POS 391
Modern
Political Theory: 1500-1900
Professor
Ronald
Schmidt 126
Bedford St.
Fall
2006
780-4581
e-mail:
rschmidt@usm.maine.edu
What does it mean to be “modern”? Many of the central concepts of
political theory (the polis, the citizen, the theorist) were created in
Classical antiquity; in part, to be a modern political theorist means to be an
actor out of time, forced to invent and maintain new structures of individual
and public identity. The theorists in this class are acting in crisis, theorizing
a “modern” world even as they struggle to live in it. Studying modern
political theory this semester will require that we do the same. Along
the way, we will engage some of the foundational questions of modern political
life: What constitutes legitimacy in modern politics? What is the
relationship between political membership and other aspects of our lives?
Is there a modern definition of “human nature”? Finally, we must consider
the defining question of our course: What does it mean to identify a person or
theory as “modern”?
It would be impossible to cover all of modern Western political thought in one
college term, so we will be investigating these specific questions through the
analysis of particular theorists. I will lecture on the readings and
their historical context, but students will be required to participate in the
analysis of our readings, and paper topics will draw on a wide variety of
texts. Three papers will decide the majority of the grade.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated, will result in a failing grade in the class
and may result in administrative action.
Class participation is also important to the students’ final
grade. Grades will be determined as follows:
First paper – October 5: 20%
Second paper – November 9: 30%
Final Paper – December 18: 40%
Participation: 10%
The assigned reading is below, will be available at the bookstore.
Machiavelli: Chief Works and Others, Vol. 1, Gilbert trans. (Duke Univ.
Press)
Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (Hackett Pub. Co.)
The Second Treatise on Government, John Locke (Hackett Pub. Co.)
Basic Political Writings, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Hackett Pub. Co.)
The Marx-Engels Reader (W.W. Norton Books)
The Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo, Friedrich Nietzsche (Vintage)
POS 391
Assignments
Introduction:
“Modernity” and a Definition of Political Theory
September 5:
No reading assigned
Recommended reading: Politics and Vision (Sheldon
Wolin), All That is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity (Marshall
Berman), Modernity at Large (Arjun Appadurai), The Black Atlantic
(Paul Gilroy)
September 7:
No reading assigned
Recommended reading: Civilization of the Renaissance in
Italy (Jacob Burckhardt), Renaissance Self-Fashioning (Stephen
Greenblatt), Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of
Niccolò Machiavelli (Hanna Pitkin)
Niccolò
Machiavelli
September
12:
The Prince
September 14:
The Prince
The Discourses, Book One, Preface
Film, Henry V (1989; dir. Kenneth
Branagh): 7:00 LBA
September 19:
The Discourses, Books One and Two
September 21:
The Discourses, Book Three
Thomas Hobbes
September 26:
Leviathan, Part One
September 28:
Leviathan, Parts One, Two
October 3:
Leviathan, Part Two
John Locke
October 5:
Lecture; No reading assigned
Recommended Reading: “Introduction,” Second
Treatise on Government, The First Treatise on Government (John
Locke), An Approach to Political Philosophy: Locke in Contexts (James
Tully), Judging Rights: Lockean Politics and the Limits of Consent
(Kirstie McClure)
First Paper Due
October 10:
October Vacation
October 12:
The
Second Treatise on Government
October 17:
The Second Treatise on Government
October 19:
No
class
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
October 24:
Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality (Second Discourse)
October 26:
Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality
October 31:
The Social Contract
November 2:
The Social Contract
Hegel
November 7:
No reading assigned
Recommended reading: Philosophy of Right (G.W.F.
Hegel), Introduction to the Philosophy of History (G.W.F. Hegel), Hegel
(Charles Taylor)
Karl Marx
November 9:
“On the Jewish Question” (Marx-Engels Reader, p. 26-52)
Second Paper Due
November 14:
“Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844” (Reader, pp. 66-81)
November 16:
“Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844” (Reader, pp. 81-106)
“Theses on Feuerbach” (Reader, pp. 143-145)
Modern Times (1936; dir. Charlie
Chaplin): 7:00 PM 503 Luther Bonney
November 21:
“The Manifesto of the Communist Party” (Reader, pp. 469-500)
“The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte” (Reader, pp. 594-603)
November 23:
Thanksgiving
Friedrich
Nietzsche
November 28:
No reading assigned
Recommended reading: Thus
Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche; Beyond Good
And Evil, Nietzsche; Ecce Homo,
Nietzsche; Nietzsche: Life as
Literature, Nehamas; Nietzsche
and the Politics of Transfiguration,
Strong
November 30:
On the Genealogy of Morals, First
Essay
December 5:
On the Genealogy of Morals, Second Essay
December 7:
On the Genealogy of Morals, Third Essay
Course
Conclusion
December 12
December
14
Final Paper Due
December 18
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.