Elizabethtown College
Syllabus
Spring 2004
PS 224 History of Western Political Thought II: W. Wesley
McDonald
The
Enlightenment to the Moderns Nicarry
203
T-TH 12:30-1:50
Office Phone: 361-1306
Office Hours: T-Th 2-3:30, MW 3:30-5:00
Email address: mailto:mcdonaldw@etown.edu
Homepage: http://users.etown.edu/m/mcdonaldw/
A. Course Text
John
H. Hallowell & Jene M. Porter, Political Philosophy: The Search for
Humanity & Order (Prentice- Hall
Canada, Inc., Scarborough, Ontario 1997)
Jene M. Porter (ed.) Classical
Political Philosophy 3rd. (Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall,
Canada, Inc., 2000).
B. Course Description and Objectives
This
course will introduce the student to the fundamental issues of politics as they
emerge from some of the great books of Western thought. Selected thinkers from the Renaissance to
the Modern era are examined with a view to their lasting contribution to the
understanding of political life. The
purpose is to show that every conception of government implies a view of Man’s
nature and destiny and that no adequate understanding of politics and its goals
is possible without a systematic consideration of the essence of the human
condition.
C. Course Requirements
1. The student is
expected to complete fully the assigned reading for each class and to be
prepared to contribute to class discussions.
2. Reaction Papers
a. Two 5-10 page response papers will be
required.
b. You will be asked to summarize and
critically evaluate and idea or theory found in one of the essays in the
readings textbook edited by Jene Porter.
c. The instructor will assign essay topics.
d. The paper will be due one week after the
topic is covered in class.
e. As the “class expert” on the topic, you may
be called on in class to elaborate upon or describe some principle or argument
related to the topic. You will be expected
to participate whenever your topic is discussed. Your responses will count as part of your class contribution
grade. Students assigned essays on
Hobbes will be given an additional week grace period before their papers must
be completed and turned in.
f. The paper must be typewritten and
double-spaced.
g. The grade for the paper will be determined
by the following criteria:
1. Does the paper demonstrate that the student
has thoroughly read and comprehended the assigned reading?
2. Is it well organized?
3. Does the paper make an argument,
demonstrate insights, synthesize ideas, show interrelationships, and explain
cause-and-effect?
4. Is it well written and free from an
inordinate amount of spelling and grammatical errors? Is it neat and free from annoying corrections and other
insertions?
5. Has the student done library research
beyond the assigned reading? Is the
work documented using standard citation form?
D. Grading
The
final course grade will be based on the following:
Final
examination 40
points
Mid-term
examination 30
points
Reaction
papers 25
points
Contribution
to class discussion
and class attendance 05 points
E. Examinations
Examinations will be entirely of the essay variety. There will generally be no make-ups on the
mid-term examination. If the mid-term
is missed because of an excused absence, a double grade will then be given on
the final examination.
F. Attendance
Every student
will be held responsible on all tests for all material covered in class
lectures and discussions. Other than this, there is no formal
attendance requirement.
G. Code of
Integrity and Special Accommodations
H. Class Rules
Do not wear hats in class. Please refrain from eating your lunch during class time; it is distracting to the instructor and other students. Try to be in your seat at the beginning of the class. If you must leave early for some legitimate reason, inform the instructor in advance.
I. Course Outline
I. The Social Contract Theorists
a.
Thomas Hobbes and State absolutism, The Leviathan
1. The social contract
2. Concept of power
a. Necessity
b. Reason
3. The indivisibility of sovereignty
Readings:
H&P, Ch 7; Porter, pp. 293-328
Web
Links: Thomas Hobbes -- Moral and
Political Philosophy [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy], Thomas Hobbes
b.
John Locke and Majority Rule -- On Civil Government
1. Social contract
2. Individual rights
3. Popular sovereignty and theory of revolution
Readings: H&P, Ch 8; Porter, pp.328-380.
Web
Links: John Locke [Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy] John Locke
c.
David Hume -- Philosophic skeptic and critic of the social contract theory:
Of
the Original Contract, a Treatise of Human Nature
1. Attack on reason
2. Undermines social contract theory
3. The role of habit and prejudice as a means of
social control
Readings:
Selections on Faculty Reserve in High Library
Web Links: Ty's David Hume Homepage;
THE HUME ARCHIVES
d.
Rousseau and the birth of modern democratic theory:
The
Social Contract, Discourses, Emile
1. The state of nature
2. Social contract
3. Civilization as a source of individual
corruption
4. Equality
5. The General Will
6. Civil Religion
Readings: H&P, Ch 9; Porter, pp. 381-436.
Web Links: Jean-Jacques
Rousseau | Philosopher,
Jean Jacques Rousseau [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
II.
Montesquieu and the Functional Separation of Powers
Web Links: Great Books Index -
Montesquieu,
Baron de
Montesquieu : A Short Biography
III. Adam
Smith and The Wealth of Nations
a.
Critique of Mercantile System
b.
Father of free market economics
Film:
"The Wealth of Nations"
Web Links: Adam Smith
| Economist and Philosopher
IV. Edmund
Burke and the Birth of Modern Conservatism:
Reflections on the
Revolution in France
a. The moral imagination as an antidote to
abstract reason.
b. The role of prejudice, tradition, and
providence
c. Attack on the historical mentality of the
Jacobins
d. Prescriptive rights and right to private
property
Readings: Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind,
Ch. II (faculty reserve)
Web Links: Burke, Edmund. 1909–14. Reflections on the
French Revolution. Vol. 24, Part 3. The Harvard Classics, Biographies:
The Political Philosopher, Edmund Burke (1729-97).
V. The Rise of Modern Liberalism
a. Jeremy Bentham and Utilitarianism
1. The Greatest Happiness principle
2. Utility as a guide to public policy
3. Theory of Law
4. Bentham as a penal reformer
Readings:
H&P, pp. 487-502
Web Links: Jeremy Bentham [Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy],
b. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
1. His early utilitarianism
2. Principle of liberty
3. Later conversion to socialism
Readings:
H&P, pp. 502-550, Porter, pp. 503-598
Web
Links: John Stuart Mill, J.S. Mill (This is the entire text of On Liberty)
c. Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism, Social
Statics
1. Rejection of Utilitarianism
2. Laissez-faire economics
3. Survival of the fittest
Web Links: Herbert Spencer [Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
VI. Reaction
against Democracy
a. Hegel and the Historical Method
1. The
dialectic and historical necessity
2. The
theory of the state
Readings:
H&P, pp. 561-566 (section on Hegel); Porter, pp. 437-480, 486-502
Web
Links: Hegel; Georg Hegel (1770-1831)
b. Nietzsche and the Limits of Reason
1. Theory of the Superman
2. Slave morality and aristocratic values
Readings:
H&P, ch. 12; Porter, pp. 620-631.
Web
Links: Friedrich Nietzsche; Nietzsche, by Paul Elmer
More;
VII. Karl Marx and Communism
1. The proletarian revolution
2. The collapse of capitalism
3. Economic determinism
4. The withering away of the state
5. Alienated labor
Readings: H&P, ch. 11; Porter pp. 544-596
Web
Links: Karl Marx, Karl Marx,
Karl
Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party
VIII. The Rise of Therapeutic Ideologies
What is Multiculturalism?,
The
Multicultural Theocracy: An Interview With Paul Gottfried
IX. Islamic Fundamentalism
The Koran,Encyclopedia:
Islamic fundamentalism
Islam Guide: A Brief
Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, Muslims, & the Quran
FINAL EXAMINATION:
May 11 11-2 PM