Philosophy 220
Introduction to
Political Philosophy
Section 01: MWF
12-12:50 Friends 307 Spring 2007
Overview: This course aims to introduce students to several of the central topics in political philosophy. We will examine what important thinkers (past and present) have had to say about questions such as the following: Are we morally obligated to obey the law, and if so, why? Why should a state be organized in a democratic fashion? When may a state justifiably restrict its citizens’ liberty? How much material inequality will a just state permit? What is individualism, and is it desirable or not?
Professor: Craig Duncan
Email: cduncan@ithaca.edu
Professor
Duncan's webpage:
www.ithaca.edu/faculty/cduncan
Philosophy 220 coursepage: www.ithaca.edu/faculty/cduncan/220/220.htm
Office hours and location: Dillingham 213, Thurs 12:15-1:15, Friday 1-2
Office phone: 274-350
Required Course Materials:
·
Jonathan Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Revised Edition (
· Michael Rosen and Jonathan Wolff, eds. Political Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
·
Craig Duncan and Tibor Machan, Libertarianism: For and Against (
· A very short coursepack available from the instructor.
Course Requirements:
· Two take home reading quizzes. On two occasions early in the term, students will be asked to write brief answers to reading comprehension questions concerning a particular article. Each quiz will count 7.5% toward your overall grade. The first quiz will be due on Friday, January 26th and the second will be due on Friday, Feb. 9th.
·
Two
five-page papers. Paper topics will be distributed in advance. You must write on one of the topics unless
you submit an alternative topic in writing to me at least three days before the
deadline and it is approved. Extensions
on paper deadlines will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances;
extension requests must be made in writing to me well in advance of the deadline. Papers not turned in on time will instantly
receive a deduction worth one-third of a letter grade. This deduction will increase daily (including
weekend days), adding up to a full letter grade deduction for a paper 7 days
late, with steeper deductions thereafter at my discretion. Each paper will count 15% toward your
overall grade. The first paper will be
due on Friday, March 23rd; the second will be due on Wednesday, May
2nd.
·
Two exams.
There will be a mid-term and a final exam.
The midterm exam will be held during our usual class hours Wednesday,
February 28th. It will count
15% toward your overall grade. The final
exam will take place from 1:30-4:00pm on Monday, May 7th in the
usual classroom. It will cover material
from the whole course, though the emphasis will be on material from the
second-half of the course. The final
exam will count 30% toward your overall grade.
·
Class
Participation. Philosophy cannot be
passively learned. It requires active
engagement, both with the texts and with individuals in the form of
discussion. For this reason class
participation counts for 10% of your overall grade. In order to get a good participation grade,
you must have excellent attendance, do the assigned reading, and take an active
role in class discussions.
Important Note: All exams and papers must be completed to
receive a passing grade for the course.
Important Dates:
Reading Quiz 1 due 1/26
Reading Quiz 2 due 2/9
Mid-term Exam 2/28
Paper 1 due 3/23
Paper 2 due 5/2
Final exam 5/7 (1:30pm)
(Tentative) Reading Schedule
1. The State of
Wed 1/24 Introduction and Hobbes [W, pp. 1-17]
Thomas Hobbes, "The Misery of the Natural Condition of Mankind" [PT #2]
Fri 1/26 Locke [W, pp. 17-23]
John Locke,
"The State of
Mon 1/29 NO CLASS
Wed 1/31 Rousseau [W, pp. 24-29]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "The Noble Savage" [PT #5]
Fri 2/2 Anarchism and Conclusion [W, 29-33]
Mon 2/5 [No new reading]
2. Justifying the State
Wed 2/7 Introduction and The social contract [W, pp. 34-48]
Thomas Hobbes, "Creating Leviathan" [PT #20]
Fri 2/9 John Locke, "Express and Tacit Consent" [PT #21]
David Hume, "The Irrelevance of Consent" [PT #24
Reading Quiz #2 due
Mon 2/12 Immanuel Kant, "The Hypothetical Contract" [PT #23]
Wed 2/14 Utilitarianism [W, pp. 48-55]
Jeremy Bentham, "Utility as the True Foundation" [PT #25]
Fri 2/16 The principle of fairness and Conclusion [W, pp.
George Klosko, “Presumptive Benefit, Fairness, and Political Obligation” (W)
3. Who Should Rule?
Mon 2/19 Introduction and Plato against democracy [W, pp. 64-77]
Plato, "Ruling as a Skill" [PT #34]
Wed 2/21 Rousseau and the general will [W, pp. 77-93]
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, "The General Will" [PT #36]
Fri 2/23 Representative democracy and Conclusion [W, pp. 93-103]
John Stuart Mill, "The Democratic Citizen" [PT #38]
Robert Richie and Steven Hill, "The Case for Proportional Representation" [W]
Mon 2/26 [No new reading]
Wed 2/28 MID-TERM
EXAM
4. The Place of
Fri 3/2 Isaiah
Mon 3/5 Mill on liberty [W, pp.104-114]
John Stuart Mill, "One Simple Principle" [PT #53]
Jeremy Waldron, The Satanic Verses [PT #59]
Wed 3/7 Justifying
the
Alan
Wertheimer, "
Fri 3/9 Problems with liberalism and Conclusion [W, pp. 125-132]
Karl Marx, "The Rights of Egoistic Man" [PT #67]
SPRING BREAK
5. The Distribution of Property
Mon 3/19 The Problem of Distributive Justice [W, pp. 133-37]
David Schweickart, “Inequality” [CP]
First part of Property and Markets [W, pp. 138-143]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "The Earth Belongs to Nobody" [PT #74]
John Locke, "Labour as the Basis of Property" [PT #73]
Robert Nozick, "Difficulties with Mixing Labour" [PT #81]
Wed 3/21 Second part of Property and Markets [W, pp. 143-152]
F. A. Hayek, "Prices as a Code" [PT #84]
Fri 3/23 Karl Marx, "From Each According to His
Abilities…" [PT #92]
Paper #1 due
Mon 3/26 Karl Marx, "Appearance and Reality" [PT #83]
Wed 3/28 Karl Marx, "The Communist Manifesto" [PT #119]
David Schweickart, "Market Socialism: A Defense" [CP]
Fri 3/30 G. A. Cohen, "Socialism and Equality
of
Brian Barry, "Does Responsibility Undermine Equality?" [CP]
Mon 4/2 Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, "$80,000 and a Dream" [web
Wed 4/4 Rawls's theory of justice [W, pp.152-168]
John Rawls, "Two Principles of Justice" [PT #95]
Fri 4/6 [No new reading]
Mon 4/9 Rawls and his critics and Conclusion [W, pp. 168-176]
Robert Nozick, "The Entitlement Theory" [PT #96]
Wed 4/11 G. A. Cohen, "Poverty as Lack of Freedom" [PT #86]
6. Libertarianism vs. Liberalism
Fri 4/13 Duncan/Machan,
Mon 4/16 Duncan/Machan,
Wed 4/18 Duncan/Machan,
Fri 4/20 Duncan/Machan,
Mon 4/23 Duncan/Machan,
Wed 4/25 Duncan/Machan,
7. Individualism, Conservatism, Feminism
Fri 4/27 Individualism and anti-individualism [W, pp. 177-182]
Edmund Burke, “Eternal Society” [PT # 112]
Mon 4/30 Michael Oakeshott, “On Being Conservative” [PT #114]
Russell Kirk, “Ten Conservative Principles” [W]
Wed 5/2 Rights for women [W, pp. 182-189]
Mary Wollstonecraft, “The Rights of Women” [PT #14]
John Stuart Mill, "The Subjection of Women" [PT #15]
Carol Gilligan, “In a Different Voice” [PT #16]
Paper #2 due
Fri 5/4 Transcending liberal individualism? and Final word [W, pp. 189-199]
Mon 5/7 1:30-4pm FINAL EXAM
Teaching Policies:
Attendance
During classtime I will often introduce material that is not covered in the reading assignments. You will be held responsible for knowing this material. If you do not come to class, you will not know this material, and your performance on essays and exams will suffer. So come to class.
Academic Conduct
Students are expected to conform to the Standards of Academic Conduct printed on pages 116-118 of the 2001-2002 Student Handbook. Please familiarize yourself with these standards. Violations will be reported to the Ithaca College Conduct Review Board. Additionally, you will receive a grade of zero on any assignment that is not completed according to these standards.
Plagiarism is one very serious violation of these standards. I will not tolerate it. There are good reasons for my zero-tolerance policy—reasons well summarized by the philosopher Hugh LaFollette, from whom I quote below:
“Why Shouldn't I Plagiarize?
(1) It undercuts the aims of education. If you plagiarize you will not learn the skills you should learn – you are merely copying someone else's words and ideas – and that you already knew how to do.
(2) It is theft. And all theft is wrong, whether it is theft of an idea or an object.
(3) You harm other students. By plagiarizing you make professors more suspicious of students. This encourages them to make assignments that are plagiarism-proof rather than ones that are educationally sound.
(4) You will get caught. Think about it for a minute: if you plagiarize from a good source – one that is likely to help your grade – the prof may well know (or can easily find) the source. And if your writing style drastically changes from sentence to sentence or from paper to exam, that will be obvious to even a causal observer. To plagiarize well – to plagiarize in a way that is likely to land you a decent grade and minimize the chance you will get caught – you would have to know the material so well, that it would be easier – and more educationally beneficial – to write the essay yourself."[1]
Classroom Behavior.
I care about your education, and I put a lot of time into preparing lectures and classroom activities. Hence it is disrespectful not to give me your attention in class. If you cannot do this, please stay home.
Special Needs
If you have a special need owing to an identified disability, please let me know. I am happy to work with you together with the office of Academic Support Services for Students with Disabilities. You should contact them at x4-1005.