POL 303 Modern Political Theory
Spring 2009
Monday/Wednesday 9:00-9:50am
Location: Robertson 001
Anna Stilz
Asst. Professor, Politics
247 Corwin
astilz@princeton.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 10-11am
Preceptor: Matteo Giglioli
giglioli@princeton.edu
024 Corwin Hall
Office Hours: Tues. 9-12
This course offers an overview of classic texts in modern political theory, focusing
specifically on the social contract tradition and its critics. Throughout the course, we will
investigate important philosophical questions of legitimate authority, rights, and the bases of
political obligation. We will also attempt interpretive readings of the major thinkers in the
tradition. The object of the course, however, is not merely to read classic texts, but more
importantly to try to critically assess their arguments and to see what contemporary lessons
can be drawn from them.
Course Requirements:
1. Reading
The texts for this course are difficult ones, and they have to be read carefully and, most
important, actively if they are to be understood. Reading in this active way is a timeconsuming process. You should budget enough time to do all assigned reading carefully
before class. Doing the reading is the first and most important requirement if you are to
succeed in this course.
2. Participation and Attendance at Precepts
There will be study questions posted on Blackboard for discussion in precept. Please
bring these, along with the appropriate text, to class. Attendance at all precepts is
mandatory. Excused absences may be arranged in cases of illness, religious holidays,
family problems, or other emergency, by prior arrangement with the instructor if
possible. Absences will affect your participation grade, and attending without
participating will also negatively affect the participation grade.
3. Written Assignments
You will be required to write two essays, of approximately 1,500-2,000 words (7-8
pages). I will hand out the essay topics as the semester progresses. The first essay will
be due to your preceptor by Friday, March 13; the second paper will be due Friday, May
1. Late papers will be penalized one-third of a grade per calendar day they are late
(including weekend days).
4. Exams
There will a final exam scheduled during exam period. The final will include several
short-answer questions (calling for a response of a paragraph or two) about the texts we
have read. It will also include one or more longer essays asking you to critically reflect
on the texts and their connection to themes we have discussed in lecture and
contemporary political issues.
Grading:
1.
2.
3.
4.
First Essay: 25%
Second Essay: 25%
Final Exam: 40%
Precepts/Participation: 10%
Grades for written assignments will depend on the following criteria: the extent to which
the essay addresses the question, is well-structured and well-written, defines and explains
key terms, accurately understands the texts, makes use of primary and secondary sources,
and presents a persuasive argument based on independent thinking. The reading list
contains a list of secondary sources that may help you in writing papers for the course.
These secondary materials are also on reserve at the library.
If at any point you think that a grade you have received on written work is unfair, you may
request a regrading of the paper. To request a regrading, please send me via email a
statement of 1-2 paragraphs explaining how your paper satisfies the above marking criteria.
I will perform regradings upon request, but the grade will be raised or lowered based on my
decision, which is final, so all regrading requests come at your own risk.
Required Texts:
All required texts for this class have been ordered at Labyrinth Books.
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Tuck, (Cambridge)
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, (Hackett)
John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, (Hackett)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Basic Political Writings, trans. Cress (Hackett)
Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, ed. Gregor, (Cambridge)
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, on Liberty, Considerations on Representative
Government, ed. Gray (Oxford)
Karl Marx, Selected Writings, ed. Simon, (Hackett)
Those readings marked [Blackboard] on the schedule can be accessed by downloading a
PDF file from the course web page.
Schedule:
February 2: Course Introduction
February 4: Hobbes, Leviathan, ch. 1-12.
February 9: Hobbes, Leviathan, ch 13-16.
February 11: Hobbes, Leviathan, ch. 17-26.
February 16: Hobbes, Leviathan, ch. 28-31, 32, 43, Review and Conclusion.
Further reading on Hobbes:
John Aubrey, Brief Lives (biography of Hobbes by a contemporary)
David Copp, “Hobbes on Artificial Persons and Collective Actions,” The
Philosophical Review, vol. 89, no. 4 (1980).
Jean Hampton, Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition
Noel Malcolm, Aspects of Hobbes
Philip Pettit, Made with Words
Richard Tuck, Hobbes
Quentin Skinner, “The State,” in Contemporary Political Philosophy, ed. Robert
Goodin, Philip Pettit, (London: Blackwell, 2006); “Hobbes and the Purely
Artificial Person of the State,” Journal of Political Philosophy, vol. 7; no.
1, (1999).
February 18: Locke, Second Treatise, ch. 1-5.
February 23: Locke, Second Treatise, ch. 6-9; Hume, “Of the Original Contract,”
[Blackboard]
February 25: Locke, Second Treatise, ch. 11-19.
March 2: Locke, A Letter on Toleration (entire).
Further Reading on Locke:
Richard Ashcraft, Revolutionary Politics and Locke’s Two Treatises
John Dunn, The Political Thought of John Locke
A. John Simmons, The Lockean Theory of Rights
Gopal Sreenivasan, The Limits of Lockean Rights in Property
James Tully, A Discourse on Property and An Approach to Political Philosophy:
Locke in Contexts
Jeremy Waldron, The Right to Private Property, ch. 6 and God, Locke and Equality
March 4: Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, Part One, (Basic Political Writings pp. 24-60,
including notes on pp, 83-109).
March 9: Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, Part Two, (Basic Political Writings pp. 60-81,
including notes on pp. 83-109).
March 11: Rousseau, Social Contract, Books I-II, Basic Political Writings, 139-172.
[Spring Break]
March 23: Rousseau, Social Contract, Books III-IV, Basic Political Writings, 173-227.
Further Reading on Rousseau:
Joshua Cohen, “Reflections on Rousseau,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 15 (1986),
275-297 and “The Natural Goodness of Humanity,” in Reclaiming the
History of Ethics, ed. A Reath, B. Herman, C. Korsgaard.
N. J. H. Dent, Rousseau: An Introduction to his Psychological, Social, and Political
Theory and A Rousseau Dictionary
Frederick Neuhouser, “Freedom, Dependence, and the General Will,” Philosophical
Review, 102 (1993), 363-395 and Rousseau’s Theodicy of Self-Love: Evil,
Rationality, and the Drive for Recognition.
Gopal Sreenivasan, “What is the General Will?,” Philosophical Review, 109 (2000),
545-81.
March 25: Kant, “On the Common Saying: That may be correct in theory, but it is of no use
in practice.”
March 30: Kant, Metaphysics of Morals, Part I, (Metaphysical First Principles and Private
Right).
April 1: Kant, Metaphysics of Morals, Part II, Section I (Public Right, Section I) and
April 6: Kant, Metaphysics of Morals, Part II, Sections II and III, (Right of Nations and
Cosmopolitan Right) and “Perpetual Peace.”
Further Reading on Kant:
Katrin Flickshuh, Kant and Modern Political Thought
Leslie Mulholland, Kant’s System of Rights
Jeffrie Murphy, Kant: The Philosophy of Right
Allen Rosen, Kant’s Theory of Justice
Mark Timmons, ed. Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals: Interpretative Essays
Howard Williams, Essays on Kant’s Political Philosophy
April 8: Mill, Utilitarianism (entire)
April 13: Mill, On Liberty, ch. I-II.
April 15: Mill, On Liberty, ch. III-V.
April 20: Mill, Considerations on Representative Government, ch. 1-8; ch. 16; ch. 18.
Further Reading on Mill:
David Brink, “Mill’s Deliberative Utilitarianism,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 21
(1992), 67-103.
Alan Ryan, J.S. Mill
C.L. Ten, Mill on Liberty
Dennis Thompson, John Stuart Mill and Representative Government
Nadia Urbinati, Mill on Democracy: From the Athenian Polis to Representative
Government
April 22: Marx, “On the Jewish Question”
April 27: Marx, “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844,” esp. sections titled
Alienated Labor and Private Property and Communism; “Communist Manifesto”
April 29: Marx, Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy; Excerpts
from Capital; Critique of the Gotha Program.
Further Reading on Marx:
Schlomo Avineri, The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx
G.A. Cohen, Karl Marx’s Theory of History: A Defense
Jon Elster, Making Sense of Marx
Jonathan Wolff, Why Read Marx Today?
Allen Wood, Karl Marx