Philosophy 2010--SOCIAL & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Political Science 2500--POLITICAL THEORY
Spring 2003

Humans are social beings: we live cooperatively, each of us depending on fellow humans to survive and to flourish. We have various, sometimes rival ways of doing this.

Humans are political beings: we think together about how we ought to act together. We have various, sometimes rival ways of doing this.

Humans are philosophical beings: we think about the possibilities of thinking itself in order to extend its applications and justify it better. We have various, sometimes rival ways of doing this.

Of all these ways, which make the most sense?

In this course we will investigate possibilities of thinking about the nature and prospects of our life together. We will try to attend to the issues that matter the most. Our primary goals are (1) to appropriate the most powerful ideas and arguments in the Western tradition of social and political philosophy, and (2) to strengthen our capacities of philosophical reflection and communication.

Grades for the course will be based on class participation (20%), a philosophical notebook (20%), a major essay (20%), a take-home midterm exam (20%), and a take-home final exam (20%).

Readings will be assigned in the following books, available in the Millsaps bookstore:

Ursula K. LeGuin, The Dispossessed
Skoble & Machan, eds., Political Philosophy: Essential Selections

Readings will also be assigned in handouts. Assignments will be made in class. Often important class information will be sent by e-mail.

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PROPOSED SCHEDULE (subject to revision by announcement):

Week of
Jan. 13 Introduction to the course. Developing our questions with The Dispossessed.
Jan. 20 The Dispossessed, cont. Humanity in sociobiological perspective.
Jan. 27 Plato. Aristotle.
Feb. 3 Aristotle. Augustine. Aquinas.
Feb. 10 Hobbes. Locke.
Feb. 17 Locke. Mill.
Feb. 24 Rousseau. Burke. Wollstonecraft.
TAKE-HOME MIDTERM DUE FEB. 28.
Mar. 3 Hegel. Marx.
ESSAY PROSPECTUS DUE MAR. 5.
Mar. 10 SPRING BREAK
Mar. 17 Marcuse. Libertarianism. Human rights.
Mar. 24 Rawls. The liberal-communitarian debate.
Mar. 31 Feminism: Okin, Nussbaum. Procreation.
Apr. 7 Kant on perpetual peace. "We-they" thinking. Race.
ESSAY DUE APR. 11.
Apr. 14 Gandhi. Zionism. Islamism.
Apr. 21 Globalization issues. Nonhuman rights. Nonanthropocentric conceptions of welfare, power, justice.

FINAL EXAM DUE AT ASSIGNED TIME IN FINAL EXAMS PERIOD.

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THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOTEBOOK--GUIDELINES

For your course notebook, a loose-leaf binder is recommended. This will make it easier to hand in and take back your entries, and also to keep handouts together.

Once a week you will be asked to turn in the latest entry in your philosophical notebook--about 2 pp., if typed double-space--in which you discuss the week's work (readings and discussions) both positively and negatively.

Positively, you will attempt to draw out of the week's work the elements that you most want to include in your own philosophical toolkit--ideas and arguments that are, you think, valid and worth using in the future. You are encouraged to develop ideas and arguments in ways that suit your own purposes.

Negatively, you will attempt to identify the mistakes or otherwise unhelpful elements in the week's work. (You are not committing yourself to rejecting anything! You can change your mind later about your earlier "mistake" calls!)

The philosophical notebook for this class is an important learning tool that will enable you to keep track of what we come up with in a cumulative way. It will also prompt useful communication with the instructor and other class members.

Individual notebook entries and responses will be graded unsatisfactory (-), satisfactory (\/), or very good (+) depending on the attentiveness and thoughtfulness they show. The notebook as a whole will get a letter grade.

You are advised to write in your philosophical notebook at least one paragraph of thoughtful reaction to each class session's assigned reading before that class in order to be equipped for class participation.

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GUIDELINES FOR THE MAJOR ESSAY

For your major essay, a 7-8 pp. paper (typed, double-spaced), you will tackle a social and/or political issue as a philosopher. In this essay you are expected to:

1. Define a significant, philosophically interesting issue. Show how the issue is located in (a) a real-life practical context (for example, it's a policy issue that an institutional agency could act on), and (b) an intellectual history (for example, it's an issue for liberalism that J. S. Mill failed to resolve in On Liberty).

2. Develop a philosophical strategy for resolving it. To do this, you must (a) identify one or more social and/or political assumptions on which your issue hinges, and (b) adequately explain and justify a way of supporting, modifying, or rejecting those assumptions, leading to a better-justified way of thinking about the issue.

3. Defend your position against at least one substantial objection to it. State the objection as potently as possible; answer it as reasonably as possible.

You will consult with the instructor about your topic and approach before you write the paper. This process will begin with a 1-page prospectus for the paper that you turn in by March 5 at the latest. (The prospectus is a microcosm of the paper you might write; it tells enough about your issue and proposed approach that a reader can give you substantial advice on your project.) You can turn in a prospectus earlier, and you can change your plans later; in fact, we can communicate about this essay through most of the semester. A challenge we will try to meet together is to look ahead in the semester well enough that you don't overlook newer materials and issues in deciding what to write about.

Our experience in class will make it increasingly clear what a good topic and good philosophical approach would look like.

Be socially and politically sensitive; think carefully, yet boldly; have fun. You will have an opportunity to rewrite the essay to improve it.