Syllabus: Western Political Theory
10:50am-11:50am, MWF
West Hall 210
Professor Claudia Leeb
Office location: West Hall 121
Office phone: 540-375-5256
Office hours: Tuesdays 1:00pm-3:00pm
Course Goals:
This course traces the development of Western political thought from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary political philosophy. The course has three central goals. First, to gain a deeper understanding of key terms in political theory—such as democracy, justice, equality, freedom, political authority, and the good life—by reading classic texts. Second, to trace the historical evolution of these terms in Western political thought. And third, to consider the historical context in which the discussed political philosophers produced their texts. We will examine the works of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Marx.
Upon conclusion of the course, students should first, be familiar the main arguments of central thinkers of Western political thought; second, describe the theorists’ views on key concepts of political philosophy, such as justice and political authority; and third, be able to write coherent essays on the main arguments of the discussed authors.
Required Reading:
Michael L. Morgan (ed.) Classics of Moral and Political Theory, 4th edition (2005, Indiananpolis: Hackett) (most of the texts we will read can be found in this book)
Cicero, M.T. Griffin and E.M. Atkins (eds.) On Duties (1991, Cambridge University Press)
Kant: Political Writings, H.S. Reiss (ed.) (1991, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Robert C. Tucker (ed.) The Marx-Engels Reader (2nd ed., 1978, New York/London: W.W. Norton), pp. 302-329.
Required Writing Style Manual:
Scott, Gregory M. & S. M. Garrison, The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual, 6th Ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.
Schedule and Readings:
Week 1, Plato’s Republic I
August 26. Introduction
August 28, Plato, Republic, Books I (entire), (Morgan, pp. 75-93)
Week 2, Plato’s Republic II
August 31, Plato, Republic, Books II-III (entire), (Morgan, pp. 93-130)
September 2, Plato, Republic, Books IV-V (entire), (Morgan, pp. 130-169)
September 4, First Test on Plato’s Republic (Books I -V)
Week 3, Plato’s Republic III
September 7, Plato, Republic, Books VI (entire), (Morgan, pp. 169-186)
September 9, Plato, Republic, Books VII-VIII (entire), (Morgan, pp. 186-220)
September 11, Plato, Republic, Books IX-X (entire), (Morgan, pp. 220-251)
Week 4, Aristotle’s Politics
September 14
Aristotle, Politics, Books I (entire)-II (chapters 1-12), 1252a-1283a (Morgan, pp. 361-389)
September 16, Aristotle, Politics, Books II (chapters 13-18)-III (entire),
1283a-1332b (Morgan, pp. 389-416)
September 18, Test on Plato’s Republic (Books VI-X) and Aristotle’s Politics (Books I-III)
Week 5, Cicero’s De Officiis
September 21, Cicero, On Duties, Book I, (entire), (pp. 1-62)
September 23, Cicero, On Duties, Book II (entire), (pp. 63-100)
September 25, Cicero, On Duties, Book III (entire), (pp. 101-147)
Week 6, Niccolo Machiavelli I
September 28, Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapters 1-7 (Morgan, pp. 482-495)
September 30, Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapters 8-17 (Morgan, pp. 495-511)
October 2, Test on Cicero’s De Officiis and Machiavelli’s The Prince (chapters 1-17)
Week 7, Niccolo Machiavelli II
October 5, Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapters 18-26 (Morgan, pp. 511-526)
October 7, Machiavelli, Discourses, Book I (1-2), Book II (1-2, 20, 29) (Morgan pp. 527-547)
October 9, Machiavelli, Discourses, Book III (1,9) (Morgan pp. 527-547)
Week 8, Fall Break
Week 9, Thomas Hobbes
October 19, Hobbes, Leviathan, Part I, Chapters 13-16 (Morgan, 591-606)
October 21, Hobbes, Leviathan, Part II, Chapters 17-20 (Morgan, pp. 606-621
October 23, Hobbes, Leviathan, Part II, Chapters 21-24 (Morgan, pp. 621-636)
Week 10, John Locke
October 26, Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapters 1-5 (Morgan, pp. 685-698)
October 28, Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapters 6-9 (Morgan, pp. 698-719)
October 30, Test on Machiavelli’s The Prince (chapters 18-26) and the Discourses (Books I-III); the Leviathan, and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government
Week 11, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
November 2, Rousseau On the Social Contract, Books I (entire)-II (1-7), (Morgan, pp. 831-848)
November 4, Rousseau On the Social Contract, Books II (8-12)-III (1-10), (Morgan, pp. 848-867)
November 6, Rousseau On the Social Contract, Books III (11-18)-IV (entire), (Morgan, pp. 867-890)
Week 12, Immanuel Kant I
November 9, Kant, “Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose,” in H.S. Reiss (ed.) Kant: Political Writings
(1991, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 41-53.
November 11, Kant, “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment,” in Kant: Political Writings, pp. 54-60
November 13, Test on Rousseau’s Social Contract and Kant I
Week 13, Immanuel Kant II
November 16, Kant, “On the Common Saying: This May be True in Theory, but it does not Apply in Practice,”
in Kant: Political Writings, pp. 61-92
November 18, Kant, “Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch,” in Kant: Political Writings, pp. 93-115.
November 20, Marx, “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: in Robert C. Tucker (ed.). The Marx- Engels Reader (Second edition, 1978, New York/London: Norton & Company), pp. 53 – 66
Week 14, Karl Marx I
November 23, Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach,” “Alienation and Social Classes, in Robert C. Tucker (ed.). The Marx-Engels Reader, pp, 143-145; pp.133-135
Research Paper Due
Thanksgiving Break
Week 15, Karl Marx II
November 30, Marx, “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” in Robert C. Tucker (ed.). The Marx-Engels Reader, pp. 469-500.
December 2, Capital, Volume One, Chapter 1, in Robert C. Tucker (ed.) The Marx-Engels Reader (2nd ed., 1978, New York/London: W.W. Norton), pp. 302-329.
December 4, Summary and Final Discussion