Topics-In-History-Of-Modern-Thought-Schedule

<Useful Web References>

Thinkmap: visual thesaurus

<Becoming a Better Writer: study and learn from the following documents before submitting yor written work.>

EXAMPLE: Suggestive illustration of how one could think and write more clearly, critically and creatively

EXAMPLE: Suggestive Illustration of Active Reading: Don't just look at words but process and reorganise them in your head.

0. INTRODUCTORY EXERCISE OF JURIDICO-POLITICAL REASON

08/28 Administrative Orientation

Greetings; Advance Planning

08/30 Socratic Apologies?

Read: Plato, the Apology (Hyperlinked Synopsis; Read at least a Few Passages by Following the Links that Particularly Interest You.)

09/04 Socratic "Attitude"

Read: Phillips, excerpt, "Why Ask Why," from Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy

Read: Watson, "Socrates' Mistake"

09/06 Should We Consent to be Governed?

Read: Nathanson, "Should We Consent to be Governed?" [size: 7.58MB], Should We Consent to be Governed?

Read: Nathanson, "Super Patriotism" [size: 14.5MB], Should We Consent to be Governed?

09/11 Parrhesia: Ancient and Contemporary

Read: Foucault, excerpt, "The Meaning of the Word, "Parrhesia,"" from Discourse and Truth

Read: King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

Read: Malcom X, excerpt, "Human Rights, Civil Rights," from an Interview

09/13 Holiday. No Class

09/18 Holiday: No Class

I. CLASSICAL BACKDROP

09/20 Plato on Justice and the Utopian State: Is There Universal Justice?

Read: [Ch1, PPLP] Selections from the Republic

Read (alternatively): Plato, excerpt, Bk4-7 of the Republic

Lecture Note: Platonic Puzzle - One and Many - Justice in Republic

09/25 Aristotle on the Nature and Mechanism of Politics: In What Sense Are Human Beings "Political" Animals?

Read: [Ch2, PPLP] Selections from the Politics

Lecture Note: Aristotle-Political Animal-Natural

09/27 Exam #1

II. MODERN CONCEPTS OF LAW, THE COMMON GOOD & POLITICAL SOCIETY

10/2 Spinoza on Natural Right and the Right of Supreme Authorities

Read: [Ch4, PPLP] Selections from A Political Treatise

10/4 Hobbes on the Psycho-Political Prerequisites of Law and Order

Read: [Ch5, PPLP] Selections from the Leviathan

Lecture Note: Hobbes-Law and Order

10/09 Locke on Natural Law and Civil Government

Read: [Ch6, PPLP] Selections from The Second Treatise on Civil Government

10/11 Montesquieu on Differences: Typological/Categorical/Constitutional/Natural

Read: [Ch7, PPLP] Selections from The Spirit of the Laws

10/16 Rousseau on Social Contract

Read: [Ch8, PPLP] Selections from The Social Contract

Lecture Note: Rousseau-General Will

10/18 Exam #2 AND 1st Paper Due

cf. Writing Samples: Five Examples: Scores 1-5, bad to good.

III. THE ENLIGHTENMENT IDEALS OF POLITICS AND LEGISLATIVE REASON

10/23 Kant on a Rationally Ethical Commonwealth

Read: [Ch9, PPLP] "The Principles of Political Right"

Lecture Note: Kant-Civic Liberty and Duty

In-class Material: Kant in 2 minutes

In-class Material: Kant, Principles of Politics, including his essay on Perpetual Peace. A Contribution to Political Science [1784]

10/25 Hegel on the Dialectically Integrated State, the "Realized Ethical Spirit"

Read: [Ch10, PPLP] Selections from The Philosophy of Right

Lecture Note: Hegel-Realized Ethical Spirit

10/30 Bentham on the Utilitarian Art of Jurisprudence

Read: [Ch11, PPLP] Selections from The Principles of Morals and Legislation

Lecture Note: Bentham-Art of Jurisprudence

IV. CRITICAL REVISIONING OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF DEMOCRACY & JUSTICE

11/01 Pateman on the Sexual Contract

Read: Pateman, "the Fraternal Social Contract," the Disorder of Women

Lecture Note: Reading Between the Lines (The Gender Line) With Pateman

11/06 Pateman on the Sexual Contract (Continued)

Read: Pateman, "the Fraternal Social Contract," the Disorder of Women

Lecture Note: Reading Between the Lines (The Gender Line) With Pateman

11/08 Mini-Break for Individual Research. No Class

11/13 Mills on the Racial Contract

Read: Mills, ""Naturalized" Merits" [size: 33.30MB], The Racial Contract

11/15 Rawls on Balancing Between The Rule of Law and "What We Want Constitutionally"

Read: Rawls [Ch13, PPLP] "The Domain of the Political and Overlapping Consensus"

11/20 Exam #3: Submit a hard copy to 325T, 9am-5pm

Readjusted Assignments: Exams and Papers

11/22 Thanksgiving Holiday. No Class

V. FURTHUR AND TOUGHER QUESTIONS, PERHAPS

11/27 Arendt on Ideology and Terror

Read: [Ch12, PPLP] "Ideology and Terror"

11/29 Foucault on How to Create a Soldier Out of a Man

Read: Foucault, "Docile Bodies" [size: 19.8MB], Discipline and Punish

12/04 Student Presentations

Student Presentations

12/06 Student Presentations

Student Presentations

12/11 2nd Paper Due: Submit a hard copy to 325T, 9am-5pm

cf. Writing Samples: Five Examples: Scores 1-5, bad to good.

BACK TO INDEX