Off. Hrs: Mon: 1:00-2:00 Or by Appointment Ext.5-4119

GVPT241

Spring 2018

Professor JamesGlass

Off. Hrs: Mon: 1:00-2:00 or by appointment Ext.5-4119

E-mail:

History of Political Theory:Introduction

SUB-THEME: Political Action: How to Maintain the Pubic Space and Dignity in Confronting Political Violence

Description: This course looks at major themes in the history of politicaltheory, particularly the relationship between the public and the private, confronting violence, and the impact ofthatrelation on the self. We begin with Plato in the classical period; we then turn tomodern political theorists such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. We end the course withan introduction to themes in contemporary political theory, with specific reference totheimpact of different theories of the self, the role of genocide on political theorizing,and the approach to the public and the private. We will be concerned with the purposesof action, the impact of transformation on political structure, the impact of the self onpublicstructures, and how concepts of self stand at the center of concepts of power, transformation and violence. We will also look at how theories of human nature affectthedevelopment and elaboration of political concepts; and how the political theoristresponds to disintegration, violence and political rebellion. All political theorists put forwardatheory of self or human nature; it is that formulation, the conception of how self works, the role of desire, passion, and individuality, that has a great deal to do withwhatpolitical concepts are intended to do, and how the political theorist links theoriesof politics and self to the structure and implementation of institutions, action, andethics.

RequiredTexts:

Plato: The Last Days ofSocrates

Niccolo Machiavelli: ThePrince

Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan(selections)

John Locke: Two Treatises of Government(selections)

Jean- JacquesRousseau: The Social Contract and DiscoursesKarl Marx: Early Writings (selections)

J.S.Mill, OnLiberty

J. Kosinski: The PaintedBird

S. Freud: The Future of anIllusion

Schedule of Readings andLectures

I.The Classical View:Plato

Reading:Apology

-nature of political life andaction

-response of the individual, thegadfly

-nature ofpersecution

-role ofauthority

-Crito

-role of the state in assuringcitizenship

-responsibilities of thecitizen

-responsibility of the rebel againstauthority Republic (no readingassignment)

-the role of the philosopher andphilosophy

-the danger of poetry and tragicpoetry

the importance ofreason

-fear of the passions

-the role of thephilosopher-king

II.Aristotle and the Rise of Politics and Constitutionalism

No reading assignment

-citizenship andparticipation

-the obligations of thecitizen

-the importance ofconstitutions

-the disappearance of passion, greed, desire, as threatsto the state

III.The Modern Period: Machiavelli andAction

Reading:Machiavelli, ThePrince

-the replacement of soulcraft bystatecraft

-the role of action and thePrince

-the meaning and significance ofcorruption

-the transcending ofcorruption

-violence and its place in politicaltransformation

IV.Hobbes and Power: The Structure of Sovereignty

Reading: Leviathan(selections)

-modern concept ofauthority

-the fear of politics andpassion

-the imposition of force

-the sovereign as perfect rulingreason

-the destabilizing effects ofrebellion

-the power of politicalspeech

-the use of geometry as politicalmodel

V. Locke and the Appearance of Theories of Citizenship andProperty

Reading: Locke, Second Treatise on Government(selections)

-government as protector of propertyrights

-the purpose of society as the furthering ofproperty interests

-the role of government and the critique oftyranny

-concept of labor andvalue

-the theory of possessiveindividualism

-the obligations and role ofcitizens

VI.Rousseau and the Critique of Property andInequality

Reading: Discourse on the Origins ofInequality

-Rousseau’s critique of the arts andsciences

-Platonic resonance

-attack on property and the division oflabor

-the corrupting influences ofinterest

-Rousseau’s theory of the state of nature and itsrelation to political rule

-inequality and itsorigins

-economic dynamics behind the origins ofinequality

-destructive effects of the politics ofinequality

VII.Rousseau and the Power of Community

Reading: The Social Contract(selections)

-the role of consent

-the concept ofsovereignty

-the concept of generalwill

-community and itsaction

-the individual and thegroup

-the role of ideology incommunity

VIII.Marx: Revolution andTransformation

Reading: Marx, Early Writings(selections)

-the theory of revolutionarychange

-new theories of labor andvalue

-the role of the proletariat,alienation

-the vision of a futuresociety

-the interpretation of capitalism andproduction

-the function ofmoney

IX: Mill: Individuality andLiberalism

Reading: OnLiberty

--nature ofindividuality

--relation between individual andsociety

--power of publicopinion

--conformity

--rights ofsociety

--possessive individualism versusindividuality

X.Freud: The Status of Belief andFaith

Reading: S. Freud, The Future of anIllusion

--the nature of psychologicalexperience

--the self and the forces ofbelief

--internal psyche and external politicalstructure

--illusions and theirfunction

XI: The Contemporary World:Genocide

Reading: J. Kosinski, The PaintedBird

-methods of mass destruction

-mass murder as a form ofpolitics

-twentieth century legacies, mass murder,and technology

-the Holocaust and the annihilation of faith inpolitics

-individual, group, and state brutality as “normal”forms of politics

Requirements: Students will complete the readings beforeeach discussion section. There will be two midterm essays and aFinalExam essay. The midterms will count each 30% of your grade,and the Final, 40%. Discussion sections are mandatory; you may notmiss more than two discussion sections. An explanation and a notemust accompany any more absences. Discussion section participationcan help your grade, if you are on the borderline between twogrades.

Laptops and electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets, must be closed and turned off during lectures, unless you have accommodations to use them. Please show your T.A’s and myself your accommodation documents.

Students will be required to meet, for at least a half hour with their discussion leader atleast twice during thesemester. These meetings will be used to discuss your essays, preferably before they are submitted. You may of course meet more than twice; and I certainly hope you will take advantage of your T.A.’s availability.

Papers must be turned in on time; if there is a legitimate excuse for late papers, please let your T.A. know. Remember: discussion sections are mandatory.