Political Science 0600 – Introduction to Political Theory
Dr. Michael Goodhart
Office:
Office hours:
Virtual office hours:
Email:
4615 Posvar Hall
Wednesday 2:30 - 4pm and by appointment
Wednesday 9-10 pm
goodhart@pitt.edu
Required Texts
Michael Morgan, Classics of Moral and Political Theory, 3rd ed. (Hackett)
Richard Rorty: Contingency, Irony, Solidarity (Cambridge)
Additional readings on Courseweb
**PLEASE BRING YOUR TEXTS TO CLASS
Course Goals
Students who take this course should be able to:
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recognize the differences among normative, empirical, logical, and faith-based
claims and explain the specific role of normative arguments in political science
and political life;
recognize and describe the arguments of some important authors in the political
theory tradition;
explain and interpret historical and contemporary debates surrounding
important political concepts, such as authority, justice, liberty, and democracy;
analyze and critique texts making normative arguments;
construct simple normative arguments.
Political theory is a diverse field comprising numerous traditions and approaches to the
study of human – especially political – affairs. While the authors on whom we shall
primarily focus in this course are part of the classical tradition of Western thought (i.e.,
they are dead white guys), they represent some of the main currents of thinking about
politics that we have inherited. Studying them is both a way to learn about how politics
is understood in the West and about the limits of that understanding as we have
received it.
In this course we engage with three (four?) distinct approaches to politics. One,
associated with Aristotle, sees politics as the search for the best human good. Another,
associated with Hobbes, sees politics as a bulwark against evil. The third, associated
with Mill and, in a very different way, with Nietzsche, sees politics as “beyond good and
evil.” Each of these approaches continues to shape contemporary thinking about
politics and about how we should live. We will wrestle with these questions ourselves.
Political theory is not everyone’s cup of tea. The texts are long, sometimes
dense, and can often seem very foreign. Yet I believe they reward careful study. I find
these old texts strange, exciting, funny, chilling, and very, very relevant to living in the
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21st century. Socrates is credited with saying that the unexamined life is not worth
living: think of this course as an introduction to the examined life.
Course Policies
Please read these policies carefully and make sure you understand them. If you have
any questions, ask me.
Disability Resources
If you have a disability that requires special testing accommodations or other classroom
modifications, you need to notify both the instructor and the Disability Resources and
Services (http://www.drs.pitt.edu) no later than the 2nd week of the term. You may be
asked to provide documentation of your disability to determine the appropriateness of
accommodations. To notify Disability Resources and Services, call 648-7890 (Voice or
TTD) to schedule an appointment. The Office is located in 140 William Pitt Union.
Academic Integrity
Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students in this course will be expected to
comply with the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student
suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required
to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in
the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity.
 Students violating this policy will FAIL THE COURSE. I do not tolerate cheating –
it is insulting to me and your classmates and degrading to you.
 If you have ANY questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty, ASK.
Ignorance is no excuse. You can also consult the Arts and Sciences website for
more information: http://www.as.pitt.edu/faculty/policy/integrity.html
*To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom
lectures, discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the
instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for
the student’s own private use.
Other Policies
1.
No late work is accepted. All assignments must be submitted at the dates
and times indicated (or earlier, by arrangement). Assignments are made well
in advance and you will have plenty of time to complete them. If you do not
turn in assignments on the day and at the time they are due, you receive a 0
(zero) for the assignment. There are only two exceptions to this policy:
a. If you have a signed (and legible) medical note from a physician stating
that you were mentally or physically unable to perform school work
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2.
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continuously for at least three days immediately prior to the due date. A
printout saying you stopped by student health DOES NOT qualify. Your
note must be signed by a doctor and it must explain why you were
unable to complete the assignment, not just that you were seen or given
medication. It must also include the physician’s contact information.
b. If a member of your immediate family dies, you will be excused if you
provide documentation of the event – a dated funeral program or
obituary, a note from a religious leader on official letterhead, etc. “My
grandmother died” won’t cut it.
c. Here is a (partial) list of other excuses that WILL NOT be accepted: “my
best friend from college visited/OD’d/had a breakdown; my
boyfriend/girlfriend dumped me; my roommate failed out/passed
out/flipped out; my computer/printer/cell phone/alarm clock/car/electric
toothbrush crashed; my fraternity/sorority/drinking buddies needed me
this weekend; my volunteer group/do-gooder club/anarchist cell needed
me this weekend. You get the idea – NO EXCUSES. Somehow people
don’t believe me, and it often ends in anger and tears.
d. If you anticipate problems or have legitimate reasons to be away, please
talk with me about them well in advance. I am happy to make
reasonable accommodations.
Grading Policy and Standards
a. I grade to a high standard – I do not insult you with low expectations. I
give D’s regularly in my course; however, no one who makes a genuine
effort fails. There is no reason you cannot get at least a C in this course if
you attend regularly and do the reading. I will give you as much extra
help as you ask for. Really.
b. I evaluate your work solely on its merits. To help achieve this, I ask you
always to use your Peoplesoft ID number, not your name, on all major
assignments (put your name on the quizzes).
c. After a 48-hour cooling-off period, you may appeal your grade on a paper
or exam by submitting brief (up to one page) typed statement specifically
explaining why you feel the grade should be changed. I reserve the right
to leave your grade unchanged. You must turn in your assignment with
my comments along with your appeal.
d. Please realize that grading is a necessary fact of academic life. I do not
judge YOU when I assign a grade to your work – I merely evaluate your
work relative to the standards set for the class and to the work of your
peers. There is no connection between the grade you receive and my
“liking” you as a student or a human being. Some of my favorite people
are slackers.
General Courtesy
a. Be on time and stay until the end of class.
b. Do not chat with your neighbors, read the paper, send text messages,
etc. If you prefer to do these things at class time, don’t come to class.
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c. Please turn off cell phones. If your phone rings in class, I reserve the right
to answer it. You don’t want this to happen.
d. If you use a laptop in class, please use it only to take notes (unless asked
by the instructor). Email, Facebook, etc., are distracting not just to you
but also to other students around you. Studies show that students who
use laptops in class generally earn lower grades than those who do not.
If anyone complains that someone’s laptop use is distracting, I will ban
them from the classroom.
e.
I recognize that these policies might seem harsh to some of you, but they are necessary
to maintain a good learning environment. If you do not want to accept them, you are
free to drop the course.
There are policies that cover my conduct also. Specifically, it is my obligation to:
1. Come to class prepared and ready to challenge you and to answer your
questions.
2. Maintain a respectful and open learning environment.
3. Grade your work fairly. To this end, all work is graded blindly.
4. Give clear assignments well in advance of the due-dates.
5. Be present and available during posted office hours.
6. Meet with you outside of class to give you additional help so that you can do
your best..
7. Respond to your email in a timely way (usually within 24 hours; except between
Friday at 5pm and Sunday afternoon).
Assignments and Grading
There will be three homework assignments, a final paper, and 11 quizzes in this course.
There are 1000 total points. The homework assignments are sequenced assignments,
that is, they build on one another in preparing you to write a paper that makes a solid
normative argument. We will go over these skills together in in-class “workshops” that
are scheduled throughout the term.
Homework 1 (100 points), due Wednesday January 19 in class.
Homework 1 asks you choose an op-ed column (provided) and to identify the normative,
empirical, logical, and faith-based claims it makes. Details will be provided on a
separate handout. We will jointly review and practice the skills you need to succeed on
homework 1 in workshop 1 on Wednesday January 12.
Homework 2 (100 points), due Monday February 14 in class.
Homework 2 focuses on developing a good thesis. It asks you to develop theses and
introductory paragraphs in response to several questions provided to you that are
relevant to our readings. Details will be provided on a separate handout. We will jointly
review and practice the skills you need to succeed on homework 2 in workshop 2 on
Monday February 7.
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Homework 3 (200 points), due Monday March 14 in class.
Homework 3 asks you to build an argument for a paper based on a thesis and “building
blocks” provided to you. It also asks you to provide a justification of why you have
constructed the argument the way you have. Details will be provided on a separate
handout. We will jointly review and practice the skills you need to succeed on
homework 3 in workshop 3 on Monday February 28.
Final paper (350 points), due Monday April 25 in the Poli Sci office (4600 Posvar Hall)
You will be asked to write a final paper choosing from a short list of topics that will be
provided to you. The paper will be graded on the quality of the thesis, introduction, and
argument you develop – that is, on the skills we have learned throughout the term.
Details will be provided on a separate handout.
Quizzes (250 total points; 100 for attendance; 150 for content), unannounced.
There will be 11 unannounced quizzes throughout the semester. These quizzes should
be very easy if you have done the reading but will be impossible if you have not. The
quizzes are graded for attendance and content.
Attendance. I do not take attendance each day, but each quiz will count as an
attendance check. If you are present for 10 of the 11 quizzes (i.e., if you miss
only one) you receive a full 100 points, if you are present for nine quizzes, you
get 90 points, etc. This is basically a free A for 10% of your grade, if you show up.
That’s how important it is to show up.
Content. I will also grade your responses to the quiz questions. Each one will be
worth up to 30 points. Your BEST FIVE (5) quizzes will count, for a total of 150
points. So you can utterly fail six quizzes and still get full points. This covers you
if you genuinely don’t have time to read sometimes, and if you do read but just
don’t know the answer. But remember, each quiz also counts for attendance, so
you should always turn in a quiz, even if you don’t know the answer. The quizzes
will last 5 minutes and will begin at 4:30 pm sharp. If you arrive at 4:35pm you
are absent for quiz purposes. If this poses a problem for you in terms of
disability or distance, let me know.
Miscellany
Discussion. Everyone is encouraged to speak up – ESPECIALLY if you disagree with what
I or one of your classmates have said. Please listen respectfully to the opinions of others
and please, when you speak, try to be brief and on topic.
Cornell note-taking. Often students tell me they cannot separate what is important
from what is not in lectures; this is a general problem all students face. I have posted
information on the Cornell note-taking system in Courseweb. I recommend that you try
it. It will help you to review the material and to think through it on your own. This is
purely optional, but I do think it can help.
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Surviving This Course
In political theory, the only real reading is rereading. The texts are difficult, and to make
sense of them requires hard work on your part. Skimming once through the text is not
sufficient. Ideally, you should read the texts before lecture and again afterwards. You
should also make use of office hours, email, online office hours, and classroom time to
ask questions and clarify confusing points. Others will have the same (or related)
confusions, so you need not be embarrassed in asking.
I realize that political theory is not for everyone. Students have many reasons
for taking courses, ranging from genuine interest in the subject to needing to fulfill a
requirement for graduation. Your reasons for taking this course are yours. If the
course, as described in the pages above, sounds miserable to you, please do not take it.
You will be unhappy; your unhappiness will make me unhappy (I do not want to be even
the indirect cause of your suffering). It is nearly impossible to do well in a political
theory course if you cannot patiently work through difficult lectures and dense texts. If
you have no desire to be here, you will have a very hard and unpleasant time.
The quality of the education you receive in this course and at this university is to
a large extent a matter of your own choosing. If you read diligently, ask questions, seek
outside help, and take advantage of the resources available to you, you can learn a great
deal in this (and mostly any) course. If, on the other hand, you sit by passively, waiting
to be entertained without using your brain, you can learn almost nothing, even if you
manage to pass. The choice is yours; my job is to help those of you who choose to
engage. If you make another choice, please be prepared to live with it.
Even if you begin with the best intentions, you will at times become confused or
frustrated. With political theory, as with life, I find that the best approach to such
frustrations is a combination of patience, deep regular breathing, and mindfulness
about the ephemeral nature of the obstacles you face. Good luck! Namaste.
Reading Schedule
All readings are from the Morgan anthology unless otherwise indicated.
Wednesday 1/5
Monday 1/10
Wednesday 1/12
Monday 1/17
Wednesday 1/19
Introduction, administration, etc.
What is Political Theory?
Read: Edward Bryan Portis “Great Books and Political Science”
(Courseweb); “Political Theory” (Coursweb)
Workshop 1: Normative Arguments in Political Life
No Class: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Politics as the Search for the Good
Homework 1 due in class
Aristotle, Ethics I, 1-7, 9, 13
What is Aristotle’s aim in the Ethics?
How do we know flourishing is the best good?
What is the human function?
How is happiness/flourishing learned or acquired?
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Monday 1/24
Wednesday 1/26
Monday 1/31
Wednesday 2/2
Monday 2/7
Wednesday 2/9
Monday 2/14
Wednesday 2/16
Aristotle: Ethics II; III, 2, 3, 5
What are the two kinds of virtue?
How do we become just?
What defines virtuous actions?
How do we become good?
What is virtue (what kind of state is virtue)?
What kinds of things do we deliberate about?
How is deliberation linked to virtue?
Aristotle: Ethics VI, 2, 5, 7-9; VIII, 1, 9-11; X, 6-9
What is justice? What kind of virtue is it?
What is political justice?
What is injustice?
What is prudence? What is wisdom? What is friendship?
What is good deliberation?
Why is friendship important politically?
Why is flourishing so important to political science and political scientists?
Aristotle, Politics I, 1, 2, 4-7, 12, 13
What is the polis?
How is speech related to politics?
Why is slavery natural?
Why do men rule over women?
How does the rule of the master differ from the rule of the statesman?
Aristotle, Politics II, 1-5, 9; III 1, 4-9, 11-13, 15-18; VII, 1-3, 13
What is a citizen?
What is political rule?
What is the best constitution? How do we know?
What are the advantages of rule by the many?
Workshop 2: Thesis and introduction
Martha Nussbaum: “Human Functioning and Social Justice: In Defense of
Aristotelian Essentialism” (Courseweb)
Politics as a Struggle Against Evil
Homework 2 due in class
Hobbes: Leviathan Intro, 1-11
What is Hobbes setting out to do in this book?
What are reason and science useful for?
What are the passions? Why are they important?
Hobbes: Leviathan 13-16
What is the “natural” condition of human beings?
What are the laws of nature? (What kind of thing are they? What is their
content?)
What is authority? Where does it come from?
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Monday 2/21
Wednesday 2/23
Monday 2/28
Wednesday 3/2
Monday 3/7
Wednesday 3/9
Monday 3/14
Wednesday 3/16
Monday 3/21
Wednesday 3/23
Monday 3/28
Wednesday 3/30
Monday 4/4
Wednesday 4/6
Monday 4/11
Wednesday 4/13
Monday 4/18
Wednesday 4/20
Monday 4/25
Hobbes: Leviathan 17-21
Why do people set up the commonwealth?
What are the different rights of the sovereign (the difference between
rights by institution and rights by acquisition?)
What is liberty? How does it relate to necessity?
What limits are there on the sovereign’s power?
Why do commonwealths decline?
Hobbes: Leviathan Review and Conclusion
What is the relation between protection and obedience?
Why does Hobbes spend so much time talking about the duties of soldiers?
Workshop 3: Building an argument
Robert Keohane, “Hobbes's dilemma and institutional change in world
politics: sovereignty in international society” (Courseweb)
No Class – Spring Break
No Class – Spring Break
Politics Beyond Good and Evil
Homework 3 due in class
John Stuart Mill: “On Liberty” ch. 1
John Stuart Mill: “On Liberty” ch. 2
John Stuart Mill: “On Liberty” chs. 3 & 4
John Stuart Mill: “On Liberty” ch. 5
Friedrich Nietzsche: “On the Genealogy of Morals” Part I
Friedrich Nietzsche: “On the Genealogy of Morals” Part II
Friedrich Nietzsche: “On the Genealogy of Morals” Part III
Friedrich Nietzsche: “On the Genealogy of Morals” – continued
Richard Rorty: Contingency, Irony, Solidarity Introduction; Part I
Richard Rorty: Contingency, Irony, Solidarity Part II
Richard Rorty: Contingency, Irony, Solidarity Part III
Final class – summary and wrap-up
Final papers due in Political Science office (4600 Posvar Hall) by 3pm
You will notice that I have included reading questions for the earlier readings in the
course. These are to help you to begin to read critically, to sort out what is important,
etc. In the later part of the course I expect you to be able to being to sort this out for
yourselves. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please see me.
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