Fall 2017Professor S.A. Lloyd Meets: TTH 11-12:15, VKC 101
OH: TTH 12:30-1:30 & by appointment MHP 205c
PHIL 437: Social and Political Philosophy
Social and political philosophy investigates the justification of political authority, the normative claims of law, questions of political and economic justice, rights, liberty, opportunity, and equality, the proper ends of government, the most desirable division of responsibility between political and civil society, and how institutions might be designed to form or to manage human nature in the most desirable ways. The course will address all of these topics through study of some classic works of Western political philosophy and contemporary sources, with application to current events.
Required Readings
Excerpts from Hobbes, Leviathan, Locke, Second Treatise of Government
Rousseau, The Social Contract, Mill, On Liberty and Other Essays
Additional required readings on Blackboard (BB)
Course Requirements
Consistent, constructive, informed class participation. Please come to class having read and prepared to discuss the assigned reading for the week.(10%)
Midterm Exam, Thursday September 21 (20%)
In-class presentation with written summary and handout, sign-up for date (20%)
Paper, approximately 2500 words due Thursday November 30 (25%)
Final Exam, December 12, 8-10a.m. (25%)
Course Policies
No recording or streaming of lectures is permitted. Internet posting of course materials is prohibited. Please turn off your phone during class.
There will be no make-up exams or presentations, so please record those dates on your calendar and organize your other work around them! Late papers will be marked down at the rate of one grade per day late, with no paper accepted more than seven days after its due date. No one who has not taken the final exam will receive a passing grade in the course.
Provisional Schedule of Topics and Readings (subject to revision)
Weeks 1 & 2: Does human nature require government?
Read “readings for the first class” (BB), Hobbes chapters 12, 13, 31; Kavka (BB)
Week 3: Justifying inequality
Read Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France (BB) pages 1-70; Picketty (BB)
Weeks 4-5: Justifying private property
Read Locke, Second Treatise of Government chapters 1-5; Hardin “Tragedy of the Commons” (BB); Nozick from Anarchy, State, and Utopia (BB); Schmidtzon property (BB)
Midterm exam Thursday September 21
Weeks 6-7:Problems with an unconstrained market economy
Read: Mill “The Limits of Laissez-Faire” (BB); Pope Francis “EvangelliGaudium” (BB); Engels “Socialism, Utopian and Scientific” (BB)
Week 8: Direct democracy
Read Rousseau, The Social Contract; Wolff In Defense of Anarchism (BB)
Weeks 9-10: Meritocracy and Equality of Opportunity
Read Readings (BB); R. Dworkin “Why Liberals Should Care About Equality” (BB); Rawls on fair equality of opportunity and the original position (BB); Arneson (BB)
Week 11: Dealing with luck
Read “Justice and Bad Luck” (BB)
Week 12: Mill’s Utilitarianism, a good enough life for each citizen
Read Mill “Utilitarianism”
Weeks 13-14: Paternalism or governing to improve citizens
Read Mill, “On Liberty” and G. Dworkin “Paternalism”
Week 15: Authority to take risks to humanity; course review and final exam prep
Paper due Thursday November 30, 11 a.m.
Final exam Tuesday December 12, 8-10 a.m.
Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Plagiarism - presenting someone else's ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words - is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Part B, Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standards and Appropriate Sanctions, accessible here: Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See the university policies on scientific misconduct:
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Help with scholarly writing is provided by a number of USC's schools. Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students.
Help arranging accommodation for students with disabilities is provided by the Office of Disability Services and Programs
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