Political Philosophy (Themes in Political Philosophy)
Journal [JN 01-20] submission by e-mail; no later than the date a new unit (I-V) starts.
Example: JN 1 is due on 09/15; any (or all) of JN 2-5, 09/27; no late submission accepted.
<<Aim to read at least two of the required texts before coming to class.
Recommended texts serve as a list of references for your paper.>>
<<Note that a set hard copy of all the articles and books listed below, except a few texts marked as
<Becoming a Better Writer: study and learn from the following documents before submitting yor written work.>
Logical Fallacies- The Adam Smith Institute (Link Introduced by Prof. Tracy Lightcap, LaGrange College)
0. INTRODUCTION
Th 09/08 Orientation: Introducing the Course; advance planning
Tu 09/13 Politics and Philosophy: "The Movement of the Mind (Adorno)" and the Body ... towards Freedom?
[JN 01] So, why do we need political philosophy and why do we need to study it? Address this question by using key concepts explored in class today, viz., disastrous, idea/ideology, movement, possible, risk, temporal art, tautology, unpalatable, etc. Make sure you incorporate your reading of at least two texts (i.e., apt, not just any, quotations from readings above) into your journal.
Presentation by [n/a]
I. POWER AND THE LOCATIONS OF TRUTH
Th 09/15 Death of Socrates: Is political life hostile to reason and vice versa? We shall start our journey from an "imprisoned" reason ...
[JN 02] Prison, in a sense, is a location of truth, a certain kind of truth. In what sense? Its political signification extends beyond, let's say, "a place where you go when you've done something wrong." Even seemingly straightforwad cases of, for instance, a back street drug dealer ending up being dealt with by the prison guards, or a stock broker ending up breaking his bank in order to stay away from the prison, when examined surgically, deeply and comprehensively, reveal something about a certain triangular tension or interaction among law, order and justice, centered around power, or force. Cases of political prisoners or conscientious objectors in or risking being sent to jail are even more complex and dramatic, due to the performative or embodied articulation of that tension. Explore and further elaborate on this dynamic notion of political truth as a vectorial tension by contextualising an example or examples of your choice: Dr. King, Mandela, Peltier, Socartes, Zinn, etc; Gramci and Negri, both Italian philosophers who thought in prison, are also intriguing examples.
Presentation by [n/a]
Tu 09/20 Death of Philosophy? How is political life linked to philosophical experiences? Is experience ultimately unanalysable?
[JN 03] The Transcendence of Experience, or the Experience of Transcendence, and Political Truth
@ Option 1 (minimal requirement): summarise the key points of either "Socrates' Mistake" or "on the Paradoxical Place of Pol Phil"
@ Option 2 (advanced level): Schall makes an illuminating point about the issue of an accent in an engaged thinking: political philosophy rather than, as conventionally understood, political philosophy: "The adjective "political" in the expression "political philosophy" designates not so much a subject matter as a manner of treatment; from this point of view, I say, "political philosophy" means primarily not the philosophic treatment of politics, but the political, or popular, treatment of philosophy, or the political introduction to philosophy [...]" (Emphases added). What would this "political treatment" of philsophy mean, or rather effect? A philosophical act itself turns political. Philosphy is not simply about, but in the end is, politics. Pushed further, that means a political "cocern" (Latour) is behind any philosohical thoughts thus motivated: where there is a political experience, there is a philosophic exposure of the problem, and vice versa; the political assertion of the power of moral intuition in the face of a crisis, for instance (cf. Watson). Then, to what extent, and in what way, does a concrete experience of the political, such as pain, transcend the empirical boundaries of personal pains and thoughts? Or does it? Or does it have to? Where is the timeless ideal of objectivity to be located? Using such a series of questions as a lead, explain what exactly is "paradoxical" about political philosophy and why this paradox remains indestructible. Make sure you use/show evidence of reading at least two texts assigned or recommended here.
Presentation by [n/a]
Th 09/22 Socratic Parrhesia [size: 584k] What forces one to speak truths? How does parrhesia, a political practice, lead to ethical care?
Read: Foucault, Lec I Meaning of Parrhesia
Read: Foucault, Lec II Evolution of Parrhesia
Read: Foucault, Lec V (focus on section on) Socratic Parrhesia
[JN 04] Explain the meaning and political importance of Parrhesia in your own words while incorporating some of Foucault's key descriptions (his words) into your text: what it is and why it is important. Make sure you perform a studied reflection: if you end up merely stating your loose and loosely arranged opinions without considering supporting arguments or counterarguments from the required reading, you have learned virtually nothing. Show, exactly in writing, where engaged reading and independent reflection occur.
@ Option 1 (minimal requirement): see above.
@ Option 2 (advanced level): Conclude your mini-exposition by discussing how Foucault seeks to solve the problem of negative use or meaning of Parrhesia: what is the revised or refined model (hint: Socratic Parrhesia) Foucault is examining?
Presentation by [Ben], [Judith] and [Luke]
Précis by [Josh] and [PJ]
II. POWER OVER/OF PEOPLE
Tu 09/27 Subjective Formation of Power Aim for a forensic understanding of ways the political subject arises/gets established.
Read: Foucault, "The Subject and Power" [size: 13.8MB], Power. Vol. 3 of Essential Works of Michel Foucault 1954-1984
Read: Miller, "Political Authority," Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction [PPVSI 19-36]
[JN 05] What is the "problem of political obligations" [Miller, PPVSI 31]? Explain and illustrate the structure of the problem by summarising, in some detail, the key arguments of Foucault's "The Subject and Power."
@Option 1 (minimal requirement): Summarise the key arguments of Foucault's "the Subject and Power."
@Option 2 (advanced level): The question on which you must focus, while reconstructing Foucault's argument, is (1) what a new kind of political subjectivity he seeks to uncover and cultivate looks like, i.e., how that differs from some traditional notions of political agency, and (2) if Foucault is largely successful, or unsuccessful, in potentialising political resistance: whether and how his theory of power has space for the power of people as well.
Th 09/29 Power over the Body Aim for a forensic understanding of the political permeability/malleability/expansiveness of the body.
Read: Cohen, Ch10: Behold the Man! The Deceptive Appeal of Power: Hegel, Nietzsche, the Fascists, Political Philosophy [Login, Netlibrary]
Read: Foucault, "Docile Bodies" [size: 19.8MB], Discipline and Punish
Read: Miller, "Freedom and the Limits of Government," Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction [PPVSI 55-73]
Recommended: Film: Kubrick, Spartacus (DVD, esp. Ch1-7) [DVD PN1997 .S79 2001]
Recommended: Nietzsche, "The Individual" [request a file transmission], III. The Will to Power as Society and Individual, Bk3,Will to Power
[JN 06] drill Sergeant, fitnesss fanatics, anorexic patient, train schedule, toilet cleaning schedule, annual presidential review, student's instructional rating, grade book, motivational trainer, prison guard, factory supervisor, PR manager, fashion designer, editor, CNN broadcaster, commercial break, alarm clock, shopping cart, cereal box, boxed strawberries, a pound of scallops, personal computer, pdf file, chaptered book, credit card company, chocolate factory, football coach, potty trainer, fact checker, philosophy professor demanding rigour and clarity ... prison, department store, school, hospital, barracks, starbucks, cinema theatre ...
@Option 1 (minimal requirement): Summarise the key arguments of "Docile Bodies" or "Freedom and the Limits of Government"
@Option 2 (advanced level): Foucault's analysis of the mechanism of power production and circulation has produced an insightful proposition that "power as such does not exist" but it passes through the body or any bodily unit, like blood, permeating almost every fiber of political being, or system. In other words, according to Foucault, a political power is not "possessed" but, rather, "exercised." A soldier is not born but "made," for instance, as the chapter "Docile Bodies" shows; and the soldier thus produced can and does often display not only blind and automatic submissiveness but honour and courage which, as one would hope, empowers that very militarised subject. While using or critically engaging with some of the key points or actual passages of Foucault's "docile bodies," plus at least one more text from the required or recommended reading(s), analyse specifically and concisely how power aries, travels and reproduces itself in the example(s) of your choice.
Tu 10/04 Powers of Metaphors, Words and Images Aim for a forensic understanding of rhetorical workings of political discourse.
Recommended: Lakoff, Metaphors We Live By (excerpts - ch1, 2, 6, 7, 12, 13, 17, 27, 28, 29) [request a file transmission]
Recommended: Lakoff, Moral Politics (excerpts incl. "Strict Father Morality," "Nurturant Parent Morality") [request a file transmission]
[JN 07] Analyse any aspects of academic politics, while drawing on Lakoff's theory of "metaphoric" concepts and Hobbes's theory of "personification" as a form of representation.
@ Option1 (minimal requirement): Explain Lakoff's theory of "metaphoric" concepts and Hobbes's theory of "personification."
@ Option 2 (advanced level): "The social schimatisation of perceptions" (Adorno) is often reflected in the institutionalisation and normalisation of ranking systems, prevalent, for instance, in American academic culture too. Analyse any aspects of academic politics, while drawing on Lakoff's theory of "metaphoric" concepts and Hobbes's theory of "personification" as a form of representation, as well as on your own context; for instance, what are the "metaphorical" strengths and weaknesses of LaGrange College, with which you are currently affiliated. What would be that "air" of being a LaGrange college student (cf. Foucault on "the air of being a soldier" we studied last time)? To give another example: analyse the concrete, sociopolitical dimension of this metaphor, "the seats of learning": what that does, not just means. For an informed and substantial exploration of this question, I advise you to read and use this illuminating article, "the Social Logic of IVY League Admissions," as a reference - not strictly required but strongly recommended.
Presentation by [Libby] and [Patrick]
Th 10/06 Tyrannical Power and Its Strategies Aim for a forensic understanding of the modernity of geo-political, micro-technology.
Read: Cohen, "Machiavelli and the Psychology of the State," Political Philosophy [Login, Netlibrary]
Recommended: Foucault, "Governmentality" [size: 14.1MB], Power. Vol. 3 of Essential Works of Michel Foucault 1954-1984
Recommended: Strauss, On Tyranny [ LC Lib, PA 4494.H600 S8 2000] ; esp. Ch1 that analyses "Xenophon: Hiero or Tyrannicus"
[JN08] The (in)visibility of power, "the nightmare of childhood coming true" (Adorno) ....
@ Option1: analyse similiarities and differences between prison and school, drawing on Foucault's theory of panoptical power.
@ Option 2: analyse some of the key strategies of tyrannical rule by introducing a couple of concrete, real life examples, contemporary or historical; show evidence of reading at least two texts from the list above by incorporating appropriate citations into your journal.
Presentation by [Ben] and [Josh]
Recommended: Chomsky, Media Control: the Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda [LC Lib, HM 263.C447 2002]
Recommended: Film: Gansel, Napola: Elite für den Führer
Presentation by [PJ]
Précis by [n/a]
Th 10/13 Fall Break
III. JUSTICE AND CONTRACT/RECIPROCITY
Tu 10/18 Crito and Justice: Under what conditions is a citizen obligated to obey civic commands?
Read: Nathanson, "Super Patriotism" [size: 14.5MB], Should We Consent to be Governed?
Read: Miller, "Justice," Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction [PPVSI 74-91]
[JN09] Nathanson argues that Socrates in Crito is an embodiment of "super patriotism," whereas deLue reads it as a case of "a defense of critical inquiry," closer to what Nathanson means by "critical citizenship." The conundrum here is that the Socrates of Crito, after trial, seems so oddly, and radically, different from the defiant, critical philosopher of Apology, on trial. What is your position on this issue? Write an informed, analytic journal that explores this Socratic question, "is an unjust law still a law?"
@ Option 1: Address the question above by relating Miller's ideas on Justice to the argument Nathanson or deLue is advancing.
@ Option 2: Address the question above by engaging, critically, with the case of Nathanson vs. deLue.
Précis by [Ben], [Josh] and [Libby]
Th 10/20 The Social Contract: "Man is born free; everywhere he is in chains."
[JN10] A commitment to justice is a reciprocal duty among citizens in modern democratic societies. What does "reciprocity" mean in this context? And why is this political duty reciprocal, in this case?
@ Option 1: Answer those two questions above by using the social contract theory/model proposed by Socrates, Rousseau, or Hobbes, or Locke.
@ Option 2: Given that the achievement of social justice is the ultimate political goal of democracy, given that justice is given as both the premise and the telos of democracy, it should be possible for the political animals to imagine a society arising out of "free," unconditional acts of giving - giving justice to one another, as it were, like it is a pure gift. Adorno, however, laments the capitalist mode of socio-political interaction where the general law of reciprocity, or generosity, degenerates into the restricted rules of mutual bribery or enslavement. Discuss briefly the possibility of the political economy of gift-giving, against the social contract theory of Rousseau, Emerson or Rawls.
Précis by [Dana] and [Judith]
Tu 10/25 Midterm: no class: e-mail submission of take-home exam, due by 11:10am
1. Write a 7-10 page long mini-research paper, based on any of the class material listed above or below, or on the individualised topic determined during the last consultation hours: a combination of sub-themes, a creative derivation, or a straightforward lengthy study of one class material, all acceptable: see Dr. Lee's Hum Paper Guidelines and Dr. Lee's Paper Grading Rubric for general advice for writing, including methods of citation. If the structure, diction, or scope, of your argument and writing has to be creative and unconventional, the rational for such progressive inventiveness has to be shown in your writing itself too; otherwise, a sloppy text remains simply sloppy. Do feel free to adopt an appropriate style that works for you and your chosen topic, but at the same time be rigorous, rigorous enough to deserve the rewards you are claiming. Whatever the case, the following 2-3 are the iron rules that even the genius of the century must observe.
2. The list of "work cited" put at the end of your paper must contain references to at least three of all the texts introduced above (articles, books, links, etc. ), and the citations must be directly and self-evidently relevant to the content of your writing both on specific and general levels; all the references will be counter-checked for accuracy, and the significant discrepancy will result in a grade penalty.
3. The list of "work cited" put at the end of your paper must contain at least two texts you yourself have discovered independently, either online/e-library or in the college library stack; and at least one of those two must be from the printed sources, not electronic.
4. Any submission failing to meet all the standards specified in 1, 2 and 3, will automatically lose points correlated to the grading scale [A=20-17; B=16.9-14; C=13.9-10; D=9.9-6; F=5.9-0]: for instance, if less than three of required or recommended readings are cited in a paper, the grade calculation starts from a B down; if, in the same paper, only one reference of independent discovery were used or no such resources at all are found, the grade calculation starts from a C down; if the same paper is shorter than 7 pages, even with the work cited page counted in, the grade cannot be higher than a D, i.e., 9.9 out of 20.
IV. JUSTICE AND GENDER/SEXUALITY
Th 10/27 Sexual/Gender Politics: Does gender matter? If so, why so? If not, why not?
Read: Fausto-Sterling, "the Five Sexes" [RGS 33-39]
Read: Hale, "Are Lesbians Women?" [RGS 46-57]
Recommended: Bartlett, "Faith Camp: Christian students gather and prepare to defend their beliefs."
Recommended: Friedan, "The Problem that has No Name," The Feminine Mystique [LC Lib, HQ1420 .F7 ; amazon searchable]
Recommended: Miller, "Feminism and Multiculturalism," Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction [PPVSI 92-111]
Recommended: Shamir and Travis, ed., Boys don't cry? : rethinking narratives of masculinity and emotion in the U.S. [Login, NetLibrary]
[JN11] Summarise any two of the required and recommended reading materials, while actively relating one to the other, and argue your position logically and critically, regarding the issue discussed therein; this is not to ask you to "make up your mind" but to ask you to try and think clearly and philosophically about the issues to do with gender politics.
Tu 11/01 The Sexual Contract: How the social and the sexual, as categories, intersect and interact in concrete situations.
Recommended: Muehlenhard, Danoff-Burg and Powch, "Is Rape Sex or Violence? Conceptual Issues and Implications" [RGS 566-575]
Recommended: Warren, "Secondary Sexism and Quota Hiring" [RGS 412-421]
[JN 12] Where is love? Explore links between political insights and ethical values: why and how insights into political physics refine and strengthen ethical sensibility. Can one "do the right thing" without understanding things correctly, without facing the harsh, political reality of human affairs head-on? Can one be committed to solving political issues without having ethical concerns about them? Keep the political dialectic of "one" (particular and universal) in mind, while addressing the following question(s).
@ Option 1: Summarize and critically examine any two of the reading materials above that show opposing views: while comparing or contrasting their viewpoints, you must be able to articulate at least briefly, and conclusively, your own viewpoint arising out of the study of the materials.
@ Option 2: "The genesis of political power lies in Adam’s conjugal or sex right, not in his fatherhood." (Pateman, "The Fraternal Social Contract"). Reconstruct that argument: what are the premise, background and ramifications of that proposition? And then conclude your brief analysis by critically evaluating the insights and limits of Pateman's model.
Recommended: FIlm: Brokeback Mountain (advance warning: Rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence)
Recommended: Film: Farewell, My Concubine (Ba wang bie ji, advance warning: be prepared to read subtitles)
Recommended: Film: Giant (advance warning: ambiguously un/interesting)
Recommended: Film: Latter Days (advance warning: Rated R for strong sexual content and language)
Recommended: Film: Legally Blonde (advance warning: beware, all that is pinky is not pink.)
Recommended: Film: Normal (advance warning: some may not find it not so normal - precisely, that's the point)
Recommended: Film: Orlando (advance warning: potentially confusing)
Recommended: Film: Osama (advance warning: advance warning: be prepared to read subtitles)
Recommended: Film: Secretary (advance warning: a rather challenging love story)
Recommended: Film: Security Colorado (advance warning: patience for silence and inarticulation required)
Recommended: Film: Southern Comfort (advance warning: some may not find it comforting)
[JN 13] Write a brief, reflective journal on any political issue(s) explored and thematised in Angels in America: party or governmental politics, sexuality, religion (faith/symbolism), state ideology, medical industry and biopolitics, justice and redemption, etc.
Presentation by [n/a]
Précis by [n/a]
V. JUSTICE AND RACE
Tu 11/08 Human Races: One and/or Many, an Enduring Puzzle
(for inspiration): Adorno, "I.Q.," Minima Moralia
Read: Mills, "But What Are You Really?" [RGS 173-193]
Recommended: Appiah, "Racisms" [RGS 206-218]
[JN 14] What is meant by, or are examples of, the system of racial classification as "vertical," not "horizontal" [RGS 174ff]? And then, alternatively, can you imagine a system of "quace" rather than of race? [RGS 174ff]? Will quacial system be more ideal than racial system, ideal in terms of contributing to the realisation of social equality and justice? Explore all three questions while reading Mills' article (the whole article, not just that passage), and using any one of the other articles introduced above; make evident your critical study and creative use of them.
Th 11/10 The Racial Contract: How the social and the racial, as categories, intersect and interact in concrete situations.
(for inspiration): Adorno, "Mélange1, 2," Minima Moralia
Read: Wasserstrom, "Racism, Sexism and Preferential Treatment" [RGS 270-84]
Recommended: Davis, "Rape, Racism and the Myth of the Black Rapist" [RGS 575-582]
Recommended: Purdy, "Why Do We Need Affirmative Action?" [RGS 404-12]
[JN 15] The myth, the violence, and the dream, of "the melting pot" ...
@ Option 1: Summarize in some detail the key contention of any one article from the list above; clearly show the focus of your interpretation. And then in the second half of your journal, evaluate the argument: do you (dis)agree with the author of your choice? Be precise and critical.
@ Option 2: Mills contends, in "Naturalized" Merits"," that "the "Racial Contract" as a theory is explanatorily superior to the raceless social contract in accounting for the political and moral realities of the world and in helping to guide normative theory" (120, emphases added). Explain why that might be or is the case, both by using any of the articles above and drawing on any relevant, concrete examples you can think of. Conclude your journal by briefly evaluating Mill's argument: do you (dis)agree with Mills? If so, to what extent and in what sense?
Today's Presentation(s) by [Bill] and [James]
Two Précises/Summaries by [Harrison]
[JN 16] A reflection on the political collectivity of prejudice and hatred, a key theme of the film, the Shadow of Hate;
[JN16 (Alternatively, "Get One Free")] You can write on any aspect of political philosophy, freely, drawing on your study so far. At this point, you can also submit any one of the overdue journals 1-13; if your submission is previously rejected for being late, you must resubmit it as Jn16.
Presentation by [n/a]
Précis by [n/a]
VI. JUSTICE AND CLASS
Th 11/17 Marxism: "The Point is to Change the World."
(for inspiration): Adorno, "Deviation1, 2," Minima Moralia
[JN 17] "Buy one, get one free," "Free trial, absolutely no obligations, no questions asked," "Not yet qualified for a free shipping," "$0.00 after a Rebate" ... "You can do it, we can help," "We are here to serve you," "At British Airways, we know that the best service anticipates your needs" ... "How to win friends and influence people," "7 habits of highly effective people," "10 quickest ways to lose weight" ... "Instant Access!," "Just log on~ You can print it out if you want!," "Verizon wireless access, 24/7, anywhere, anytime!" "Be a master in your domain"...
@ Option1: What is the alternative picture of the world that Marx and Engels project? Drawing on your reading of the required material above, provide a summary account of both the old world and the new world, portrayed and envisioned in there; make sure you do not just summarise the texts but reconstruct their views in your own words. Remember, you the active reader are never the same as a Spark Notes or a Cliff Notes: they are either inferior or superior to you, depending on how you use it.
@ Option2: Take any example(s) of consumer-oriented marketing strategies and offer a brief, informed Marxist analysis of the example(s) of your choice, focusing on ways in which capitalism as a "desiring machine" (Gilles Deleuze) capitalises on the human fondness for profits and ranked existence. Make sure you incorporate at least a few, specifically Marxist concepts (e.g., alienation, the capital, commodification, fetishism, materialism, the means of production, etc.) into your analysis, which should be as concrete as possible, and incisive.
Tu 11/22 Race, Gender and Class: from "a poor black (or any coloured) woman" to "a rich white man"
[JN 18] Free topic: justify (show clearly), however, how and why the topic you are discussing bears relevance to the social-political questions on race, gender and class. One example would be: Is America, the land of freedom and equality, a class-based society? What kind of class system does it have? Think of the technocrats, as opposed to beaurocrats, for instance.
Presentation by [Harrison] and [Judith]
Th 11/24 Thanksgiving Break
VII. Utopia/Dysotopia: Back to Plato/Aristotle?
Tu 11/29 Republic: Where?
Recommended: Gavrillis, The Mayor of Ar Rutbah (... "U.S. Special Forces achieved what others have not: a functioning democracy"...)
Recommended: Strauss, "Plato," History of Political Philosophy [LC Lib JA81 .S75]
[JN 19] Summarise, and discuss, at least three philosophical attempts at defining justice, made in The Republic Book 1 and Book 2; and why they failed to pass the test of Socratic reasoning. You must be able to reconstruct the argument and counter-argument, in each case.
Presentation by [Bill], [Josh] and [PJ]
Précis by [Judith]
Th 12/01 War and Peace: War is Peace?
Read: Davis, The Politics of Philosophy : A Commentary On Aristotle's Politics, esp. Ch1 (cannibalism), Ch7-8 (poetry) [Login, Netlibrary]
Recommended: Cohen, Ch12: The End of History?, Political Philosophy : From Plato to Mao [Login, netlibrary]
Recommended: Film: Jarman, War Requiem (Video) [VC M2010 .B77 W39 1988]
Recommended: Orwell, Ch1-4 chapters of Animal Farm "In the end, it was named the Battle of the Cowshed [...]"
Recommended: Strauss, "Aristotle," History of Political Philosophy [LC Lib JA81 .S75]
[JN 20] Summarise the key argument of Schall, "When War Must be the Answer," and combine your engaged/critical analysis of Schall's premises with a reading of an article of your choice; for instance, you can introduce Kant, or Aristotle, or Orwell, or Strauss, briefly in that context.
[JN 20 (Alternatively, "Get One Free")] You can write on any aspect of political philosophy, freely, drawing on your study so far. Whatever the case, you must use and cite from a reading material (any of the above), while undertaking a critical analysis of the issue(s) of your choice. If you have not learned, or demonstrated, anything significant through the process of writing a journal, you cannot claim a credit. No loose statement of a mere "opinion," please; cats and dogs too have opinions. Do not insult your own intelligence.
Précis by [Luke]
Tu 12/06 Research Day: No Class
Th 12/08 Final Paper: No Class: Due by 11:10am
1. E-mail submission of all the assignments for the course including the final paper.
2. The work of anyone who misses this deadline will graded "incomplete."
