Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics
PLPT 4990
Honors Political Theory
Fall 2013
Hours: Monday 11 AM - 1 PM,
and by appointment
G. Klosko
381 Gibson
Phone:4-3092
gk@virginia.edu
Books have been ordered at the University bookstore and should be purchased. Articles are on line
on the class collab page.
1. Plato, Republic, (Hackett, paperback). (Also: Protagoras and Gorgias, any editions). (Aug. 28)
2. Aristotle, The Ethics, J.A.K. Thompson, tr. (Penguin, paperback):
Books I, II, III.1-6, VI, X
Aristotle, Politics, Revised ed., T. A. Sinclair and T. Saunders, trs. (Penguin, paperback):
Books I.1-7, II.1-6, III, IV.1, IV.11, V.12 (Sept. 4)
3. T. Hobbes, Leviathan (Cambridge, paperback): Chaps. 1-18, 20-21, 26, 28-30, Review
and Conclusion. (Sept. 11)
4. J. Locke, The Second Treatise on Civil Government, in Two Treatises of Government
(Cambridge, paperback). (Sept. 18)
5. N. Machiavelli, The Prince and The Discourses. L. Ricci, E. R. P. Vincent, and C. E. Detmold,
trans. (Modern Library paperback)
The Prince, pp. 3-98;, and Discourses, Book I, chaps. 1-19 (pp. 101-174); Book II, Intro.
(pp. 271-75); Book III, chap. 6 (pp. 410-36); Book III, chap. 41 (pp. 527-28) (Sept. 25)
6. J. Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings (Hackett paperback):
Second Discourse
Discourse on Political Economy (pp. 111-127)
The Social Contract. (Oct. 2)
7. J. Bentham: Selections, in Introduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West (on
collab).
J.S. Mill, On Liberty (Hackett, paperback). (Oct. 9)
8. Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (Cambridge, paperback): Books 1-12
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E. Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (Hackett, paperback): selections.
"Speech On Conciliation with America" (collab) (Oct. 16 no paper)
8. R. Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader, Second Edition (Norton, paper): 3-7 (3 or 4
times), 146-202, 203-17, 294-302, 319-29, 361-76, 403-17, 422-42, 469-500,
525-42, 681-717, 760-68 (Oct. 23)
9. J. Rawls, "Justice as Fairness," Philosophical Review, 67 (1958), 164-94.
________, A Theory of Justice (Harvard, paperback) (either edition, though I prefer and have
ordered the original), Chaps. I-III, (Secs. 31-35, 38-40; VII: Secs. 63, 66-67; VIII: Sec.
69, 77; IX: Sec. 78-82, 86-7. (Oct. 30)
11. R. Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Basic Books, paperback): pp. 1-231 (Nov. 6)
12 F. Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morals, in W. Kaufmann, ed., The Genealogy of
Morals and Ecce Homo. (Vintage, paperback). (Nov. 13)
The Twilight of the Idols, R. J. Hollingdale, ed. (Penguin, paperback).
13. M. Foucault, Discipline and Punish (Vintage, paperback). (Nov. 20)
14. Feminist Critique of Liberalism
J. S. Mill, The Subjection of Women, Selections, (collab)
S. Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (Basic Books, paperback: selections) (Dec. 4)
(no paper)
15. Global Justice
Rawls, The Law of Peoples (Cambridge, Mass., 1999). (Dec. 11) (mini-session: no
paper)
recommended: T. Nagel, "The Problem of Global Justice," Philosophy and Public Affairs, 33
(2005).
Requirements
Papers each week, absolute maximum of five pages (250 - 300 words per page, or 1250 - 1500
words in all), due, sent to me by attachment, by noon on Tuesday each week. In addition, at the
same time, please send your paper by attachment to the entire class. Each week you will comment
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on the paper of one of your fellow students. Please send your comments to that person and to the
rest of the class, by class time on Wednesday.
Basic Secondary Sources on the History of Political Thought
G. H. Sabine, The History of Political Theory.
J. Plamenatz, Man and Society, two vols. (Machiavelli through Marx)
C. H. McIlwain, The Growth of Political Theory in the West. (Ancient and Medieval)
J.Coleman, A History of Political Thought: Vol. I, From Ancient Greece to Early
Christianity
J. Coleman, A History of Political Thought: Vol. II, From the Middle Ages to the
Reformation
M. Forsyth and M. Keens-Soper, eds., A Guide to the Political Classics: Plato to
Rousseau.
M. Forsyth, M. Keens-Soper, and J. Hoffman, eds., The Political Classics: Hamilton to
Mill.
M. Forsyth and M. Keens-Soper, eds., The Political Classics: Green to Dworkin.
I. Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought.
An extremely useful source on contemporary political theory is:
W. Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 2002)
I have put these on reserve. Also useful are: Encyclopedia of Philosophy, International
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Encyclopedia Britannica.
There is an enormous literature on each of the books and authors on the list. Specific suggestions
will be offered each week. For Plato, a few recommended sources are:
E. Barker, Greek Political Theory: Plato and His Predecessors (London 1918; rpt. 1947).
P. Friedlander, Plato, 3 vols., H. Meyerhoff, trans. (Princeton, 1959-68).
G. Grote, Plato and the other companions of Sokrates, 3rd ed. 3 vols. (London, 1875).
W.K.C. Guthrie, A History of Greek Philosophy, 6 vols. (Cambridge, 1962-81), Vols. 4-6.
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R. L. Nettleship, Lectures on the Republic of Plato, 2nd ed. (London, 1901).
P. Shorey, What Plato Said (Chicago, 1933)
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