Pol 323 Modern Political Thought: Truth and Politics
Spring 2010
Course Description: This course examines the relationship between truth and politics—
specifically, whether the truth is necessary for political advances or whether political progress
requires lying. In this way, students are going to grapple with the question: How should
democratic citizens view the lies of their politicians? The course is divided into three sections.
The first part of the course is historical and philosophical. Starting with Immanuel Kant, the
course traces how different modern understandings of the truth are reactions to and trapped by
Enlightenment notions of truth and progress. The second part of the course turns to
contemporary analysis of particular instances of lying in politics. We will explore various
empirical studies on lying as well as ethical approaches to understanding the impact on lying on
democratic politics. In the final section of the course, students are required to present their
research projects.
Course Objectives: This course will have two different purposes. The first purpose is to
introduce students to various theoretical ways of understanding truth in politics. Second, the
course will provide students with the analytical tools to understand and critically evaluate
political lies.
Instructor:
Professor Suzanne Dovi
Office: 337 Social Sciences
Phone: 621-7094
Email: sdovi@u.arizona.edu
Office Hours: Th 10:45-12 or by appointment
Course: TR 9:30-10:45 in FCS 114
Teaching Assistant:
Zach Shipley
Soc Sci 134
Email: zshipley@email.arizona.edu
Office hours: Thursday 1-3 (and by appt.)
REQUIREMENTS:
2 Outlines (4 pages each):
Truth and Lie Video
12-page Research Paper:
Participation:
Research Paper Presentation
(40% of Grade)
(15% of grade)
(30% of Grade)
(10% of Grade)
(5% of Grade)
*** The Professor reserves the right to consider the student’s overall performance, as opposed to basing
final assessments strictly on a student’s numeric score. Student’s grades can go up as well as down based
on his or her overall performance in the class.
Required Readings:
Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace and Other Essays, Hackett 1988
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Vintage Books
Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future, Penguin Books
Writing Assignments: All writing assignments will be evaluated by three criteria: style,
substance and spark. Style is based on whether the paper is well-written and grammatically
correct. Students are strongly encouraged to go to the writing center to work on their grammar.
Students are expected to adopt gender inclusive language, e.g. using “man” instead of “person.”
Those who fail to use gender inclusive language will be penalized an entire letter grade. Spark is
comprised of the thoughtfulness and originality of the student’s paper. If the student just parrots
back what the Professor says, it lacks spark. Substance will be assessed according to two
criteria. The first examines whether the student demonstrates his or her knowledge of the
texts/case study. Did the student use the best evidence to support his or her position? Was the
evidence accurate? Did the students substantiate their interpretation of event or textual passage?
Students who excel in their writing assignments will capture the complexities and nuances of the
authors. The second criterion examines whether the student’s paper recognizes the strongest
counter argument and refutes that position. A good paper addresses perspectives that disagree
with its conclusions. Papers are not graded on whether or not the student shares positions with
the Professor but on their ability to support their position with textual support. In evaluating the
student’s performance, the substance of the student’s writing assignments weighs the most
heavily.
Two Outlines: Both of these writing assignments are designed to improve the student’s writing
and organizational skills. You will get a worksheet explaining the particular format of the
assignment. In order to receive credit for this assignment, you must follow the instructions on
the worksheet. If you do not follow instructions, students cannot receive a grade higher than a C.
If you have any questions about the format, you should meet with the professor or Graduate
Assistant before the assignment is due. The professor will distribute examples of previous
outlines for you to see. All outlines must consist of a clearly written thesis statement, topic
sentences and quotes that support those topic sentences. Quotes must have correct bibliographic
citations (including page numbers)! You must cite using the required versions of the text. The
length of the assignment will be strictly enforced. Concise writing is key to doing well in this
assignment.
Research Paper: This 12-page paper should be submitted to d2l dropbox by 9am on May 11.
You should treat this paper as a final, demonstrating what you have learned about the theorists
we have covered in class as it applies to a particular political lie. You will be evaluated on your
mastery of the complexity of the philosophical thinkers’ ideas as well as your in-depth research
on the details of a particular political lie. This paper needs to be well-researched, using
academically peer-reviewed sources. Research on the lie should go beyond the readings of the
course and demonstrate an in-depth analysis of the particular lie that you choose to examine.
PAPER TOPIC: Contemporary US politics has been plagued by instances of political lying.
Bill Clinton lied about having sex with Monica Lewinsky. Richard Nixon lied about Watergate.
George W. Bush lied about the quality of the evidence of there being Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. In this paper, I want you to assess the significance of a particular
political lie. By a political lie, I mean a lie told by an agent who either holds a political office or
whose lie had a significant impact on public policy or the operation of government. Remember
you need to prove that the agent told a deliberate falsehood. To do this requires research. In this
way, this paper will demonstrate your mastery of the case study as well as your ability to make
theoretical connections to an empirical case. This paper needs to consider what are the actual as
well as the theoretical costs and gains from lying in the political arena.
You must have your paper topic approved by the professor. To get this approval, you must
submit a 500 word description of the political lie as well as a bibliography of at least 5
academically reviewed sources, preferably from books, newspaper sources or academic journals.
For this class, Wikipedia is not an academically reviewed source). If there is any question about
whether a source is academically reviewed, you should ask the professor before the due date for
the description. Students are required to do their final paper on their one-paragraph description
of their lie. The failure to do so will result in a full grade penalty. For this reason, you should
discuss your topic with the Professor before the due date of the paragraph.
In your paper, you should spend two to three pages describing and documenting the lie (and its
political consequences). In particular, you need to research and cite bibliographical sources that
support your interpretation of the lie. The rest of your paper should evaluate how at least 3 of
the following thinkers (Kant, Mill, Nietzsche, and Arendt) would approve of and/or disapprove
of your lie. In other words, in this paper you will need to explain how the philosophical ideas of
three thinkers from the course would apply to the particular political lie you identified. An
outstanding paper will not simply “describe each thinker’s understanding of the truth in politics
but assess the strengths and weaknesses of their views.
Participation: Students are required to complete all reading assignments by the date assigned, and
to participate in class in an informed and respectful fashion. Students are responsible for all
material presented in class, including announcements about course procedures. After reading
each author, you should be able to summarize their main argument and state how you agree
and/or disagree with his or her argument. Students should expect to be called on in class.
The Participation grade will be based on the quality of the student’s participation, group
discussion questions, and possibly some occasional quizzes. First, students will be evaluated by
the quality (not the quantity) of their class participation. Students will be asked to summarize the
previous class. The professor will randomly call on a student (most often a student who does not
participate much in class) and ask him or her to briefly summarize the main topics from the
previous class. Second, students will be asked to discuss among their group members on d2l a
thought question. These will be graded pass/fail; however, they must be completed by the date
assigned. It is your responsibility to keep track of the discussion questions. Third, there will be
periodic quizzes on the assignments. There will be no make up quizzes. Students who have
excused absences will not receive a grade for that quiz and your average grade will count
towards your participation grade.
Please turn your pagers and cellphones off while you are in class. Conversations on the cellphone
are absolutely forbidden. Due to the nature of this class material, I expect and hope that students
will disagree with each other. In fact, disagreements are likely to be lively and intense, but
students must at all times be respectful to each other and to the Professor. No interruptions and
no name-calling. Students should listen attentively and be prepared to be challenged on their
views. Threats to the Professor or other students are strictly forbidden. To see the University
Policy towards threatening behavior, see http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threaten.shtml.
Failure to obey by these rules can result in the student being dropped from the class.
Students are responsible for all material presented in class, including announcements about
course procedures. Students should check the news on d2l before contacting the professor about
any possible changes.
Political Lie Video: Groups of 3 or 4 students will present a political truth or political lie video.
You will be able to choose your own group by self-selecting in d2l. The video will not be longer
than 3 minutes. Groups will be assigned a truth or a lie but they will be responsible for
researching or inventing the truth/lie and trying to convince the class that they are lying or telling
the truth. Students must do a video storyboard as part of their grade that is due before the
presentation.
Political Lie Presentation: The last few weeks of classes are devoted to student presentations on
their research papers. In particular, students are ONLY required to present the substantive facts
about their political lie. You do not need to present how you will connect your lie to each
theorist. I want the class to learn as much as possible from each other about the nature of lying
in real politics. Presentations will be 5-8 minutes long.
You need to present your lie creatively, use films, images, or power point presentations.
Students will be asked to sign up for their presentations and may not change their dates unless for
an extreme medical or personal emergency. Students who fail to do their presentation on the
assigned date will receive a zero for this grade but they are still required to present their research
paper to the class. Failure to present their research paper to the class will result in a severe
penalty to their overall grade for the class.
Grade Appeals: You will be graded solely on your academic performance. This includes clarity
of thought, knowledge of the material, spelling and grammar. If you receive a grade on an
assignment that you think is inappropriate, you may request, within a week of when I hand it
back, that it be re-graded. You must include a written explanation of why you believe your grade
is inappropriate. Please note that the grade may be adjusted both up as well as down.
Absentee Policy: All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored
for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion. Absences pre-approved by
the UA Dean of Students (or Dean's designee) will be honored.
Academic Honesty: Any acts of academic dishonesty such as cheating on exams, turning in work
completed by others as your own or plagiarizing in assignments will lead to a failing grade for the
entire course and further academic disciplinary actions will be taken. For the University’s policies
towards plagiarism, see http://studpubs.web.arizona.edu/policies/cacaint.htm
Special Needs: Students with special needs who are registered with the S.A.L.T. Center or the
Disability Resource Center must submit appropriate documentation to the instructor if they are
requesting special accommodations.
Contacting the Professor: Course information will be disseminated through class webpage on D2L (http://d2l.arizona.edu/) and via your e-mail account that is provided through the webroster.
Please be sure to check your e-mail account in order to remain up to date.
Students are strongly encouraged to come to office hours. Note that the professor does not
discuss grades over email (it is against University policy). Students with substantive questions
should come to my office hours. If they are unable to make this time, they should contact the
professor to make alternative arrangements. Note that Professor Dovi does not check her email
on the weekend, holidays, or after 5pm.
LATE POLICY: Assignments must be submitted to the D2L dropbox by 9am on the day that the
assignment is due. The Professor uses the time recorded by D2L. Any papers received after that
will be downgraded a grade per day that the assignment is late. The Professor will not accept
assignments by email. Extensions and incompletes will not be granted except in the rare case of
medical or family emergency. Students are required to provide necessary documentation for
these emergencies. Please note: computer problems do not “count” as a legitimate reason for
lateness. You need to back up constantly your assignments. You should not be writing these
assignments at the last minute so it is not a valid excuse that your printer didn’t work, your hard
drive crashed, etc etc. Students unfamiliar with D2L should make sure that they leave enough
time to learn how to submit papers in the dropbox.
Course Changes: The information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and
absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed
appropriate by the instructor.
Important Dates:
1st outline:
Topic Approval/Bibliography:
2nd Outline
Lie/Truth Video
Final Paper:
February 25
March 23
April 6
April 13 and 15
May 11
ASSIGNMENTS:
January 14: Introduction: The Politics of Truth
January 19: What is the Truth? Informational Cascades
Reading Assignment: Cass Sunstein, “Why Society Need Dissent?” Chapter Intro, 1, and 5 D2L
Bruce Ackerman, “Why Dialogue?” D2L
**D2l #1 Quiz due January 19th
Section I: Immanuel Kant: The Truth as Enlightenment
January 21 and 26: Kant’s Understanding of the Enlightenment
Reading Assignment: Immanuel Kant’s "What is Enlightenment?"
Immanuel Kant’s “Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent”
D2L Group Discussion Due on January 21st: Discuss among your group members
“What does it mean to be Enlightened? How would you know if you are enlightened?
How does your understanding of Enlightenment differ or resemble Kant’s understanding
of Enlightenment?”
**Syllabus Quiz Due January 26
January 28: Kant’s View on Lying
Reading Assignment: Immanuel Kant’s “The Difference between Theory & Practice”
Immanuel Kant’s “On the Supposed Right to Lie for Altruistic Motives” (from Sissela
Bok’s On Lying or D2L)
Thought questions to focus your reading on:
1) What does Kant think is wrong with lying?
2) What is the difference between Theory and Practice for Kant?
February 2: Progress as Peace
Reading Assignment: Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace”
D2L Group Discussion Due on February 2: Discuss among your group members the
meaning of peace. Do you agree with Kant that states should strive for perpetual peace? If you
agree or not, explain why.”
Section 2: John Stuart Mill: Liberty and the Truth
February 4: On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion
Reading Assignment: On Liberty Chapter 1
February 9: On the Liberty of Thought and Discussion
Reading Assignment: On Liberty Chapter 2
February 11: The Importance of Individuality
Reading Assignment: On Liberty Chapter 3 and 4
February 16: Mill’s View of Progress
Reading Assignment: Chapter 5 of On Liberty and Chapter 4 of On Subjection of Women
February 23: Mill’s Higher Pleasures
Reading Assignment: On Utilitarianism Chapters 1 and 2 D2L
February 25: Comparing and Contrast Mill and Kant: outline review day
****Please bring a rough draft of your outline to class.
March 2: FIRST OUTLINE DUE:
Both Kant and Mill maintain that the truth is important for human progress. In particular, both
thinkers argue that public deliberation about the truth is crucial for progress. How do their views
on truth and progress differ? Compare and contrast Kant’s and Mill’s understanding of the
importance of truthful discussion for human progress. Students are required to follow the format
as described on the outline worksheet. Students who do not follow this format cannot receive a
grade higher than a C. (4-pages)
Section 3: Nietzsche’s “Truth
March 4: Nietzsche’s Truth
Reading Assignment:
Nietzsche, The Preface and “On the Prejudices of Philosophers” pp. 1-32 in Beyond Good and
Evil
March 9: The New Philosophers
Reading Assignment:
Nietzsche’s “The Free Spirit”; and “We scholars” in Beyond Good and Evil
March 11: Nietzsche’s Virtues
Reading Assignment:
Nietzsche, “Our Virtues” and “What is noble?” in Beyond Good and Evil
March16 and March 18: NO CLASS SPRING BREAK
Section 4: HANNAH ARENDT: A Post-Holocaust Truth
March 23: The Holocaust
In Class Video: Excerpts from Shoah
DUE MARCH 23: 1-page description of paper topic/bibliography due. Submit to d2l
March 25: How can the Truth deal with a horrible past?
Reading Assignment: Hannah Arendt’s “The Crisis in Culture: Its Social and Its Political
Significance” and “What is Freedom”
March 30: Truth and Politics?
Reading Assignment: Hannah Arendt’s “Truth and Politics”
April 1: Truth and Totalitarianism
Reading assignment: Hannah Arendt’s Understanding and Politics (ER)
And “On the Nature of Totalitarianism” (ER)
April 6: OUTLINE DUE (submit to D2L dropbox)
SECOND OUTLINE: Compare and contrast Fredrick Nietzsche’s and Hannah Arendt’s
understanding of the morality of lying.
Section 5: The Politics of Truth
April 13 and 15: Detecting Lies
Reading Assignment:
“How to Detect Lies?” D2L
Recommended: Eric Jaffe, “From chewing rice to scanning brains, the perfect lie detector
remains elusive” Smithsonian.com, February 01, 2007 D2L
Detecting Lies Quiz
Truth/Lie Video Due on April 13(a 3 minute truth or lie video).
April 20: How to define Lying?
Reading Assignment: TBA
April 22: Justifiable Lies
Reading Assignment:
Sissela Bok, Justifiable Lies D2L
Sissela Bok, Lies in Crisis D2L
Sissela Bok, Enemies D2L
April 27 PRESENTATIONS
April 29 No Class
May 4 PRESENTATIONS
May 6 PRESENTATIONS
MAY 11: PRESENTATIONS (if necessary)
Final Paper Due May 11th: Submit final paper to dropbox on D2L.