1 Summer 2017 PSCI181-920 Modern Political Thought Instructor: Juman Kim Office: 3440 Market St. Suite 300 Room 326 Email: jumankim@sas.upenn.edu Course Description: This course provides an introduction to modern western political thought through an examination of the major debates within the tradition. We will explore the ideas of arguably the most important western political theorists between the 15 th and 19 th centuries. Albeit concerned with providing a chronology of modern political theory to help students to better understand how a given theorist fits into the wider historical and political context, this course is not intended to survey modern political theory in a chronological order. Instead, we will pay special attention to four related yet distinct topics and divide the course accordingly: knowledge and truth, state and economy, the people, and race and gender. Engaging in the arguments put forwarded by great thinkers from Machiavelli and Hobbes to Weber and Lippmann, students will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those perspectives and frameworks and formulate their own interpretation of the theorists. Required Readings: Most of the required readings are available online. The other readings with an asterisk (*) will be posted in our Canvas website no later than Thursday, June 22 nd. Please refer to the course schedule section and the bibliography section below for the weekly readings. Course Requirements and Grading:! Online Quizzes: (10%) Students are required to take semiweekly online quizzes on the Canvas site. These easy quizzes are designed to encourage students to read the assigned texts in timely fashion and aid learning, not to
2 overburden them. Only 50% or more right answers over the course of the semester are required to earn a full credit.! Class participation: (25%) o All students must be engaged and should not opt out of the classroom conversation. As a small class, the level of discussion and potential for peer learning critically depend on each student s active participation. To promote class participation, students are required to bring to each class at least one reading-specific question and one topic-related but broad and possibly openended question in a written form. [E.g. As for the second class (see the course schedule below), you may bring a reading-specific question such as For Hobbes, what is the relationship between reason and prudence, and that between reason and science? and a topic-related broad question such as Why do we care about the matter of knowledge and truth when it comes to political theory?] o Students are required to give two short oral presentations on the topics assigned to each class by the instructor.! Mid-term short paper: (25%) Students will also write a 5-page paper, due July 16 th. The questions will be distributed at the end of the class on July 13 th. There are no extensions except for medical or personal emergencies.! Final paper: (40%): At the end of the course, students will be asked to write two short essays of no more than 5 double-spaced pages per each, due August 5. The essay questions will be given on Thursday, August 2 nd. There are no extensions except for medical or personal emergencies.! Late submissions will be penalized at the rate of one grade level per day (i.e. A to A-, A- to B+, etc.)! Students must complete all the requirements listed above to pass the course.
3 Class Etiquette:! Use of Electronic Devices: Laptops and other electronic devices are required to remain down during the class, except in instances where you are referring to readings and notes. Code of Academic Integrity: The Penn Summer Program fully supports and adheres to all university policies and procedures regarding academic integrity (cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, etc.). The work you submit in this class is expected to be your own. For more information, please consult University Code of Academic Integrity (http://www.upenn.edu/academicintegrity/) and Office of Student Conduct (http://www.upenn.edu/osc) Class Attendance Policies: Attendance is valued and expected in this class. One absence is reserved for short illnesses and unexpected personal emergencies. Each class is equivalent of one week (or more) of Spring/Fall semester. More than two absences will result in full grade drop in your final grade. Four absences will result in a course failure. You are expected to come to class on time; three late arrivals constitute one absence. Course Schedule (subject to change): INTRODUCTION Class 1: Syllabus Review and Course Overview (June 29)! Main Questions o What does it mean to be modern? What is political theory?
4 KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH Class 2: Faith, Doubt, and Rationality (July 6)! Martin Luther, On Secular Authority, Part I & Part II, pp. 363-392 *! Michel de Montaigne, To philosophize is to learn how to die, On solitude, On the inconsistency of our actions On repenting *! Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Book I, Chs. 4, 5, 6, 12 o Michelangelo and High Renaissance o Luther and the Ninety-five Theses o The Edict of Nantes Class 3: Reason, Philosophy, and Science (July 11)! John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, Ch. 21; Book IV, Chs. 17-18! Immanuel Kant, An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? *! Max Weber, Science as a Vocation * o Copernican Theory o Galilei s Sidereus Nuncius o Diderot s Encyclopédie STATE AND ECONOMY Class 4: Sovereignty and Government (July 13)! Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Dedicatory Letter, Chs. 1-3, 8-9, 15-19 *! Jean Bodin, On Sovereignty, pp. 1-16 *! Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Book I, Chs. 10-11, 13-15; Book II, Chs. 17-18
5! John Locke, The Second Treatise, Chs. 1-5, 7-10, 14, 19 o The English Civil War/The Glorious Revolution o The Westphalian System o Gutenberg and the Printing Press Class 5: Representation (July 18)! Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Book I, Ch. 16! Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract, Book I; Book II, Chs. 1-4, 8-10; Book III, Ch. 15 *! Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol! Alexander Hamilton & James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 1 and 10 *! G. W. F. Hegel, Philosophy of Right, Preface, 257-258, 276-278 * o Jacobin and the Reign of Terror o Federalist-Antifederalist Debates o Hegel s dialectics Class 6: Capitalism and Socialism (July 20)! Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chs. 1-2, 4-9 o Albert Hirschman, Rival Views of Market Economy * o Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms, pp. 1-16 * o Giovanni Arrighi, The Long Twentieth Century, pp. 148-162 * o Deirdre McCloskey, Bourgeois Equality, pp. 531-573 *! Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto o Enclosure o Industrial Revolution o Proudhonism and Blanquism
6 THE PEOPLE Class 7: People s Power (July 25)! The Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants! Levellers, A Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens, An Agreement of the People *! Melancton Smith, Speeches from the New York Convention! Eugene Debs, Defendants Evidence *! Clarence Darrow, The Debs Case and Trial by Jury * o Thomas Müntzer o The Diggers o The Pullman Strike Class 8: Public Opinion (July 27)! G. W. F. Hegel, Philosophy of Right, 317-319 *! Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. I, Part 2, Chs. 6-10 *! Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, Part VI & VIII * o Condorcet s Jury Theorem o Calhoun s Theory of the Concurrent Majority o Le Bon s Crowd Psychology and Contagion Theory RACE AND GENDER Class 9: Race and Imperialism (August 1)! C-L de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu, Persian Letters, Preface, 1-7, 11-14, 20, 24, 32, 60, 73-74, 101, 143, 150 *! Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. II, Part 2, Ch. 10 *! Tecumseh, Corn Tassel, Chief Joseph, Native American Testimony *! Frederick Douglass, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro *
7 o The Indian Removal Act o The Chinese Exclusion Act o Dred Scott v. Sandford Class 10: The Woman Question (August 3)! Harriet Martineau, Society in America, Vol. III, Part III, Ch. 2! Elizabeth Stanton, Seneca Falls Keynote Speech! Sojourner Truth, Ar nt I A Woman *! Emma Goldman, The Traffic in Woman, Woman Suffrage, The Tragedy of Woman s Emancipation, Marriage and Love o Declaration of Sentiments o Jane Addams and the Hull House o Alice Paul and the Equal Rights Amendment
8 REFERENCES KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH 1. Luther, Martin. On Secular Authority In ed. John Dillenberger. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings. New York: Anchor Books. 1961. * 2. De Montaigne, Michel. The Complete Essays. New York: Penguin. 1993. * 3. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hobbes-the-english-works-vol-iiileviathan) [Or ed. Richard Tuck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991.] 4. Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Book II, Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/locke-theworks-vol-1-an-essay-concerning-human-understanding-part-1) [Or ed. Peter Nidditch. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1979.] 5. Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Book IV, Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/locke-theworks-vol-2-an-essay-concerning-human-understanding-part-2-andother-writings) [Or ed. Peter Nidditch. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1979.] 6. Kant, Immanuel. An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? In ed. H. S. Reiss. Kant: Political Writings. Cambridge University Press. 1991. * 7. Weber, Max. Science as a Vocation In Tracy Strong ed. The Vocation Lectures. Indianapolis: Hackett. 2004. * STATE AND ECONOMY 8. Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1998. * 9. Bodin, Jean. On Sovereignty In ed. Julian Franklin. Bodin: On Sovereignty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992. * 10. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hobbes-the-english-works-vol-iiileviathan) [Or ed. Richard Tuck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991.]
9 11. Locke, John. The Second Treatise. Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/locke-the-two-treatises-of-civilgovernment-hollis-ed) [Or ed. Peter Laslett. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1988.] 12. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/hobbes-the-english-works-vol-iiileviathan) [Or ed. Richard Tuck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991.] 13. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. On the Social Contract. In ed. John Scott. The Major Political Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2012. * 14. Burke, Edmund. Speech to the Electors of Bristol Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/burke-select-works-ofedmund-burke-vol-4) 15. Hamilton, Alexander and James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 1 & 10 * 16. Hegel, G. W. F. Philosophy of Right. In ed. Allen Wood. Hegel: Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991. * 17. Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. Online Library of Liberty (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/smith-an-inquiry-into-the-natureand-causes-of-the-wealth-of-nations-cannan-ed-vol-1) 18. Hirschman, Albert. Rival Views of Market Economy In ed. Jeremy Adelman. The Essential Hirschman. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2013. * 19. Clark, Gregory. A Farewell to Alms. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2009. * 20. Arrighi, Giovanni. The Long Twentieth Century. New York: Verso. 2010. * 21. McCloskey, Deirdre. Bourgeois Equality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2016. * 22. Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Online Marxists Internet Archive (https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communistmanifesto/index.htm) PEOPLE 23. Grievances and Demands: The Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants (February 27 March 1, 1525). Online German History
10 Documents and Images (http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4323) 24. Levellers. The Putney Debates. New York: Verso. 2007. * 25. Smith, Melancton. Speeches from the New York Ratifying Convention Online The Founders s Constitution (http://presspubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch13s37.html) 26. Debs, Eugene V. Defendants Evidence in The Northern District of Illinois Circuit Court Proceedings * 27. Darrow, Clarence. The Debs Case and Trial By Jury. The Cause. January 1896. * 28. Hegel, G. W. F. Philosophy of Right. In ed. Allen Wood. Hegel: Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991. * 29. De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. 2010. * 30. Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. 1991. * RACE AND GENDER 31. De Montesquieu, C-L de Secondat Baron. Persian Letters. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008. * 32. De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. 2010 * 33. Tecumseh, Corn Tassel and Chief Joseph. In ed. Peter Nabokov. Native American Testimony. New York: Penguin. 1992. * 34. Douglass, Frederick. The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro * 35. Martineau, Harriet. Society in America. Online Pfeiffer University Media Archive (http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/dss/martineau/v3p3c2.html) 36. Stanton, Elizabeth. Seneca Falls Keynote Speech Online Great American Documents (http://www.greatamericandocuments.com/speeches/stantonseneca-falls.html) 37. Truth, Sojourner. Ar nt I A Woman In ed. Timothy McCarthy. The Radical Reader. New York: The New Press. 2003. * 38. Goldman, Emma. Anarchism and Other Essays. Online Anarchist Library (https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldmananarchism-and-other-essays)