This is a basic introductory course to political philosophy. Through a reading of works of political thought from Plato to the present, we confront enduring debates about the meaning of liberty, tolerance, equality, justice and the good life.
Books for Purchase:
Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito (Library of Liberal Arts)
Plato: Republic (Basic Books)
Sophocles: Three Theban Plays (Penguin)
Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics (Hackett)
Aristotle: Politics (Oxford)
Augustine: Confessions (Penguin)
Machiavelli: The Prince and the Discourses (Modern Library)
Hobbes: Leviathan (Penguin)
Locke: Letter Concerning Toleration (Hackett)
Locke: Second Treatise on Government (Hackett)
Rousseau: Basic Political Writings (Hackett)
Mill: On Liberty (Hackett)
Abramson: Minerva’s Owl (Harvard)
Topics and Readings:
1. Introduction: Human Nature and Politics.
2. The Greek Polis: Citizenship and the Good Life:
PLATO Apology (entire).
Crito (entire).
Republic (entire).
SOPHOCLES Antigone (entire).
ARISTOTLE Politics (Oxford, pb) Bk. I, Chs. 1-6;
Bk II, Chs. 1-5; Bk. III, Chs. 6-13; Bk. IV,
Chs. 1,2, 6-9, ll; Bk. V, Chs. 1,2; Bk. VI,
Chs. 2,3; Bk. VII, Chs. 1-3, 9.
Ethics, Bks. III (secs. 6-12; IV-V; VIII-IX.
3. The Fall of the Greek Polis and the Rise of the City of God:
AUGUSTINE Confessions, Bks I-V, VII, VIII.
4. The Origins of a New Secular State: The Power Vocabulary of the Political Professional:
MACHIAVELLI Prince (entire).
Discourses, Bk. I, introduction, Chs. 1-21, 24-27, 37, 40, 47, 49, 55, 58; Bk. II, Introduction, Chs. 1, 2, 6, 13, 19, 20, 23;Bk. III, Chs. 1, 3, 6, 19-22, 25, 30, 41.
5. Liberalism: Rights, Privacy, Individualism, and Tolerance:
HOBBES Leviathan, Introduction, Part One (entire); Part Two, Chs. 17-21,24, 26, 28, 30.
LOCKE Letter Concerning Toleration (entire).
Second Treatise of Govt., chs.1-14, 18-19.
6. Combining Democracy with Liberalism: Emerging Tensions
between the Values of Equality and Freedom:
ROUSSEAU Discourse on the Origins of Inequality (all)
The Social Contract (all)
MILL On Liberty (all)
Course Requirements
Attendance and Participation: 10% of grade
Mid-term Examination (Feb. 23): 25% of grade
Paper (7-8 pages)(April 5): 25% of grade
Final Examination (Wed., May 9, 9:00-12:00 noon): 40% of grade
(Course grading policy is plus or minus grades)
