POS 290
Introduction to Political Theory:
Lying and Politics
Professor Ronald
Schmidt 126
Bedford St.
Spring 2007 780-4581
Office Hours: TU
2:30-5:00, or by appt.
Email:
rschmidt@usm.maine.edu
This is an introductory course designed to teach students the basic skills for reading and writing political theory. We will explore the relationship between lying, politics and different definitions of the truth as a way to introduce students to political theory and its relationship with political experience. We will examine the uses and abuses of lying, tracing the danger lying poses to political life and the ways in which it may be necessary. Does politics require truthfulness from all actors? Do political actors need to be able to deceive in order to form coalitions, organize citizens, and imagine alternatives to the status quo? Must political actors choose between the politics of virtue and the pragmatic politics of lying? We will begin our course by considering these questions in canonical works of political theory and then turn to three case studies in American politics. Students are encouraged to follow contemporary events as they unfold in the media and to follow the connections between them and the theoretical questions we discuss in class.
Three papers will decide the majority of the grade. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade in the class and possibly in administrative action. Active student participation in class discussions is required. Students are expected to do all the readings, participate in the in-class writing workshop, and attend all class meetings, including the evening film screening.
Grades will be determined as follows:
First Paper – February 15: 15%
Second Paper – April 10: 30%
Final Paper – May 8: 40%
Participation: 15%
The assigned reading is below, and on electronic reserve.
The Republic, Plato (BasicBooks)
Selected Political Writings, Machiavelli (Hackett Publishing)
Mandragola, Machiavelli (Waveland Press)
Richard III, Shakespeare (Folger Library Edition)
Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life, Nietzsche (Hackett Publishing)
Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt (Penguin)
POS 290
Assignments
January 16:
Lecture: Lying and Politics
No assigned reading
Recommended reading: “Truth and Politics,” Hannah Arendt; The
Declaration
of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (reserve)
January 18:
Lecture: Greek Antiquity
No assigned reading
Recommended reading: A Preface to Plato, Eric Havelock; The Iliad,
Fagles trans.
Lying, Foundings and Education
January 23:
The Republic, Books I and II (Plato)
January 25:
The Republic, Books III-VI (Plato)
January 30:
The Republic, Books VII-X (Plato)
February 1:
The Prince (Machiavelli)
February 6:
The Prince (Machiavelli)
February 8:
The Discourses, Book I, Chapters 1-13, 17, 18, 42; Book II, Chapters 1, 3;
Book III, Chapters 1, 3 (Machiavelli)
February 13
February 15:
Mandragola
(Machiavelli)
First Paper Due
February 20, 22:
Winter Vacation
February 27:
Richard
III (Shakespeare)
March 1:
Richard
III (Shakespeare)
March 6:
Lecture: Friedrich Nietzsche
No assigned reading
Recommended reading: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche; Ecce Homo,
Nietzsche; Nietzsche: Life as Literature, Nehemas; Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration, Strong
March 8:
No class
March 13:
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life, Nietzsche
March 15:
“On Lying,” Augustine (reserve)
March 20:
Lecture: Hannah Arendt
No assigned reading
Recommended
reading: The Human Condition, Arendt; For Love of the
World, Young-Bruehl; Attack of the Blob, Pitkin
March 22:
Eichmann in Jerusalem, Chapters 1-6 (Arendt)
March 27, 29:
Spring Break
April 3:
Eichmann in Jerusalem, Chapters 7-10 (Arendt)
April 5:
Eichmann
in Jerusalem, Chapters 13-15 (Arendt)
One: Race and American Identity
April 10:
Whiteness of a
Different Color, Intro., Chapter 1 (Jacobson; reserve)
Second Paper Due
April 12:
Blackface/White
Noise, Chapter 3 (Rogin; reserve)
Two: Propaganda and American Media
April 17:
Lecture: The Hollywood Studio System
No assigned reading
April 19:
Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped
World War II Movies (Koppes and Black; excerpts on reserve)
Casablanca (1943; dir. Michael Curtiz): 7:00 PM
Three: Lies and Presidential Power
April 24:
Lecture: The Pentagon Papers
“Lying in Politics,” Arendt (reserve)
April 26:
Watergate (Emery; reserve)
May 1:
Watergate (Emery; reserve)
May 3:
May 8
Should you need
services or accommodations due to a disability to fully participate in the
class, please speak with me or contact the office of Academic Support for
Students with Disabilities, LB 242.