GREAT POLITICAL THINKERS

Transcription

1 1 Instructor Dr. Davis Daycock Ph Office Hours By Appointment The University of Manitoba Department of Political Studies Regular Session/ SECOND TERM Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00 11:15 GREAT POLITICAL THINKERS) (6) In the second term, the course provides an introduction to the political thought of Locke, J.S.Mill, Rousseau and Marx. Students will be assigned readings drawn from the works of the four thinkers. Course Requirements for the second term. Two Essays of 1,500 words; each essay will account for 25% of the final grade FOR THE SECOND TERM.Essays must be on an assigned topic. A final Exam is to be scheduled by the Registrar and it will determine 40% of the final grade FOR THE SECOND TERM The remaining 10% of the second term grade will be determined by in class participation. Note: Students are required to keep a printed copy of every assignment submitted. TWO ESSAYS 50% PARTICIPATION 10% FINAL 40% TOTAL 100% OF THE SECOND TERM GRADE Required Texts for the Second Term. Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (Hackett) Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Hackett) Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality Rousseau, The Social Contract and the Discourses (Oxford) J.S. Mill The Subjugation of Women (Hackett) J.S. Mill, On Liberty (Hackett) Marx, The Marx-Engels Reader (W. W. Norton, 2nd edition) Percentage Scale A B C D A B C F 0-49 Academic Dishonesty Students should acquaint themselves with the University's policy on plagiarism and examination impersonation (see pp in the University of Manitoba Undergraduate Calendar ). Penalties for Plagiarism

2 2 The common penalty in Arts for plagiarism in a written assignment, test, or examination is F on the paper and F for the course. For the most serious acts of plagiarism, such as the purchase of an essay or cheating on a test or examination, the penalty can also include suspension for a period of up to five years from registration in courses taught in a particular department in Arts or from all courses taught in this Faculty. The Faculty also reserves the right to submit student work that is suspected of being plagiarized to Internet sites designed to check plagiarism. SECOND TERM SCHEDULE Note: The following schedule may vary in both announced times and in the content of the sessions. 08 JAN Overview and Introduction 10 &15 JAN Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration 17 & 22 JAN Locke, Second Treatise of Government 24 JAN Locke Second Treatise of Government 29 & 31 JAN Rousseau, A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Dedication to the Republic of Geneva 05 & 07 FEB Rousseau, The Social Contract, 12 & 14 FEB Rousseau, The Social Contract MID TERM BREAK 26 & 28 FEB Mill, The Subjugation of Women 26 TH FIRST ESSAY DUE 05 & 07 MAR Mill, On Liberty 12 & 14 MAR Mill, On Liberty, 19 & 21 MAR Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 Theses on Feurbach) 26 MAR Marx, The German Ideology 28 MAR Marx, Capital, Vol. One, Part I, Sections 1 & 4 02 APR. Manifesto of the Communist Party 04 APR Review of Second Term SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST. The following works may help in the preparation of essays. The list is offered as a guide only. Students will find additional material on their own. John Locke Josephson Pete The Great Art of Government: Locke's Use of Consent.. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas Zuckert. Michael P., Launching Liberalism: On Lockean Political Philosophy. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Kramer M. John Locke and the Origins of Private Property: Philosophical Explorations of Individualism, Community, and Equality. New York: Cambridge Marshall J. John Locke: Resistance, Religion, and Responsibility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Sreenivasan.Gopal, The Limits of Lockean Rights in Property. By New York: Oxford McClure.Kristie, Judging Rights: Lockean Politics and the Limits of Consent.. Ithaca and London: Cornell Simmons A. John, On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society. Princeton: Princeton Schouls, P. Reasoned Freedom: John Locke and Enlightenment. Ithaca: Cornell Simmons A. John, The Lockean Theory of Rights. Princeton: Princeton Grant, R. W., John Locke s Liberalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Macpherson, J The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism Hobbes to Locke Jean-Jacques Rousseau

3 3 Reisert Joseph R, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Friend of Virtue. Ithaca, NY : Cornell Keenan Alan, Democracy in Question: Democratic Openness in a Time of Political Closure. Stanford: Stanford Johnston.Steven, Encountering Tragedy: Rousseau and the Project of Democratic Order. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Cooper Laurence D, Rousseau, Nature, and the Problem of the Good Life. Penn. State Ogrodnick Margaret, Instinct and Intimacy: Political Philosophy and Autobiography in Rousseau. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Wokler Robert ( ed.),. Rousseau and Liberty. Manchester and New York: Manchester Orwin Clifford and Nathan Tarcov ( eds) The Legacy of Rousseau. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Trachtenberg. Z.M. Making Citizens: Rousseau s Political Theory of Culture. New York: Routledge. Cranston Maurice, The Nobel Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. John Stuart Mill Berger, Fred, R. Happiness, Justice and Freedom: The Moral and Political Philosophy of John Stuart Mill.; London Ryan, Alan, J.S. Mill, London Ten, C.L. Mill on Liberty, Oxford Baum, Bruce Rereading Power and Freedom in J. S. Mill. Toronto: University of Toronto Pres. Donner, W.. The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill s Moral and Political Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell university Press. Tulloch, Gail. Mill and Sexual Equality ; Boulder Skorupski, John.John Stuart Mill; London Karl Marx Avineri,S. The Social Thought of Karl Marx, Cambridge University Press Lichtheim,G. Marxism, London Kolakowski,L Main Currents of Marxism Vol. I, Oxford University Press, Mclellan,D Karl Marx, Selected Writings, Oxford, Karl Marx. Early Writings,Blackwell, The Grundrisse, Macmillan, Karl Marx His Life and Thought, Macmillan Antonio, Robert(ed) Marx and Modernity : Key Readings and Commentary: Blackwell. Rockmore, Tom, Marx after Marxism : the Philosophy of Karl Marx: Blackwell Publishers Carver, Terrell (ed) Marx : Later Political Writings :Cambridge University Pres. Derrida, Jacques. Specters of Marx : The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, and the New International : Routledge. Arnold, N. Scott. Marx's Radical Critique of Capitalist Society : a Reconstruction and Critical Evaluation: Oxford Bensaïd, D. A Marx for Our Times: Adventures and Misadventures of a Critique. New York: Versa. Hamilton, R.F. Marxism, Revisionism, and Leninism: Explication, Assessment, and Commentary. : Greenwood Gamble Andrew,David Marsh, and Tony Tant (eds). Marxism and Social Science. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. Aronson, R.. After Marxism. New York and London: The Guilford Press,

4 4 FIRST ESSAY TOPICS Note: This essay is due on Tuesday 26 th February. It may be submitted no earlier than Tuesday 5 th of February. It should be approximately 1,500 words in length. It will determine 25% of your SECOND TERM grade. Remember to keep a printed copy of your essay. Grammar and spelling will be taken into account when assigning grades. Choose one of the following: 1. Write an essay that demonstrates how Locke arrives at the idea that government should act as the "trustee" of society? 2. What important distinctions can be drawn between Locke and Hobbes as they explore what is revealed of human character in a state of nature? Write an essay that attempts to answer this question. 3. Locke s ideas provide a firm foundation for the institution of private property In an essay decide how central the defence of private property is for Locke s arguments. 4. In an essay trace the relationship between Rousseau's ideas of "social contract" and "general will 5. Man is born free but is everywhere in Chains. In an essay analyse this statement and comment on Rousseau s conception of freedom. 6. As it is offered by Locke the Social Contract points the way to social fragmentation and the destruction of community If we choose to follow Rousseau in these matters we are led to the destruction of liberty and to tyranny In an essay explore these objections and decide whether or not you agree with them.

5 5 SECOND ESSAY TOPICS Note: This essay is due on Tuesday 26 th March. It may be submitted no earlier than Tuesday 5 th March. It should be approximately 1,500 words in length. It will determine 25% THE SECOND TERM grade. Remember to keep a printed copy of your essay. Grammar and spelling will be taken into account when assigning grades. Choose one of the following: 1. "...the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." J.S. Mill In an essay construct an argument that either supports or attacks this statement. 2. Write and essay that explores the ways the ideas of J. S. Mill might be seen as marking a crucial dividing line in the development of the liberal tradition in political thought? 3. In an essay explore the different ways in which any TWO of the following three political thinkers establish a balance between "freedom" and "order": J.J. Rousseau, J.S.Mill, J.Locke. 4.. How far might we regard the concept of "Historical Materialism" as central to the social and political doctrines of Karl Marx? Write an essay that attempts to answer this question. 5. In an essay sketch the relationship that Marx establishes between the division of labour under capitalism and his concept of "alienation". 6 Religion is the opium of the people. In an essay analyse what Marx may have meant by this statement. How revealing of his overall philosophy are Marx s positions on religion?