
Gene Brucker, The Civic World of Early Renaissance Florence
Niccolo Capponi, An Unlikely Prince: The Life and Times of Niccolo Machiavelli
Frederico Chabod, Machiavelli and the Renaissance
W.J. Connell, (ed.), Society and Individual in Renaissance Florence
Peter Donaldson, Machiavelli and Mystery of State
Felix Gilbert, Machiavelli and Guicciardini
Ruth Grant, Hypocrisy and Integrity: Machiavelli, Rousseau, and the Ethics of Politics
Mark Hulliung, Citizen Machiavelli
Harvey Mansfield, Jr., Machiavelli’s Virtue
John McCormick, Machiavellian Democracy
John M. Najemy, (ed). The Cambridge Companion to Machiavelli
John Najemy, Between Friends: Discourses of Power in the Machiavelli-Vettori Correspondence
Paul Oppenheimer, Machiavelli: A Life Beyond Ideology
Anthony Parel, The Machiavellian Cosmos
Hanna Pitkin, Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccolo Machiavelli
J.G.A. Pocock, The Machiavellian Moment
Paul A. Rahe, (ed). Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy
Paul Rahe, Against Throne and Altar: Machiavelli and Political Theory Under the English Republic
Nicolai Rubinstein, Government of Florence Under the Medici
Arlene Saxonhouse, Women in the History of Political Thought, chapter 7
Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, Vol. 1
Quentin Skinner, Machiavelli
Bruce Smith, Politics and Remembrance: Republican Themes in Machiavelli, Burke and Tocqueville
Peter Stacey, Roman Monarchy and the Renaissance Prince
Leo Strauss, Thoughts on Machiavelli
Maurizio Viroli, "Machiavelli and the Republican Idea of Politics," in Machiavelli and Republicanism
Maurizio Viroli, Machiavelli
Donald Weinstein, Savonarola and Florence: Prophecy and Patriotism in the Renaissance
Sheldon Wolin, Politics and Vision (1960), chapter 7
Week 9: Nov. 8 Thomas Hobbes
Required Reading: Hobbes, Leviathan, Parts I and II
Week 10: Nov. 15 Thomas Hobbes
Required Reading: Hobbes, Leviathan, Parts III and IV
Recommended Reading:
Deborah Baumgold, Hobbes's Political Theory
Norbeto Bobbio, Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law Tradition
K.C. Brown (ed.), Hobbes Studies
Glen Burgess, The Politics of the Ancient Constitution
Glen Burgess, “Contexts for the Writing and Publication of Hobbes’s Leviathan,” History of Political Thought XI, 4 (1990)
Mary Dietz (ed.), Thomas Hobbes and Political Theory
Eldon Eisenach, Two Worlds of Liberalism: Religion and Politics in Hobbes, Locke and Mill, part I
Richard Flathman, Thomas Hobbes: Skepticism, Individuality, and Chastened Politics
Jean Hampton, Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition
Don Herzog, Without Foundations: Justification in Political Theory, chapter 1
Don Herzog, Happy Slaves: A Critique of Consent Theory, chapter 3
History of Political Thought XI, no. 4 (1990), Special Hobbes Issue
Nancy J. Hirschmann and Joanne H. Wright, Feminist Interpretations of Thomas Hobbes
Gordon Hull, Hobbes and the Making of Modern Political Thought
David Johnston, The Rhetoric of Leviathan
Jody Kraus, The Limits of Hobbesian Contractarianism
Wolgang von Leyden, Hobbes and Locke: The Politics of Freedom and Obligation
C.B. Macpherson, The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism, part II
Aloysius Martinich, The Two Gods of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes on Religion and Politics
Aloysius Martinich, Hobbes: A Biography
Samuel I Mintz, The Hunting of Leviathan: Seventeenth-century Reactions to the Materialism and Moral Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes
Joshua Mitchell, Not By Reason Alone: Religion, History, and Identity in early Modern Political Thought
Michael Oakshott, Hobbes on Civil Association
Jon Parkin, Taming the Leviathan: The Reception of the Political and Religious Ideas of Thomas Hobbes in England 1640-1700
J.G.A. Pocock, “Time History and Eschatology in the Thought of Thomas Hobbes,” in Pocock, Politics, Language and Time
Andrzej Rapaczynski, Nature and Politics: Liberalism in the Philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, part I
Ron Replogle, Recovering the Social Contract, part II
Gary Remer, Humanism and the Rhetoric of Toleration, chapter 4
Quentin Skinner, “The Ideological Context of Hobbes’s Political Thought,” Historical Journal 9 (1966)
Quentin Skinner, Reason and Rhetoric in the Philosophy of Hobbes
Quentin Skinner, Hobbes and Republican Liberty
Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History, chapter 5 A
Leo Strauss, The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: Its Basis and Genesis
Richard Tuck, Hobbes
Richard Tuck, Philosophy and Government 1572-1651, chapters 6 & 7
Week 11: Nov. 22 John Locke
Required Reading: Locke, The Second Treatise of Government
Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration
Recommended Reading:
Edward Andrew, Shylock's Rights: A Grammar of Lockean Claims
Andrew, Edward. "A Note on Locke's "the Great Art of Government"." Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique 42.2 (2009): 511-9.
Richard Ashcraft, Revolutionary Politics and Locke's Two Treatises of Government
_____, Locke's Two Treatises of Government
_____, "Faith and Knowledge in Locke's Philosophy," in John Locke: Problems and Perspectives, ed. John Yolton
_____, "The Politics of Locke's Two Treatises of Government," in Edward J. Harpham (ed.), John Locke's Two Treatises of Government: New Interpretations
Joanne Boucher, “Male Power and Contract Theory: Hobbes and Locke in Carole Pateman’s The Sexual Contract,” CJPS 36 (2003)
Douglas John Casson, Liberating Judgment: Fanatics, Skeptics, and John Locke's Politics of Probability.
Chambers, Simone. "Who Shall Judge? Hobbes, Locke and Kant on the Construction on Public Reason." Ethics & Global Politics 2.4 (2009).
Vere Chapelle (ed.), Cambridge Companion to Locke
Clark, J. C. D. "John Locke, Toleration and Early Modern Culture: Religious Intolerance and Arguments for Religious Toleration in Early Modern and 'Early Enlightenment' Europe." Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 32.2 (2009): 267-8.
John Dunn, The Political Thought of John Locke
_____, Locke
_____, “What is Living and What is Dead in the Political Theory of John Locke,” in Interpreting Political Responsibility
Eldon Eisenach, Two Worlds of Liberalism, part II.
______, "Religion and Locke's Two Treatises of Government," in Edward J. Harpham (ed.), John Locke's Two Treatises of Government: New Interpretations.
Greg Forster, John Locke’s Politics of Moral Consensus
Julian Franklin, John Locke and the Theory of Sovereignty: Mixed Monarchy and the Right of Resistance in the Political Thought of the English Revolution
J.W. Gough, John Locke's Political Philosophy , 2nd ed.
Ruth W. Grant, John Locke's Liberalism
Edward J. Harpham (ed..), John Locke's Two Treatises of Government: New Interpretations
Ian Harris, The Mind of John Locke: A Study of Political Theory in its Intellectual Context
Nancy J. Hirschmann and Kirstie M. Mclure, (eds). Feminist Interpretations of John Locke
Hutton, Sarah. "Feminist Interpretations of John Locke." History of Political Thought 32.1 (2011).
Kateb, George. "Locke and the Political Origins of Secularism." Social Research 76.4 (2009).
C.B. Macpherson, The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: Hobbes to Locke part V
John Marshall, John Locke: Resistance, Religion, and Responsibility
_______, John Locke, Toleration and early Enlightenment Culture
Geraint Parry, John Locke
Pevnick, Ryan. "The Lockean Case for Religious Tolerance: The Social Contract and the Irrationality of Persecution." Political Studies 57.4 (2009)
A. Rapaczynski, Nature and Politics, part II
A. John Simmons, The Lockean Theory of Rights
_______, On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent and the Limits of Society
James Tully, A Discourse on Property: John Locke and His Adversaries
_______, An Approach to Political Philosophy: Locke in Contexts
Ernest Tuveson, Imagination as a Means of Grace: Locke and the Aesthetics of Romanticism
Jeremy Waldron, God, Locke and Equality
Lee Ward, John Locke and Modern Life
Neal Wood, John Locke and Agrarian Capitalism
Nicholas Wolterstorff, John Locke and the Ethics of Belief
John W. Yolton (ed.), John Locke: Problems and Perspectives
Michael Zuckert, Natural Rights and the New Republicanism, part III
_______, Launching Liberalism: On Lockean Political Philosophy
Week 12: Nov. 29 David Hume
Required Reading: In David Hume, Political Writings, eds. Stuart Warner and Donald Livingston (Hackett Publishing Co.), the selections from A Treatise of Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, pp. 1- 97; “That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science,” pp. 101-113; “Of Civil Liberty,” pp. 127-135; “Of Parties in General,” pp. 157-164; “Of the Original Contract,” pp. 164-181; “Of Passive Obedience,” pp. 182-184; “Of Superstition and Enthusiasm,” pp. 184-189; “Of the Origin of Government,” pp. 194-197; “Of the Rise and Progress of the Arts and Sciences,” pp. 197-219; “Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth,” pp. 240-252.
Recommended Reading:
A.J. Ayer, Hume: A Very Short Introduction
Annette Baier, The Pursuits of Philosophy: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of David Hume
___________, The Cautious Jealous Virtue: Hume on Justice
Gilles Deleuze, David Hume
Duncan Forbes, Hume’s Philosophical Politics
Knud Haakonssen, The Science of a Legislator: The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith
Russell Hardin, David Hume: Moral and Political Theorist
Jennifer Herdt, Religion and Faction in Hume’s Moral Philosophy
Willie Henderson, The Origins of David Hume’s Economics
Anne Jaap Jacobson, Feminist Interpretations of Hume
Andre-Louis Leroy, David Hume (European Political Thought)
Robert Arnold Manzer, Virtue and Modern Politics in David Hume’s Moral and Political Thought
Neil McArthur, David Hume’s Political Theory: Law, Commerce and the Constitution of Government
David Miller, Philosophy and Ideology in Hume’s Political Thought
Ernest Campbell Mossner, The Life of David Hume
David Fate Norton and Jacqueline Taylor, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Hume
N.T. Phillipson, David Hume, The Philosopher as Historian
Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind, David Hume’s Political Economy
Thomas Schlereth, The Cosmopolitan Ideal in Enlightenment Thought, Its Form and Function in the Ideas of Franklin, Hume and Voltaire,1694-1790
Claudia Schmidt, David Hume: Reason in History
Francis Snare, Morals, Motivation, and Convention: Hume’s Influential Doctrines
John B. Stewart, The Moral and Political Philosophy of David Hume
Frederick Whelan, Hume and Machiavelli: Political Realism and Liberal Thought
Fall Classes end on Dec. 3. Undergraduate examinations run Dec. 5 to Dec. 20. Classes resume Jan. 6, 2020
Winter Term
Week 13: Jan. 10 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Required Reading: J.J. Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men, entire.
Week 14: Jan. 17 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Required Reading: J.J. Rousseau, The Social Contract, entire.
Recommended Reading:
F.M. Barnard, Self-direction and Political Legitimacy: Rousseau and Herder
Marshall Berman, The Politics of Authenticity
Joshua Cohen, Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals
D Daniel Cullen, Freedom in Rousseau's Political Philosophy
N.J.H. Dent, Rousseau
St Stephen Ellenburg, Rousseau's Political Philosophy: An Interpretation from Within
Nicole Fermon, Domesticating Passions: Rousseau, Women, and Nation
Katrin Froese, Rousseau and Nietzsche: Toward an Aesthetic Morality, part I
Asher Horowitz, Rousseau, Nature, and History
Kevin Inston, Rousseau and Radical Democracy
Steven Johnston, Encountering Tragedy: Rousseau and the Project of Democratic Order
Christopher Kelley, Rousseau's Exemplary Life: The Confessions as Political Philosophy
R.A. Leigh, (ed). Rousseau after 200 Years: Proceedings of the Cambridge Bicentennial Colloquium
Andrew Levine, The Politics of Autonomy: a Kantian Reading of Rousseau's Social Contract
______, The General Will: Rousseau, Marx, Communism
Jonathan Marks, Perfection and Disharmony in the Thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Roger D. Masters, The Political Philosophy of Rousseau
Jim Miller, Rousseau; Dreamer of Democracy
Mira Morgenstern, Rousseau and the Politics of Ambiguity
Frederick Neuhouser, Rousseau's Theodicy of Self-Love: Evil, Rationality, and the Drive for Recognition
Margaret Ogrodnick, Intimacy and Instinct: Political Philosophy and Autobiography in Rousseau
Timothy O’Hagan, Rousseau
Clifford Orwin and Nathan Tarcov (eds.), The Legacy of Rousseau
Ethan Putterman, Rousseau, Law and the Sovereignty of the People
Helena Rosenblatt, Rousseau and Geneva
Judith Shklar, Men and Citizens: A Study of Rousseau's Social Theory
Jean Starobinski, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Transparency and Obstruction
Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History, chapter 6 A
Tracy Strong, Jean Jacques Rousseau: The Politics of the Ordinary
Zev Trachtenberg, Making Citizens: Rousseau’s Political Theory of Culture
Maurizio Viroli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the “Well Ordered Society”
Robert Wolker, Rousseau and Liberty
Week 15: Jan. 24 Edmund Burke
Required Reading: Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, entire.
Recommended Reading:
Bourke, Richard. "Edmund Burke and International Conflict." British International Thinkers from Hobbes to Namier (2009): 91-116.
Alfred Cobban, Edmund Burke and the Revolt against the Eighteenth Century
Carl B. Cone, Burke and the Nature of Politics
James Conniff, The Useful Cobbler: Edmund Burke and the Politics of Progress
Michael Freeman, Edmund Burke and the Critique of Political Radicalism
Don Herzog, Poisoning the Minds of the Lower Orders, chapter 1
Paul Hindson, Burke’s Dramatic Theory of Politics
Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind
Isaac Kramnick, The Rage of Edmund Burke: Portrait of an Ambivalent Conservative
Levin, Michael, Political Thought in the Age of Revolution, 1776-1848: Burke to Marx.
C.B. Macpherson, Burke
Monk, Iain. "Rousseau, Burke's Vindication of Natural Society, and Revolutionary Ideology." European Journal of Political Theory 9.3 (2010): 245-66.
Conor Cruise O’Brien, The Great Melody
Charles W. Parkin, The Moral Basis of Burke’s Political Thought
J.G.A. Pocock, “Burke and the Ancient Constitution,” in Pocock, Politics, Language and Time
Rooney, Morgan. "Reading History in a Revolutionary Age: Strategies for Interpreting 1688 in Richard Price, James Mackintosh, and Edmund Burke." Lumen: Selected Proceedings from the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 27 (2009): 27-40.
Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin
Clinton Rossiter, Conservatism in America: The Thankless Persuasion
David P. Shugarman, "Burke (1729-1797)" chapter 6 of Alistair Edwards and Jules Townshend eds., Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Marx
Peter J. Stanlis, Edmund Burke and the Natural Law
Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History, chapter 6 B
Watkins, RE. "Politics in Medias Res: Power that Precedes and Exceeds in Foucault and Burke." History of the Human Sciences 23.2 (2010): 1-19.
Week 16: Jan. 31 Immanuel Kant
Required Reading: Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, entire.
Week 17: Feb. 7 Immanuel Kant
Required Reading: Kant, Political Writings (2nd enlarged edition. Ed. Hans Reiss. Trans. H.B. Nisbet), entire.
Recommended reading:
Henry E. Allison, Kant's Theory of Freedom
Hannah Arendt, Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy
Reinhold Aris, Historical Political Thought in Germany from 1789 to 1825
Lewis White Beck, "Kant's Two Conceptions of the Will in Their Political Context," from Studies in the Philosophy of Kant, reprinted in Kant and Political Philosophy, Eds. Ronald Beiner and William James Booth
Lewis White Beck, A Commentary on the Critique of Practical Reason
James Bohman and Mattias Lutz-Bachmann (eds.), Perpetual Peace
William James Booth, Interpreting the World: Kant’s Philosophy of History and Politics
Ernst Cassirer, Rousseau, Kant and Goethe
Lara Denis, (ed). Kant's 'Metaphysics of Morals': A Critical Guide
Mary Gregor, "Kant on 'Natural Rights'," in Kant and Political Philosophy, Eds. R. Beiner and W.J. Booth
Kimberly Hutchings, Kant, Critique, and Politics
Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Come Forward As Science
George Armstrong Kelley, Idealism, Politics and History
Jeffrie G. Murphy, Kant: The Philosophy of Right
Onora O'Neill, Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant’s Practical Philosophy
Patrick Riley, Kant's Political Philosophy
Allen D. Rosen, Kant's Theory of Justice
Michael Rosen, Dignity, Its History and Meaning
Hans Saner, Kant's Political Thought
Robin May Schott (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Immanuel Kant
Susan Meld Shell, The Rights of Reason
Lucas Thorpe, Kant Dictionary
Jenenser Timmermann, Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary
Richard L. Velkey, "The Crisis of the End of Reason in Kant's Philosophy and the Remarks of 1764-1765," in Beiner and Booth (eds.), Kant and Political Philosophy
Ralph Walker, Kant and the Moral Law
Howard Williams, Kant's Political Philosophy
Howard Williams (ed.), Essays on Kant's Political Philosophy
Robert Paul Wolff, Kant: A Collection of Critical Essays
Yirmiahu Yovel, Kant and the Philosophy of History
Week 18: Feb. 14 G.W.F. Hegel
Required Reading: Philosophy of Right, Preface, Introduction, Part I (Abstract Right), paragraph 34 to the end of sec. 1 (Property); sec. 2, paragraphs 72-79, 90, 102-104; and Part II (Morality), entire
Hegel is notoriously difficult, especially for the student who has no prior exposure to his philosophy. Anyone brought to the brink of despair by Hegel’s too often obscure terminology may want to consult Hegel and the Philosophy of Right by D. Knowles, which offers a complete (and plausible) textual exegesis in accessible language. The books by Allan Wood and Charles Taylor listed below under “recommended reading” also provide perspicuous commentary. For those of you encountering the Philosophy of Right for the first time, you might want to put off reading the synoptic Introduction until after you finish reading Parts I and II.
**Feb. 15-21 is Winter Reading Week. The University is open, but classes do not meet.**
Week 19: Feb. 28 G.W.F. Hegel
Required Reading: Philosophy of Right, Part III, sec. 2 (Civil Society) and sec. 3 (the State)
Recommended reading:
Shlomo Avineri, Hegel's Theory of the Modern State
Harry Brod, Hegel's Philosophy of Politics: Idealism, Identity, and Modernity
Andrew Buchwalter, Dialectics, Politics, and the Contemporary Value of Hegel's Practical Philosophy
Rebecca Comay, Mourning Sickness: Hegel and the French Revolution
Barry Cooper, The End of History: An Essay on Modern Hegelianism
Fred R. Dallmayr, G.W.F. Hegel: Modernity and Politics
Will Dudley, Hegel and History
Bruce Gilbert, The Vitality of Contradiction: Hegel, Politics, and the Dialectic of Liberal-Capitalism
John Grant, Dialectics and Contemporary Politics: Critique and Transformation from Hegel to Post-marxism
H.S. Harris, Hegel’s Development, Vol. I: Toward the Sunlight, 1770-1801
H.S. Harris, Hegel’s Development, Vol. II: Night Thoughts, Jena 1801-1806
H.S. Harris, Hegel: Phenomenology and System
Lewis P. Hinchman, Hegel's Critique of Enlightenment
Honneth, Axel. The Pathologies of Individual Freedom: Hegel's Social Theory.
Kimberly Hutchings, Hegel's Philosophy and Feminist Thought: Beyond Antigone?
K.-H. Ilting, "The Structure of Hegel's "Philosophy of Right'," in Pelczynski (ed.), Hegel's Political Philosophy: Problems and Perspectives
George Armstrong Kelley, Hegel's Retreat from Eleusis
Dudley Knowles, Hegel and the Philosophy of Right
Timothy Luther, Hegel's Critique of Modernity: Reconciling Individual Freedom and the Community
Glenn Magee, Hegel Dictionary
Herbert Marcuse, Reason and Revolution
Patricia Jagentowicz Mills (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Hegel
Z.A. Pelczynski (ed.), Hegel's Political Philosophy: Problems and Perspectives
Z.A. Pelczynski (ed.), The State and Civil Society: Studies in Hegel’s Political Philosophy
Z.A. Pelczynski, "The Hegelian Conception of the State," in Hegel's Political Philosophy: Problems and Perspectives
John Plamenatz, "History as the Realization of Freedom," in Pelczynski (ed.), Hegel's Political Philosophy: Problems and Perspectives
Manfred Riedel, Between Tradition and Revolution: The Hegelian Transformation of Political Philosophy
Manfred Riedel, (Walter Wright, trans). Between Tradition and Revolution: The Hegelian Transformation of Political Philosophy
Patrick Riley, Will and Political Legitimacy
Steven B. Smith, Hegel's Critique of Liberalism: Rights in Context
Charles Taylor, Hegel and Modern Society
Teschale Tibelu, Hegel and the Third World: The Making of Eurocentrism in World History
Kenneth Westphal, “The Basic Context and Structure of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,” in The Cambridge Companion to Hegel, ed. Frederick C. Beiser
Allen Wood, Hegel's Ethical Thought
Allen Wood, “Hegel and Marxism,” in The Cambridge Companion to Hegel, ed. F. C. Beiser
Week 20: March 6 Karl Marx
Required Reading: (The following selections of Marx’s writings are available in numerous anthologies and online (see ‘recommended reading’ below for a link to the Marx-Engels Internet Archive). I have placed an order with the university bookstore for Karl Marx, Selected Writings, edited by Lawrence H. Simon.)
“On the Jewish Question” [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 1-26]
Toward a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 27-39]
“Alienated Labor” (from the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 58-68]
“Private Property and Communism” (from the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 68-79]
“Theses on Feuerbach” [Simon, Selected Writings, p. 98]
From The German Ideology: Chapter One, ‘Feuerbach’ [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 102-156]
“Wages of Labour” [from the 1844 manuscripts, copy to be found in the filing cabinet under GS/POLS 6010]
The German Ideology, Part I (selections) [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 102-156]
The Communist Manifesto [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 157-186]
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, excerpted in the Simon anthology pp. 187-208
Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 209- 213]
The Civil War in France, excerpted in the Simon anthology pp. 301-314
Critique of the Gotha Programme [Simon, Selected Writings, pp. 315 – 332]
Recommended Reading:
Robert Albritton, A Japanese Approach to Stages of Capitalist Development
Louis Althusser, For Marx
Ronald Aronson, After Marxism
Shlomo Avineri, The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx
William J. Brasill, The Young Hegelians
Simon Choat, Marx Through Post-Structuralism: Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze
G.A. Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense
George Comninel, “Marx’s Context,” History of Political Thought, 21:3 (2000)
Erich Fromm, Marx's Concept of Man
E. J. Hobsbawm (ed.), The History of Marxism, Vol. I: Marxism in Marx’s Day
Jean Hyppolite, Studies on Marx and Hegel
L. Kolakowski, Main Currents in Marxism, 3 vols.
Georg Lukacs, History and Class Consciousness
Marx-Engels Internet Archive (www.marx.org) –contains the complete works
David McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx, 2nd. ed.
David McLellan, Marxism After Marx
Ernest Mandel, Marxist Economic Theory
Herbert Marcuse, Reason and Revolution
Istvan Meszaros, Marx’s Theory of Alienation
Bertell Ollman, Alienation
Moishe Postone, Time, Labor and Social Domination
Week 21: March 13 J.S. Mill
Required Reading: Mill, Utilitarianism and On Liberty, entire.
Week 22: March 20 J.S. Mill
Required Reading: Mill, Considerations on Representative Government, entire.
Recommended reading:
Bruce Baum, Rereading Power and Freedom in J.S. Mill
Peter Berkowitz, “Mill: Liberty, Virtue, and the Discipline of Individuality,” in Eisenach (ed.), Mill and the Moral Character of Liberalism
Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty
Brandon, P. Turner,. "John Stuart Mill and the Antagonistic Foundation of Liberal Politics." Review of Politics 72.1 (2010): 25-53.
Nicholas Capaldi, John Stuart Mill
Maurice Cowling, Mill and Liberalism, 2d ed.
Wendy Donner, The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy
Bell, Duncan. "John Stuart Mill on Colonies." Political Theory 38.1 (2010): 34-64.
Eldon J. Eisenach, Two Worlds of Liberalism, part four
Eldon J. Eisenach (ed.), Mill and the Moral Character of Liberalism
John R. Fitzpatrick, Starting with Mill
Robert Goodin, Utilitarianism as Public Philosophy
John Gray, Mill on Liberty: a Defense
Joseph Hamburger, Intellectuals in Politics: John Stuart Mill and the Philosophic Radicals
Joseph Hamburger, John Stuart Mill on Liberty and Control
Alan S. Kahan, Aristocratic Liberalism: The Social and Political Thought of Jacob Burckhardt, John Stuart Mill, and Alexis de Tocqueville
David Lyons, Rights, Welfare and Mill’s Moral Theory
Uday Mehta, Liberalism and Empire
John Stuart Mill, Autobiography
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy
Dale Miller, John Stuart Mill
Maria H. Morales, Perfect Equality: John Stuart Mill on Well-Constituted Communities
Glyn Morgan, “The Mode and Limits of John Stuart Mill’s Toleration,” in Williams and Waldron, (eds.), Toleration and Its Limits
Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, chapter 9
John C. Rees, John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty
Jonathan Riley, Mill on Liberty
John M. Robson, The Improvement of Mankind: The Social and Political Thought of John Stuart Mill
Alan Ryan, The Philosophy of J.S. Mill, 2nd ed.
John Skorupski, Why Read Mill Today?
James Fitzjames Stephen, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
C.L. Ten, Mill on Liberty
Dennis F. Thompson, John Stuart Mill and Representative Government
Henry West, An Introduction to Mill’s Utilitarian Ethics
Alex Zakaras, Individuality and Mass Democracy: Mill, Emerson, and the Burdens of Citizenship
Linda M.G. Zerilli, Signifying Woman: Culture and Chaos in Rousseau, Burke and Mill
Week 23: March 27 Friedrich Nietzsche
Required reading: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, entire.
Recommended reading:
Robert John Ackerman, Nietzsche: A Frenzied Look
T.W. Adorno and M. Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, Excursus II
Keith Ansell-Pearson, An Introduction to Nietzsche as a Political Thinker
K. Ansell-Pearson, Nietzsche Contra Rousseau
David Allison, ed., The New Nietzsche
John Andrew Bernstein, Nietzsche’s Moral Philosophy
Ronald Beiner, Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right
Albert Camus, “Nietzsche and Nihilism” in his the Rebel
Maudemarie Clark, Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy
William Connolly, Political Theory and Modernity
Arthur Danto, Nietzsche as Philosopher
Bruce Detweiler, Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism
Giles Deluze, Nietzsche and Philosophy
Christian J. Emden, Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of History
Michel Foucault, “Nietzsche, Genealogy, History,” in Language, Countermemory, Practice
Katrin Froese, Rousseau and Nietzsche: Toward an Aesthetic Morality, Part II
M.A. Gillespie and T.B. Strong, eds., Nietzsche’s New Seas: Explorations in Philosophy, Aesthetics and Politics
Hill, R. "Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of History." Political Theory 38.1 (2010).
Walter Kaufmann, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist
Nancy Love, Marx, Nietzsche and Modernity
G.A. Morgan, What Nietzsche Means
Alexander Nehemas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature
Osborne, P. "A Sudden Topicality Marx, Nietzsche and the Politics of Crisis." Radical Philosophy 160 (2010): 19-26.
Richard Schacht, Nietzsche
Shaw, Tamsin. Nietzsche's Political Skepticism.
Joan Stambaugh, The Other Nietzsche
Ofelia Schutte, Beyond Nihilism: Nietzsche Without Masks
Tamsin Shaw, Nietzsche's Political Skepticism
Tracy Strong, Friedrich Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration
Leslie Paul Thiele, Nietzsche and the Politics of the Soul: A Study in Heroic Individualism
Mark Warren, Nietzsche and Political Thought
Week 24: April 3 Hannah Arendt
Required reading: Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, entire.
Recommended reading:
Anne Amiel, Hannah Arendt
Seyla Benhabib, The Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt
Seyla Benhabib, ed., Politics in Dark Times: encounters with Hannah Arendt
R. Berkowitz, J. Katz, and T Keenan, eds., Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics
Richard Bernstein, Hannah Arendt and the Jewish Question
Finn Bowring, Hannah Arendt: A Critical Introduction
Patricia Bowen-Moore, Hannah Arendt’s Philosophy of Natality
Leah Bradshaw, Acting and Thinking: the political thought of Hannah Arendt
Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Hannah Arendt, for love of the world
Margaret Canovan, The Political Thought of Hannah Arendt
Lisa Disch, Hannah Arendt and the Limits of Philosophy
Shiraz Dossa, The Public Realm and the Public Self: the political theory of Hannah Arendt
J. Peter Euben, Platonic Noise
Phillip B. Hansen, Hannah Arendt: politics, history and citizenship
Melvyhn Hill, Hannah Arendt, The Recovery of the Public World
Lewis Hinchman and Sandra Hinchman, eds., Hannah Arendt: critical essays
Bonnie Honig, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt
Jeffrey Isaac, Arendt, Camus, and Modern Rebellion
George Kateb, Hannah Arendt: politics, conscience, evil
Julia Krsteva, Hannah Arendt
__________, Hannah Arendt, life is a narrative
Michael McCarthy, The Political Humanism of Hannah Ardent
Patricia Owens, Between War and Politics: International relations and the Thought of Hannah Arendt
Bhikhu Parekh, Hannah Arendt and the Search for a New Political Philosophy
Serena Parekh, Hannah Arendt and the Challenge of Modernity: a Phenomenology of Human Rights
Maurizio Passerin, The Political Philosophy of Hannah Arendt
Hanna Fenichel Pitkin, The Attack of the Blob: Hannah Arendt’s Concept of the Social
Jacques Taminiaux, The Thracian Maid and the Professional Thinker: Arendt and Heidegger
Dana Villa, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Hannah Arendt
________, Politics, Philosophy, Terror: Essays on the Thought of Hannah Arendt
________, Arendt and Heidegger: The Fate of the Political
** April 5 is the last day of classes. **Undergraduate exams begin on April 7 and end on April 25
Qualifying examinations are scheduled by the Graduate Program Director after classes have ended. Normally, the Q-exams are held in May and June. Students must have completed the core course and received a grade in order to write the Q-exam.
