Modern Political Thought (SP215.II)

Transcription

1 Modern Political Thought (SP215.II) Lecturer: Gerry Fitzpatrick, Room 327, Áras Moyola Lecture Venue: AM250 Mod. Lang. Building, Wed 12-1 and Friday 12-1 Semester II 2018/19 Introduction This course will look at the history of Western political thought through a study of some of the principal European writers from the Renaissance to the eve of the First World War. This will involve tracing the development of varieties of political discourse from the sixteenth century through to the early twentieth century. The writings of political thinkers as diverse as More, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Bentham and Mill, Hegel and Marx will be elucidated and analysed. The aim of the course is for the student to obtain a thorough understanding of how historical political thought has shaped contemporary political philosophy - and thus affected the modern world. The main theme of the course will be the emergence of the modern State and the related issues of allegiance, obligation and dissent: why should and do we display loyalty and obedience to the State within which we live? The implicit idea guiding the lecture series is to highlight the contemporaneous relevance of these seminal debates in the history of modern political thought: If all important public affairs questions are ultimately political and politics is finally expressed by State activism and through State institutions then understanding the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the modern State is of supreme relevance to current affairs. Prerequisites: None Teaching and learning methods: Series of lectures. Methods of assessment and examination: Two-hour written exam (70%) and 30% of marks awarded for an essay (to be submitted and marked via the SPSK3102 seminar series). Erasmus and other Visiting Students shall be graded entirely through the written examination. Language of instruction: English Core texts: Assigned readings

2 Course Aims and Objectives The learning objectives of this course are to familiarise students with the key texts and major arguments of political modernity from the Renaissance until the early twentieth century: the thematic foci being both the emergence of the modern, integrated nation-state - and rival concepts of Obedience and justifications of Dissent. Learning Outcomes By the end of this course students should possess: A coherent grasp of the contents of the seminal texts of modern political thought An understanding of rival methodological and theoretical approaches within contemporary academic analysis The ability to evaluate critically a literary source The competence to place political ideas in their historical and linguistic context The capacity to relate general theoretical ideas and approaches to particular political questions (See Reading List Bibliography on Blackboard site) Textbooks and General Reading: The best five general textbooks for this course are Ryan Alan, (2013) On Politics, A History of Political Thought from Herodotus to the Present, Penguin Hampsher-Monk, Ian (1992) A History of Modern Political Thought, Blackwell McClelland, J.S., (1996) A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge Wootton, David (ed.), (2008, 2 nd ed.) Modern Political Thought, Readings from Machiavelli to Nietzsche, Hackett Plamenatz, John, Man and Society, Vols I and II and III (1963 and 1992) is no longer in print but the library contains copies in the reference section. These five books will cover almost all the thinkers we shall be analysing.

3 Other useful texts that contain good introductions to some of the thinkers we will be analysing are: G Browning, (2016), A History of Modern Political Thought, The Question of Interpretation D Boucher and P Kelly, (2009)Political Thinkers, From Socrates to the Present A. Haworth, (2004) Understanding the Political Philosophers A Levine, (2002), Engaging Political Philosophy: From Hobbes to Rawls J. Hampton, (1997), Political Philosophy J. Wolff, (1996), An Introduction to Political Philosophy M Forsyth and M. Keens-Soper, (1992), The Political Classics: a guide to the essential texts from Plato to Rousseau D Thomson, (ed.), (1990)Political Ideas D Miller et al. (1987), The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought Collections of academic articles can be found in J Lively and A Reeve, (1989), Modern Political Theory from Hobbes to Marx Feminist critiques of some of the thinkers covered are provided in M.L. Shanley and C. Pateman, (1991), Feminist interpretations and political theory C. Pateman, (1989),The Disorder of Women C. Pateman, (2006), The Sexual Contract Some copies of the key political text(s) of the thinkers we shall be discussing are also contained in the Hardiman Library s collection. (Any other relevant texts held by the library will be mentioned throughout the lecture series.) (Full details of Articles cited are available on the Blackboard Reading List for reasons of brevity I merely give author, title and date here) The 16 th Century Introduction: Two voices of the Renaissance Thomas More and Utopia Niccolo Machiavelli and The Prince More and Machiavelli deal in contrasting ways with the proper relationship between canon law and secular law, between Church and State. They provide very differing answers as to the causal impact of Christian ethics on political agency. Their writings were markedly influenced by the humanism of the European Renaissance: More, basing his ideas on universalist rationalism; Machiavelli, on amoral pragmatism. Both, nevertheless, gave a broadly republican perspective on on the questions of right political conduct and the best political institutions.

4 Thomas More, Utopia (various editions) Lawrence Wilde, Thomas More s Utopia: arguing for social justice (2017) LT Sargent, Five Hundred Years of More Utopia and Utopianism (2017) E Nelson, Utopia through Italian Eyes: Thomas More and the Critics of Civic Humanism (2006) Simon Moore, Ideals and realities: Renaissance state communication in Machiavelli s The Prince and More s Utopia (2012) Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (various editions) JT Scott, The routledge guidebook to Machiavelli s The Prince (2016) JM Najemy, The Cambridge companion to Machiavelli (2010, e-version also) JS Mc Cormick, The Prince at 500: the Fate of Politics in the Modern World (2014) The 17 th Century Early Modern English Liberal Thought Thomas Hobbes and Leviathan John Locke and the Second Treatise on Government The impact of the socio-political upheavals caused by the English Civil War and the subsequent Restoration of the monarchy formed the context in which Hobbes and Locke formulated their responses to the fundamental political question: Why should man obey the State? Both provided answers based around the concept of a social contract between the people and the duly constituted legal authorities. Bodin, Jean, On Sovereignty: four chapters from the six books of the Commonwealth (1992) Hobbes, Thomas, Leviathan (Tuck edition, 1996) Leviathan (Macpherson edition, 1985) Leviathan (Project Gutenberg, e-edition) Skinner, Q, Hobbes and Republican Liberty (seminar reading source, 2008) Hampsher-Monk, I, Chapter 1 Thomas Hobbes in A History of Modern Political Thought (2002) Locke, John, Two treatises of government (Laslett edition, 1988) Two treatises of government (1779 edition e-edition) Ashcraft, R, Revolutionary politics and Locke s two treatises of government (1986) Pye, Tom, Property, Space and Sacred History in John Locke s Two treatises of government (2018)

5 The 18 th Century The Reaction against Contractarianism David Hume against the social contract Edmund Burke s Reflections against rationalism In the eighteenth century the growth of new forms of scientific learning and historical knowledge had a significant impact on political theorising. In particular, doubt was cast upon the historical legitimacy and empirical verifiability of contractarian thought. Hume used rationalist scepticism to criticise the assumptions of Lockean liberalism; while Burke s historicism rejected radical assumptions that political power could be used beneficently to transform society for the better. Hume, David, Political Essays (1994) Hume, David, A Treatise of Human Nature (1985) Kiss-Koczka, E, Justice as an artificial virtue: Selfishness and human nature in the moral and political thought of David Hume (2016) Burke, Edmund, Reflections on the Revolution in France (O Brien edition, 1968) Burke, Edmund, Reflections, (1793 edition e-edition) The European Enlightenment Jean-Jacques Rousseau and The Social Contract Immanuel Kant and liberal Reason In contrast to the empirical tradition of Anglo-British political thought, on mainland Europe Enlightenment rationalism in the second half of the 18 th century led to attempts to understand the fundamental principles of both civilisation and the meaning of politics. Rousseau analysed the historical origins and evolution of modern society, and suggested radical solutions for what he believed to be its serious defects. Kant used his transcendental method of philosophy to formulate universally valid principles of correct political conduct. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, The Social Contract (J Morley edition, 2011) Rousseau, JJ, An inquiry into the nature of the social contract, or, Principles of political right, (1791 edition electronic resource) Rousseau, Basic Political Writings (D Cress ed., 2011) Kain, PJ, Rousseau, the General Will, and Individual Liberty (1990) Putterman, E, Rousseau on Agenda-Setting and Majority Rule (2003) Keens-Soper, M, Chapter 7 Rousseau: The Social Contract in The Political Classics (1992) Boyd, R, Rousseau and the vanishing concept of the political? (2013) Kant, Immanuel, Political Writings (HS Reiss edition 1991) Kant, I, Accessing Kant: a relaxed introduction to the Critique of pure reason (JF Rosenberg, 2005 e-edition)

6 English Radicalism and Two Revolutions Tom Paine and The Rights of Man Mary Wollstonecraft and The Rights of Woman Paine, an Englishman, was personally involved in both the major revolutions that created the modern political world: the American revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of He attempted to combine Lockean notions with democratic republicanism, and anticipated the creation of the Welfare State. Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the first recognisably proto-feminist political writers, sought to apply the insights of enlightened rationalism to the social and political inequalities suffered by women. She argued for greater social, economic and political rights for women. Paine, Thomas, Rights of Man (Collins\Foner, 1984 e-edition) Paine, Thomas, Rights of Man, Common Sense and other political writings (1998) Jendrysik, Mark, Tom Paine: Utopian, (2007) Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1985) Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792 e-edition) Johnson, Claudia, The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft (2002, e- edition also) Coffee, Alan, Mary Wollstonecraft and the enduring power of social domination (2013) Coffee, Alan, Freedom as Independence: Mary Wollstonecraft and the Grand Blessing of Life (2014) The 19 th Century English Liberal Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham and utilitarian liberalism John Stuart Mill On Liberty The impact of the Industrial Revolution on English society becomes clear in the writings of Bentham and Mill. Here it has become apparent that the Whiggism of the pre-industrial era is no longer sufficient for an adequate understanding of contemporary society. Bentham grasped the potential of exploiting the resources of the modern State to reform society according to the principle of utility. Whilst being a utilitarian, Mill was concerned that the growth of the State and modern politics would undermine individual liberty the danger being not arbitrary government but benevolent despotism. Bentham, A Fragment on Government (2012) Bentham, Jeremy, A fragment on government (1891) Arnesen, J, Benthamite Utilitarianism and Hard Times (1978) Mill, James, Political Writings (1992) Mill, John Stuart, On liberty and other essays (2010) Mill, JS, On liberty, Representative government, The subjection of women: three essays (1912 e-edition) Mill, JS, Utilitarianism and On Liberty (2003 e-edition)

7 Mill, JS, Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Essay on Bentham (1985, Mary Warnock edition) Sullivan, Eileen, Liberalism and Imperialism: JS Mill s Defence of the British Empire (1983) Beate, J, Barbarian thoughts: imperialism in the philosophy of John Stuart Mill (2005) Tunick, M, Tolerant Imperialism: John Stuart Mill s Defence of British Rule in India (2006) German Historical Idealism, Materialism and Nihilism Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and The Philosophy of Right Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Marxism Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and the re-evaluation of all values These three German thinkers made manifest the impact of industrialisation on European political thought. Until the advent of Hegel most political thinking was based on a non-historical or historically cyclical understanding of society: either the fundamental realities of political civilisation were unchanging or politics was based on a cycle embracing the rise, decay and disintegration of the social order (the original meaning of the word revolution ). Hegel through his application of dialectical idealism to historical change systematically introduced the concept of linear progress to ethical and political thought. Marx in a sense inverted Hegel and replaced his historical idealism with historical materialism to explain the primacy of the economic factor in political analysis. Nietzsche radically enlarged the dimension of relativism contained within Hegelian historicism to preach an understanding of politics based around complete moral relativism, intellectual nihilism and the will to power. Hegel, GWF, Political Writings (1999, L Dickey edition) Hegel, GWF, Elements of the philosophy of right (1991, AW Wood edition) Hamsher-Monk, I, Chapter IX G.W.F. Hegel in A History of Modern Political Thought (1992) Brooks, T, Hegel s Philosophy of right (2012 e-edition) James, D, Hegel s Elements of the philosophy of right: a critical guide (2017 e- edition) Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto (various editions, 1967, 2004, 2005 e-edition) Stedman-Jones, G, Penguin Classics Introduction to the Communist Manifesto (2004) McClellan, D, Capital: an abridged edition (1999) Arthur, CJ, Marx s Capital, (1992) Fowkes, Ben et al., Capital: a critiique of politiucal economy (1990) Nietzsche, Friedrich, A Nietzche Reader (1977) Ansell-Pearson, K, The Nietzsche Reader (2006) Cameron, F and Dombowsky, D, Political writngs of Friedrich Nietzsche (2008) Kaufman, W, The portable Nietzsche (1968)

8 The Early 20 th Century A Bridge to Contemporary Political Theory Max Weber and modern political sociology L.T. Hobhouse and the new liberalism Recognisably Contemporary (post- World War Two) varieties of political thought are encountered in the work of Weber and Hobhouse. Weber s liberalism recognised the political importance of factors he regarded as constitutive of modern industrial society: the ultimate irreconcilability of moral values; the significance of nationalism and the nation-state; the limits of political agency in relation to the socio-economic sphere of human existence. Hobhouse s modernism came from his attempt to find a third way between the classical liberalism of Bentham and the socialism of Marx. He articulated a political framework based on a mixed economy, a generous welfare state and a complex ideological compromise which commingled individual libertarianism with social egalitarianism. Lenin, VI, The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism (1913 web-source) Pittman, J, Sources, Component Parts : Lenin s Rhetoric of Enlightenment (1995) Gerth, HH, Mills, CW, From Max Weber: essays in sociology (1991) Weber, Max, From Max Weber: essays in sociology (1970) Mommsen, WJ, The political and social theory of Max Weber: collected essays (1989) Anter, Andreas, Weber s Theory of the Modern State (2014 e-edition) Kalberg, S, Max Weber: readings and commentary on modernity (2005 e-edition) Eliaeson, S, Max Weber and his critics (1990) Eliaeson, S, Max Weber s Relevance as a Theorist of Politics (2004) Norkus, Z, Max Weber on Nations and Nationalism: Political Economy before Political Sociology (2004) Hobhouse, LT, Liberalism (1964 e-edition) Hobhouse, LT, Liberalism and other writings (1994) Hobhouse, LT, Liberalism, (2009) Nicholls, D, Positive Liberty, (1962) Seaman, JW, LT Hobhouse and the Theory of Social Liberalism (1978) Weinstein, D, The New Liberalism of LT Hobhouse and the Re-envisioning of 19 th Century Utilitarianism (1996) Terao, H, Rights, welfare and morality: Re-Appraising Hobhouse s contribution to British New Liberalism (2016) Holthaus, L, LT Hobhouse and the transformation of liberal internationalism (2014)

9 SP215.II: Essay Questions (plus relevant seminar readings), Students must choose to answer ONE of the following three essay questions. Reading (1) for SP215 (Modern Political Thought): Moore, S., (2012) Ideals and realities: Renaissance state communication in Machiavelli s The Prince and More s Utopia., Public Relations Review 38, pp Essay Question 1: Is the fundamental difference in the analysis of politics found in Machiavelli s The Prince and More s Utopia one based significantly upon the contrast between realism and idealism? (For the essay it is expected that you will have read and will use the texts of both Utopia and The Prince as well as the Seminar reading.) Reading (2) for SP215 (Modern Political Thought): Skinner, Q, (2008), Hobbes and Republican Liberty, Cambridge University Press, Preface, viii-xv, and pp , and Conclusion, pp Essay Question 2: The Passions that most of all cause the differences of Wit, are principally more or lesse Desire of Power, of Riches, of Knowledge, and of Honour. All of which may be reduced to the first, that is Desire of Power. For Riches, Knowledge and Honour are but severall sorts of Power.I put for a general inclination of all mankind a perpetuall and restlesse desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in Death. (Leviathan) Do both Hobbes s pessimistic depiction of human nature and his novel understanding of the meaning of liberty explain why he argues from rather libertarian and egalitarian premises in his Leviathan - to such startlingly illiberal and authoritarian political conclusions?

10 Reading (3) for SP215 (Modern Political Thought): Kain, P.J., (1990), Rousseau, the General Will, and Individual Liberty, History of Philosophy Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp Essay Question 3: Is Rousseau s doctrine of the General Will an instrument for the suppression of human freedom? Or the origin of modern democratic republican theory?

11 Essay Entry Form - Semester 1I - (2BA Political Science and Sociology, Academic Year 2018/19) Essay submission: hand in a hard copy of your Essay to your Seminar Leader at the due date for each essay. Also electronically submit via TURNITIN This form MUST be signed by the essay entrant and must accompany each essay as a cover page. We cannot under any circumstances accept essays without this form attached. ESSAYS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR MARKING UNTIL AN ENTRY FORM IS SIGNED AND SUBMITTED. Name: ID number: Module Code (e.g. SP 215.II): Title of the Module: Essay title: Number of pages: Bibliography attached? q Yes q No I hereby certify that I understand what plagiarism is and that this essay is entirely my own work. Neither the paper in its entirety nor parts thereof have been published elsewhere in either paper or electronic form unless indicated through referencing. I understand that this work may be entered on a database to enable detection of similarities and I give my consent to this. Signature Date