Elizabethtown College
Syllabus
Spring 2003
W. Wesley McDonald
| PS 224 History of Western Political Thought II | Nicarry 203 |
|
Office Phone: 361-1306 |
| T-TH 9:30-10:45 a.m. | mailto:mcdonaldw@etown.edu. |
| Office Hours: T-Th 11-12:30 PM MW 3:30-5:00 PM | Office: N223 |
| 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 2nd Ed.(Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall,
Canada, Inc., 1997).
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.
a. Two 3-5 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.
The topic of your essay will be assigned by the instructor.
d. The paper will be due during the week
in which the reading assignment on which your paper is based is being discussed
in class.
e. As the “class expert” on the essay assigned
to you, you will be called on in class to elaborate upon or describe some
principle or argument made by the essay’s author. 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 typeovers?
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
material
submitted for a grade.
H. 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. 293-350
Web Links: Thomas Hobbes [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.351-402.
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: A
Treatise on Human Nature
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. 403-458
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: Reflections
on the Revolution,
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],
Jeremy's Labyrinth,
Jeremy Bentham
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. 513-552
Web Links: John Stuart
Mill, J.S. Mill
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 of Hegel); Porter, pp. 459-511
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. 609-650.
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
whithering away of the state
5. Alienated
labor
Readings: H&P, ch. 11; Porter
pp. 553-608
Web Links: Karl Marx,
Karl Marx,
Karl Marx, Manifesto of
the Communist Party
VIII. Social Democracy
1. Public Administration
2. Equality
vs. Freedom
3. The
entitlement rights revolution
4. Therapeutic state and
its future
Web Links What is Multiculturalism?,
IX. Islamic Fundamentalism: The Clash of East and West
1. What
is Islam?
2. Ideological roots of Islamic fundamentalism
3. Conflict
with Western values.
4. The Theocentric State—the role of the mosque
in the Islamic state.
5. Political
objectives
Web Links
The Koran, ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM,
Islam Guide: A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding
Islam, Muslims, & the Quran
FINAL EXAMINATION