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Office Hours: Tue 12:30-1:30, 3:30-5, Thurs
10-10:30, 12:30-1:30, 3:30-4:30 & by appt |
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Overview and Objectives:
This course is
intended to provide students with an introduction to some of the key texts and
themes in the early part of the approximately 2500-year history of Western
political theory. (Western political theory first emerged as a field of inquiry
in ancient Greece.) Even within the time period we are studying, we will not be
able to discuss many relevant theorists and ideas. We will, however, cover some
of the more important texts in ancient Greek political thought. We will also
begin to get some sense of the wide range of ways in which politics has been
theorized. Moreover, we will read some of the texts that have shaped how later
political theorists and citizens today think about politics.
As we will see, even
in the Western world, theorists have thought about politics and government in
very different ways. Yet, there are numerous themes or topics that recur
throughout the history of political thought, including the following: the
characteristics of human nature; the relationship between the citizen and the polis (or state or government); the ends
or purposes of government; freedom; justice; equality; political obligation;
virtue; the good life; the best means of ruling the polis; the different types of political regimes, including
democracy; the role of culture, the family, and economics in shaping the polis; and the role of the philosopher
in the polis. Studying some of the
history of political theory allows us to see how issues like justice or the
purpose of government can be thought about in different ways and what the
strengths and limitations of each of these different ways are. As a
consequence, we can begin to think critically about our own views on politics,
the assumptions and consequences of these views, whether alternative ways of
thinking about political issues might be worth adopting or at least
considering, and why some (well-intentioned and reasonable) fellow citizens (or
global neighbors) may hold views very different from our own about some of
these issues.
Reading some of the
texts in the history of political theory can often be challenging, but given
time, persistence, and patience, it can also be rewarding and help clarify our
own thinking about politics, as well as our understanding of the diversity of
ways of theorizing political phenomena. Consequently, this course also seeks to
improve students’ skills in carefully reading and systematically analyzing
texts. Analyzing texts
involves, for example, determining a writer’s assumptions, how she/he defines
key political concepts, the logical steps in her/his argument, how her/his
different ideas fit together, etc. It is far more than just summarizing
the text. These are skills that are useful in countless aspects of academic
and non-academic life, and arguably are important skills in being a responsible
and active member of a free and democratic society. Because these skills are
often further improved by writing and because writing skills are themselves
important, this course also aims at expanding students’ analytical writing
skills.
This course is
approved as a general education course in Distribution Area II: Humanities.
Required Texts:
Please purchase
the specified edition of these books, so that everyone in class is using
the same translation and books with the same pagination, which is necessary for
class discussion and for your paper citations. Please bring the relevant
book, article, or course packet to class. We will often read and analyze
passages from the readings in class.
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one
course packet with readings (referred to as “CP” on the syllabus), printed by
Mycoursepack.com and available at the WMU Bookstore in the Bernhard Center. If
they run out of copies, you MUST specifically ask the bookstore to order a copy
for you, which should be available for you to pick up the following day.
·
Plato, Great Dialogues of Plato, trans. W. H.
D. Rouse, Penguin, 2008
You will also need TWO
8-1/2” x 11” blue or green books, which can be purchased at the bookstore, for
your midterm and final exams.
Course Requirements: Assignments and Grading
Please notify me if you have a documented disability
that requires accommodation. It’s crucial that you do so during the first week
of the semester so that we can make appropriate arrangements.
Please see the
university’s religious observance policy at http://www.wmich.edu/policies/religious-observances.html.
A complete and
updated copy of this syllabus should be consulted online, at the link for this
class at http://homepages.wmich.edu/~jswanson.
Assignments and study guides will be posted on the online syllabus. In
addition, you should check your official
WMU email account regularly, since I will use that email address to email
out announcements regarding class, changes to my offices hours, and so forth.
Feel free to contact me via email with questions about the readings,
assignments, and so forth, although be aware that, in general, I will not be
checking my email regularly in the evenings or on the weekends.
Students are expected
to do the assigned readings for that day BEFORE they come to class and to
participate actively in class discussion. You will get more out of class
and it will be more interesting for all of us, if you are an active listener
(both to me and your classmates) and thoughtful and respectful discussion
participant, rather than a passive attendee. You are expected to act civilly
and respectfully towards your classmates and me, and to respond to others’
comments in an intellectual and courteous manner and without hostility, even
when you disagree (which may often be the case). Regular attendance is
required, but if you have to miss class, YOU are responsible for finding
out from a classmate what you missed and for getting copies of the notes and
any class handouts. Please always bring a copy of the syllabus with you to
class so that you know which readings we are discussing in class that day. When
you do the assigned readings, you should do more than just read the material,
you should also REFLECT on it and take a few (or more) notes on the main
arguments and concepts/terms employed by the author. Taking your own notes on
the readings will make studying for exams and writing your papers easier, in
addition to helping you make sense of what each theorist is up to overall. I
will post discussion questions on the on-line syllabus for each set of readings
prior to the day we are scheduled to discuss them in class; you should think
about these questions while you are doing the reading; they may also serve as
the basis for some of our class discussion.
Responsibility for leading
class discussion:
In order to
encourage ALL students, rather than just a handful of students, to participate
in class discussion, all students will be assigned to “lead” class discussion
3-4 times during the semester. For each regular class session, approximately
5-7 students will be assigned to make at least ONE substantial contribution to
class discussion, where substantial means informed and thoughtful (NOT
long-winded) and contributions can be in the form of answers to questions or
thoughtful questions about the meaning or implications of an author’s
arguments. On the days students are assigned to lead discussion, they will be
evaluated with a plus, check, or minus, which will factor into their overall
class participation grade (after class, they should quickly check in with me
to make sure I noted and evaluated their participation); this does NOT
relieve these students of their obligation to participate in class discussion
regularly on other days. In other words, ALL students should be regularly
participating in class discussion, regardless of whether they are assigned to
lead class discussion. If you are unable to attend class on a day you are
assigned to lead discussion, it is YOUR responsibility to trade days with
another student and to INFORM ME of the change. If you have a last minute
emergency or illness that prevents you from trading days with another student,
you MUST inform me of the emergency ASAP, and you will be expected to lead
class discussion in the next regular class session. A schedule of class
sessions & assigned students will be posted
on the online syllabus on Wed., Sept. 15, which you should print out.
Your grade for the
course will consist of the following:
·
in-class
discussion participation (attendance will be taken each class to help me keep
track of participation—you can’t participate if you’re not in class), 7%
·
short, unannounced pop-quizzes at
the beginning of class, 21% total (missed quizzes will only be excused if you
have a documented, excused absence; your lowest quiz grade will be dropped)
·
1-2 analytical papers: 30% total;
two papers will be assigned, but you are only REQUIRED TO TURN IN THE FIRST
PAPER; you will not be allowed to submit the second paper if you have not
turned in the first paper; if you choose to write the second paper, your
overall paper grade will consist of the average of your first and second paper
grades. (The analytical papers will be written on assigned topics and will be
based on the assigned readings and class discussion; they do not require
outside reading or research.)
·
mid-semester exam, 21% (The exams
will be short-, medium-, and long-answer.)
·
cumulative final exam, 21%
You are to hand in a
hard, paper copy of assignments. Unless you have specific permission from me,
you are NOT to email me your written assignments; if you receive such permission,
it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure I received the assignment (I will send
you an email indicating whether or not the file came through successfully); DO
NOT assume I have received it just because the email apparently went
through.
You are responsible
for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in
the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Honesty. These policies
include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission,
plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. (The policies can be found at http://catalog.wmich.edu under Academic
Policies, Student Rights and Responsibilities.) If there is reason to believe
you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the
Office of Student Conduct. You will be given the opportunity to review the
charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the
opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about
an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test. A finding of responsibility for academic
dishonesty on any assignment will result in failure of this course (see
the Undergraduate Catalog).
Students who take
this class must be prepared to submit electronic copies of some or all
assignments. The University expects that all students will be evaluated and
graded on their own work. If you use language, data or ideas from other
sources, published or unpublished, you must take care to acknowledge and
properly cite those sources. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. To deter
plagiarism, encourage responsible student behavior, improve student learning
and ensure greater accountability, assignments for this class may be submitted
to Turnitin® for plagiarism detection. Papers that are submitted to Turnitin®
become part of the Turnitin® database (student identities are protected). If
you choose to request that your paper(s) not become part of the Turnitin®
student papers database this must be communicated to me in writing at the
beginning of the course. If the results of a Turnitin® originality report may
be used to charge you with plagiarism you will be notified of the result of the
report, and you will be given the opportunity to respond per the regular
institutional process and procedures that govern student academic conduct (http://www.wmich.edu/conduct/).
To avoid disrupting
class discussion, please turn off and PUT AWAY cell phones and beepers
before you come into class, arrive on time, and refrain from chatting with your
neighbor or eating anything in a noisy wrapper. Laptops will be banned from the
classroom if their use becomes disruptive or distracting; computers should ONLY
be used for taking notes. Students are NOT allowed to text, email, etc.
during class.
Late assignments and make-up
exams:
All
papers are due at the beginning of class.
You are discouraged from handing the analytical papers in late, but if you do,
points will be deducted accordingly: one grade (5 points) will be taken off if
you turn it in within 3 days of the due date; two grades (10 points) will be
taken off if you turn it in within 7 days. NO PAPERS will be accepted more than
a week after the due date.
Make-up
exams will be given for excused absences only; in such cases, you must notify
me well in advance of the exam and arrange to take it before the day of the exam. Only in the most dire or unusual
circumstances will you be allowed to make up an exam without penalty if you
have not made arrangements for doing so before the day of the exam.
Course Outline:
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Sept. 7 |
Introduction: Overview of course and its
objectives |
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Sept. 9 |
Overview of ancient & modern political
thought & liberalism: |
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Ball and Dagger, excerpts from “The
Democratic Ideal” & “Liberalism” (CP) |
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The Declaration of Independence, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp
[PRINT out a hard copy to bring to class; number the paragraphs as you read
it] |
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Sept. 14 |
Overview of ancient Greece and Greek
democracy: |
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R. K. Sinclair, “The Athenian Polis and the
Evolution of Democracy” (CP) |
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democratic constitution of Athens (CP) |
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Sept. 16 |
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I para. 66-88 (pp. 72-87),
Book II 34-46 (143-51) (CP) |
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Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II para. 56-65 (pp.
156-64), Book III 36-50 (212-23) (CP) |
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Sept. 23 |
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III para. 81-85 (pp.
241-5); Book V 84-116 (400-8) (CP) |
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Sept. 28 |
Plato, The
Apology (read entire) |
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Sept. 30 |
finish The
Apology |
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Plato, Crito
(read entire) |
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Oct. 5 |
finish Crito |
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FIRST
ANALYTICAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT POSTED ONLINE (link to assignment) |
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Sophocles, Antigone (CP) |
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Oct. 12 |
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Oct. 14 |
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FIRST ANALYTICAL PAPER DUE
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Oct. 19 |
Plato, Republic,
Book IV (all); V 461e-464d (pp. 303-7), 473b-480 (318-28) |
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Oct. 21 |
Plato, Republic,
Book VI 484a-487d (pp. 328-33); VII 514a-521b (365-74) |
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Oct. 26 |
Okin, “Plato and the Greek Tradition of
Misogyny” and “Philosopher Queens and Private Wives” (CP) |
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Oct. 28 |
EXAM: bring blue book (link to study guide)
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Nov. 2 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book I, i-vii, xii-xiii |
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Nov. 4 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book I, viii-xi; Book II, i-v |
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Nov. 9 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book III i- xiii |
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SECOND
ANALYTICAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT POSTED ONLINE (link to assignment) |
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Nov. 11 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book IV i- xi |
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Nov. 16 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book V i-v; Book VI i-v |
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Nov. 18 |
Aristotle, The Politics, Book VII i-iii, xiii-xiv; Book VIII i-ii |
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SECOND
ANALYTICAL PAPER DUE |
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Nov. 23 |
Nussbaum, “Nature, Function and Capability”
(CP) |
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(no class Nov. 25, Thanksgiving break) |
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Nov. 30 |
Judith A. Swanson. 1994. “Aristotle on
Liberality.” Polity 27, no. 1:
3-23. Available through WestCat, under the journal title and then through
JSTOR, https://www.library.wmich.edu/
[PRINT out a hard copy of the pdf to bring to class] |
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Dec. 2 |
Early
Christians: Matthew 5-7; Luke 4-23 (CP) |
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Dec. 7 |
Early
Christians: Romans 1-5, 12-14; Corinthians 6-7 (CP) |
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Dec. 9 |
St. Augustine, excerpts from City of God (CP) |
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St. Thomas Aquinas, excerpts from Summa Theologica & On Kingship (CP) |
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Dec. 13 |
FINAL
EXAM: Mon., 12:30-2:30pm, bring blue book (link to study guide) |
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