Download Spring 2016 - Melissa Schwartzberg

Introduction to Political Theory
POL-UA 100-001
Professor Melissa Schwartzberg
[email protected]
19 W. 4th, 225
Office Hours: Monday 2-4
Teaching assistants:
Arina Cocoru ([email protected])
Alessandro Vecchiato ([email protected])
When is political authority justified in coercing us? How might we distinguish between
legitimate and illegitimate regimes? Is obedience to the law morally required, or can we justly
engage in civil disobedience? How should we judge the institutions of political society – and
when are ordinary citizens capable of making these judgments? Why should a majority be
able to rule over a minority? This course will help us to address these questions through the
study of key texts in the history of political thought, from ancient to modern.
Texts (to purchase and bring to class when assigned):
Please ensure you have the proper edition of these texts. We will frequently turn to these
books to analyze passages, and different translations or editions make it difficult to work
together as a class. All are available at the NYU Bookstore, via your preferred e-purveyor, or
in used bookstores throughout the city. Other readings will be made available via the NYU
Classes site.
Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Ed. John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett. Third
Edition. 2000.
Plato, Republic. Trans. G.M.A. Grube; revised by C.D.C. Reeve. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett,
1992.
Aristotle, Politics. Trans. C.D.C. Reeve. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1998.
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Ed. J.C.A. Gaskin. Oxford: Oxford World Classics, 2009.
Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1980.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Basic Political Writings, Second Edition. Trans. Donald A. Cress.
Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2012.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and Other Essays. Eds. Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2015.
Rawls, John. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.
No Laptops: Laptops, e-readers, and phones are generally banned both in lecture and in
recitation. Surfing the web or checking e-mail doesn’t just interfere with your own capacity
to learn, but demonstrably affects the education of the students sitting around you.
Moreover, there is ample research in support of the retention benefits associated with taking
notes by hand. If you have a disability that prevents you from handwriting your notes, please
contact the Moses Center, and we will work with them to accommodate your needs. (Please
do not use any device to record the class, unless pre-arranged with the Moses Center.) For
meetings relying on NYU Classes material, you may bring your laptop or tablet, but please
do not access the Internet during class. We may lower your grade if you violate these
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policies.
Participation: Please read the assignments carefully and be prepared to defend arguments in
class. As a means of ensuring participation and of equally distributing the burdens and
benefits of class participation, we may randomly call on students in lecture and recitation to
discuss the assigned texts for that class.
Grading: Your grade is based on the following:
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Two 1500-word take-home essays: 30% of grade (15% each)
In-class Midterm: 25% of grade
In-class Final: 30% of grade
Participation in Lecture: 5% of grade
Participation in Recitation: 10% of grade
Assignments: The essays will be handed in via NYU Classes on your Recitation Classes
page (the teaching assistants will show you where that is during your first recitation).
Formatting: Please name your essays Lastname FirstInitial – Assignment Name.docx (so
Schwartzberg M – Essay 1.docx). Please double space your essay, using a legible 12-point
font with 1-inch margins.
Late Assignments: An assignment is late when you submit it more than 10 minutes after the
prescribed deadline. An assignment is penalized one grade-step (from an A to an A-) when it
becomes late, and an additional letter grade for every 24 hours thereafter.
Extensions: If you anticipate needing an extension because of multiple simultaneous
deadlines, please email your teaching assistant before the essay prompt is distributed. We will
not grant extensions after the deadline has passed except in documented medical
emergencies.
Plagiarism: Please familiarize yourself with the rules governing academic integrity at NYU:
http://core.cas.nyu.edu/docs/CP/4321/AcademicIntegrity.pdf. Violations will be treated
with utmost severity under College procedures. If you have any question about proper
citations or the appropriate use of source material, please do not hesitate to contact
Professor Schwartzberg or your teaching assistant.
Exams: The two in-class exams will include passage and/or term IDs and essays.
Religious holidays: If you anticipate being absent from lecture, recitation, or an exam
because of any religious observance, please notify us in advance.
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Schedule of Readings and Lectures
Mon., Jan. 25: Introduction.
Wed., Jan. 27: Plato, Apology.
Mon., Feb. 1: Plato, Crito.
Wed., Feb. 3: Plato, Republic, Books I-III.
Mon., Feb. 8: Plato, Republic, Books IV-VII.
Wed., Feb. 10: Plato, Republic, Books VIII-X.
Mon., Feb. 15: Presidents’ Day
Wed., Feb. 17: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (excerpt on NYU Classes); Politics, Book I.1-7,
12-13; Book II.1-5.
Mon., Feb. 22: Aristotle, Politics, Book III.1-13, IV.9. [Take-home essay distributed, due
9 a.m. on Feb. 29]
Wed., Feb. 24: Putney Debates (on NYU Classes)
Mon., Feb. 29: Hobbes, Leviathan, chs. 11, 13-18.
Wed., Mar. 2: Hobbes, Leviathan, chs. 19-22, 26, and 30.
Mon., Mar. 7: Locke, Second Treatise, chs. 1-9.
Wed., Mar. 9: Locke, Second Treatise, chs. 10-19.
Mon., Mar. 14: Spring Break
Wed., Mar. 16: Spring Break
Mon., Mar. 21: Hume, “Of the Original Contract” and excerpts from Treatise of Human
Nature (on NYU Classes)
Wed., Mar. 23: Midterm
Mon., Mar. 28: Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (“Second Discourse”)
Wed., Mar. 30: Rousseau, Social Contract, Book I and II, chs. 1-7.
Mon., Apr. 4: Rousseau, Social Contract, Book III, chs. 1-6, 11, 15, 18; Book IV, chs. 1-3.
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Wed., Apr. 6: Kant, “On the Proverb: That May Be True in Theory, But Is Of No Practical
Use” (on NYU Classes)
Mon., Apr. 11: Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Women (excerpt, on NYU
Classes) [Take-home essay #2 distributed, due April 18]
Wed., Apr. 13: Mill, On Liberty (excerpt)
Mon., Apr. 18: Mill, Utilitarianism (excerpt)
Wed., Apr. 20: Dewey, Public and Its Problems (excerpt, NYU Classes)
Mon., Apr. 25: DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (excerpt, on NYU Classes); Martin Luther King,
Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (On NYU Classes).
Wed., Apr. 27: Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, Part I
Mon., May 2: Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, Parts II and III.
Wed., May 4: Conclusion/review
Mon., May 9: Final exam