THE GRADUATE CENTER PH.D. PROGRAM IN HISTORY FALL 2014 DRAFT minor changes may still be made Politics of the Enlightenment History 71000 Professor Helena Rosenblatt Hrosenblatt@gc.cuny.edu 212-817-8440 Thursdays 4:15-6:15 Office hours: by appointment Course Description: Since the mid-20th century, the Enlightenment has been under attack for a variety of purported sins, including Euro-centrism, imperialism, racism, sexism, and proto-totalitarianism. In fact, Enlightenment-bashing has become such a popular sport that many intellectuals are now feeling the need to rescue, reclaim, and redeem it for the progressive goals they say were at its core. In this course, we will read texts by some of the most important political writers of the Enlightenment (Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Ferguson, Jefferson and Wollstonecraft) with a focus on the following themes: the social contract and the role of government, property and commerce, race and slavery, women and religion. We will also read recent critiques and defenses of the Enlightenment, with a view to deciding for ourselves whether it is worth reclaiming. Course Learning Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to *Read texts more critically and effectively *Identify and summarize ideas in texts in an articulate and persuasive manner, verbally and in writing *Display a grasp of the key concepts associated with enlightenment *Display a grasp of the key criticisms levied at the enlightenment. Course Requirements: Students are expected to come to all class meetings having carefully read the assigned text and prepared to engage in vigorous discussion, debate and textual analysis. *Regular and intelligent class participation demonstrating thorough reading of assigned texts and at least two oral, in-class summaries of a recommended readings: 20% *One 5-10 minute class presentation on one of the required readings on our list, introducing its main themes in the aim of initiating a class discussion 20% *A 25-30 page paper on a topic chosen in consultation with me. Topics must be decided and approved by Nov. 13; final paper submitted by Dec. 11. No late papers will be accepted. 40% *An orally presented book review on the last day of class (list of books provided below) 20%
Course Schedule with Required Readings: August 28. Introduction. September 4. Before the Enlightenment. Excerpts (to be provided) from: Loyseau, A Treatise on Orders Bossuet, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture Hobbes, Leviathan Pufendorf, On the Duty of Man and Citizen Filmer, Patriarcha September 11. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government SKIM but do not SKIP the First Treatise; read carefully the Second. There are many good paperback editions of Lockes Two Treatises available on the market; but please do get a hard copy that you can bring to class. September 18. Critiques of Locke Read either two articles on Locke from the list below or the chapter in Macpherson 1. Wayne Glausser, Three Approaches to Locke and the Slave Trade, Journal of the History of Ideas, 51, 2 (Apr-Jun, 1990), pp. 199-216. 2. David Armitage, John Locke and the Two Treatises of Government, Political Theory, 32, 5 (Oct, 2004), pp. 602-627 3. Holly Brewer, Slavery, Sovereignty, and Inheritable Blood : The Struggle over Locke s Virginia Plan of 1698 in the Wake of the Glorious Revolution, 4. C.B. Macpherson, The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism Hobbes to Locke, chapter V. September 25 NO CLASS October 2. Montesquieu, Persian Letters Again, there are many good paperback versions of the Persian Letters available on the market, but please do get a hard copy that you can bring to class. Pauline Kra, Montesquieu and Women, in French Women and the Age of Enlightenment ed. Samia Spencer (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1984), pp. 272-284.
Sanford Kessler, Religion & Liberalism in Montesquieu s Persian Letters, Polity, 15, 3 (Spring, 1983), pp. 380-396. Allessandro Crisafulli, Montesquieu s Story of the Troglodytes: Its Background, Meaning and Significance, PMLA, LVIII (1943), pp. 372-392. October 9. Other approaches to the Politics of the Enlightenment Denise Spellberg, Could a Muslim be President? An Eighteenth-Century Constitutional Debate, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Summer, 2006), pp. 485-506. Laurent Dubois, An Enslaved Enlightenment: Rethinking the Intellectual History of the French Atlantic, Social History, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Feb., 2006), pp. 1-14. Lawrence E. Klein, Enlightenment as Conversation, in Baker, Keith and Reill, H. Peter, eds., What s Left of Enlightenment? pp 148 169. Giulia Pacini, Culture of Trees: The Politics of Pruning and Felling in Late Eighteenth- Century France, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Fall, 2007), pp. 1-15. Michael Kwass, Ordering the World of Goods: Consumer Revolution and the Classification of Objects in Eighteenth-Century, Representations, Vol. 82, No. 1 (Spring 2003), pp. 87-116. Jennifer Jones, Repackaging Rousseau: Femininity and Fashion in Old Regime France, French Historical Studies, vol 18, no 4 (Fall 1994), pp. 939-967. October 16. Rousseau, First and Second Discourses I strongly recommend the Hackett edition it is a decent translation at a good price and contains all three texts that we will be reading (The First and Second Discourses as well as the Social Contract). Arthur Lovejoy, The Supposed Primitivism of Rousseau s Discourse on Inequality, Essays in the History of Ideas. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1948. Francis Moran III, Between Primates and Primitives: Natural Man as the Missing Link in Rousseau s Second Discourse. Journal of the History of Ideas 54 (January, 1993), pp. 37-58. Robert Wokler, Anthropology and Conjectural History in the Enlightenment, in Inventing Human Science: Eighteenth-Century Domains, eds. Christopher Fox, Roy Porter and Robert Wokler Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, pp. 31-52.
October 23. Rousseau. On the Social Contract Francois Furet, Rousseau and the French Revolution, in The Legacy of Rousseau, eds. Clifford Orwin and Nathan Tarcov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997, pp. 168-82. October 30. Talmon and Adorno and Horkheimer Jacob Talmon, The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment Texts to be provided. November 6. Locke s Letter on Toleration, Rousseau s Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, and Kant s What is Enlightenment? Texts to be provided November 13. Rousseau s Emile (excerpt on Sophie) and Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Barbara Taylor, The Religious Foundations of Mary Wollstonecraft s Feminism, in The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Claudia Johnson Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 99-118 Susan Fergusan, The Radical Ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft, Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol 32, no 3 (Sept 1999), pp. 427-450. Kirstin Wilcox, Mary Wollstonecraft s Woman, in Studies in Romanticism, Vol 48, no 3 (Fall 2009), pp. 447-467. November 20 Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society There are many editions of this available. I personally use the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought edition but there are also online versions that are perfectly fine. Either purchase a hard copy or download and print out an online version or bring your laptops to class so that we/you can refer to specific passages in the text during our discussion. Richard Sher, Adam Ferguson, Adam Smith, and the Problem of National Defense, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Jun., 1989), pp. 240-268
Andreas Kalyvas and Ira Katznelson, Adam Ferguson Returns: Liberalism through a Glass, Darkly, in Political Theory, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 173-197 November 27 NO CLASS December 4 Thomas Jefferson, Political Writings I recommend the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought edition edited by Joyce Appleby and Terence Ball. As I write this, there are used editions available at amazon.com for as low as $3.50 Paul Rahe, Thomas Jefferson's Machiavellian Political Science Politics, Vol. 57, No. 3 (Summer, 1995), pp. 449-481, The Review of Dustin A. Gish and Daniel P. Klinghard, Republican Constitutionalism in Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 74, No. 1 (JANUARY 2012), pp. 35-51 Joyce Appleby, "What Is Still American in the Political Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson?" William & Mary Quarterly 39 (1982), pp. 287-309. December 11 Student Oral presentations Pick a book from the list below and review it with reference to what you have learned this term and tell us if you agree with the book or not (and why). Jonathan Israel, A Revolution of the Mind David Sorkin, The Religious Enlightenment Gertrude Himmelfarb, The Roads to Modernity Stephen Bronner, Reclaiming the Enlightenment