Syllabus PDF

Preview

Summary

syllabus...

Description

University of California, Los Angeles

Political Science 10

Brian Esparza Walker

Winter 2015

3347 Bunche Hall

[email protected]

PS10 An Introduction to Political Philosophy

The gentleman says: “Learning must never be concluded.” Though blue dye comes from the indigo plant it is bluer than indigo. Ice is made from water, but it is colder than water…. I once spent a whole day in thought, but it was not so valuable as a moment in study. I once stood on my tiptoes to look out into the distance, but it was not so effective as climbing up to a high place for a broader vista. Xunzi, “An Exhortation to Learning” Our purpose is to consider what form of political community is best of all for those who are most able to realize their ideal of life. We must therefore examine not only [our own] but other constitutions such as actually exist in well-governed states, and any theoretical forms which are held in esteem, so that what is good and useful may be brought to light. Aristotle, Politics 1260b27-32

Many thinkers have followed Aristotle in wondering about what can be said, at a scientific and philosophical level, about what is good and useful in political life. Plato, Confucius, Xunzi, Han Fei Tzu, Cicero, Saint Augustine, Ibn Khaldun, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Hannah Arendt, John Rawls, Robert Axelrod – over the past two thousand years a long line of thinkers have explored this question. This ongoing dialogue form generation to generation has bequeathed to us a vast inheritance of concepts and materials. PS 10 has been designed to help you to develop the skills necessary to pick up this intellectual inheritance.

Ten weeks is not nearly enough time to introduce you to such a large tradition as that of world political theory, so we follow a selective method, on the assumption that it is better to engage deeply with a few writers than to skim a dozen (though this can be valuable too). We look at Aristotle as a representative of the conservative point of view and then, for contrast, at two radical thinkers, Mill and Foucault. Through developing concepts to understand these three writers we get a grasp on the conceptual project at the heart of the political theory tradition. Texts (available in the bookstore) Aristotle The Politics New York; Cambridge University Press. John Stuart Mill Political Writings New York; Cambridge University Press. Reader for PS10 [available at Westwood Copy 1001 Gayley Ave—corner of Weyburn] Grading 10% Attendance at lectures and participation in section is mandatory in this class. Class is where we synthesize our reading; if you don’t show up you will miss the main part of the course. Part of your section grade is for participation so be sure to come to discussion prepared to explore the ideas you find in the week’s readings. Points will be deducted for sections you miss, and if you don’t attend your section at all you will be assigned zero points for attendance. 15% Pop quizzes – best 3 out of 4 (see class protocols below). 10% One 2-3 page practice paper, due Jan. 28th, at the beginning of class. See end of syllabus for instructions. 5% Careful grading of four of your classmates’ papers using the Peermark review system (through Turnitin) and the grading guidelines for this class (see website). Your grades are due by Feb 5th at noon – 1 point per day subtracted for late grades. 30% One 6-8 page paper, due Feb 25th at the beginning of class. 30%Friday, March 20, 2015 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Please note that the scheduled time for this exam is fixed and accommodations cannot be made for people who need to take the exam at other times. There will be no make up exams or alternative times. If you cannot make the final exam you should not take this class.

Introductory January 5th – Introductory Lecture Please start reading tonight!

January 7th – An Introduction to the Greeks Xunzi – Aristotle - epigraph quotations (above) Fustel de Coulanges from The Ancient City David Held “Classical Democracy; Athens” Aristotle, The Politics Book One: Section 1, Section 2 (only read 1253a7-end) Book Two: Section 1

Part One: Conservative Traditionalists January 12th – From the Palace to the Forum – The Beginnings of Democracy in Athens S.E. Finer from The History of Government (excerpts) Plato, “Euthyphro” (Excerpt) Paul Cartledge “The Greek Invention of the polis, of politics and of the political” Aristotle, The Politics Book One Sections 1-7 // Book Two Sections 1-5 January 14th – Aristotle’s Method of Dialectical Synthesis and the Case of Slavery (Reading Workshop) Henry Thoreau, On Reading from Walden Mortimer J. Adler, Selections from How to Read a Book Aristotle, The Politics Book Three Sections 6-11 // Book Four Sections 1-4, 11 January 21st – Aristotle on the Ethical Roots (and Goals) of Politics Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics (reader) Book Ten; Ch. 9 (In Everson edition of The Politics) Book One; Chapters 1-5,7–8 and Chapter 13, paragraphs 1-3 Book Two; All (except section 3) Book Five; 1, 2, 7 January 26th – Justice as a Virtue of Systems and as an Individual Ethos Andre Comte-Sponville “Justice’ from A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues

Jay Larner, “Rack’s Rule’s” Aristotle, The Politics Editor’s Introduction Book Seven Sections 1 and 2 // Book Eight Sections 1- 4. Note: Your practice paper is due at beginning of class next day – January 28th January 28th – Wrap-up of Conservatives Unit Xunzi, “Man’s Nature is Evil” Allan Bloom, “The Clean Slate” from The Closing of the American Mind Part Two: Liberals and Radicals February 2nd – An Introduction to John Stuart Mill and His World

Stefan Collini edition of On Liberty and Other Writings Introduction and Chapters One February 4th– Liberty, Utilitarianism and Rights John Stuart Mill On Liberty (Book Two)

February 9th – Correcting Ones Ideas through Dialogue and Debate – Mill on Public Reason and Private Self-Correction John Stuart Mill On Liberty (Three and Four) February 11th – Correcting Mill? On JSM’s Conservative Critics John Stuart Mill On Liberty (Chapter Five) Your second paper is due next day – November 12th, at the beginning of class

February 18th– Political Theory and Utopianism—Mill’s Advocacy for the Legal Equality of Women John Stuart Mill, “On the Subjection of Women” (Sections One and Four) February 23rd – Political Theory and the Social Question Karl Marx – from The Communist Manifesto (Part I)

--Your second paper is due next day-February 25th Mill as Inspirer of both Right- and Left-Wing Liberals John Stuart Mill “Notes on Socialism” pp. 221-234, 248-279 (you might skim the rest). Milton Friedman from Capitalism and Freedom March 2nd and 4th – Critical Theory, Biopolitics and the Neoliberal Model of Governance Friedrich Nietzsche from The Genealogy of Morals Michel Foucault from The Birth of Biopolitics – Lectures at the Collège de France 1978-1979 March 9th– Summary Class #1 – What do We Mean by Political Theory? John Rawls “Four Tasks for Political Philosophy” from Justice as Fairness; A Restatement March 11th – Summary Class #2 – What do we mean by Political Theory?

Class Protocols 1. This course entails intensive reading – a minimum of 3-4 hours of preparation time for each hour of class. A reading guide follows this syllabus in the reader for the class, and is also available online. 2. Please read all assigned readings before the first class on each topic -- thus read, for example, Xunzi, Aristotle, Coulanges and Held by the beginning of class two. 3. To encourage you to do the readings and engage with them seriously we will be springing several "pop quizzes," on you at unpredictable times during the quarter. Quizzes consist of 5 questions (usually) designed to check whether you have been understanding and remembering what you read (and whether you have done the reading in the first place). You will be quizzed on the readings assigned for the day at hand, as well as for the readings of the previous class (research has shown that the longer you keep ideas in your active memory – and the more frequently you recall them to mind-the likelier you are to remember them later). You need to do all the readings on time in order to prepare for these quizzes (which count for a full 15 % of your grade). Because we know that people sometimes get sick or have family emergencies or just have a bad day now and then we allow everybody to drop their lowest ranked quiz. 4. Please remember that there are many different people in this class, with a wide array of interests, backgrounds and levels of capability. The texts in this class are rich enough to repay the most subtle mind, but accessible to everybody with a bit of patience. If, at some times, this class seems to be cast at a lower or level or higher level than you are comfortable with, please try to be understanding. For example, I try to repeat the most important points in the class several times so they sink in – if you catch them the first time you may have to cultivate patience when I repeat things -- not everybody catches the full usefulness of an idea the first time they encounter it. 5. These huge classes are not ideal, but many studies have shown that people learn well in them if everybody works together carefully. Politeness and goodwill to those around you will help a lot! We endeavor to show you as much respect and care as possible and appreciate it very much when you return the favor. To be specific: 1) Please put away non-class reading material during lecture. In the same way that it is rude to read at the dinner table it is rude to check your e-mail or go online during class . It is also annoying to the people who sit behind you who will be distracted by your screen. 2) If you tend to fall asleep in class please try to stay out of the instructor’s line of sight. (Most everything you do in the audience is clearly visible from the panoptic podium). 3) Also please do not talk in class - it is rude, and annoying to your fellow students! This last point is important; -- many students complained in previous years about the amount of chatting going on around them and how hard it was to hear. Please be considerate to your fellow students (and to the instructor).

6. Please bring the readings to class each day. Frequent references will be made to the text and reading along underlining and note-taking will be immensely useful to you later when you are preparing for exams. You should take notes in this class – it will help you retain the concepts from the class. 7. Please take advantage of office hours. The TAs and I enjoy talking with you and getting to know you. It is especially important to contact your TA or me if you feel that you are confused or falling behind. You also should always feel free to ask questions in class -- I will make openings for questions at the end of lecture, but feel free to put your hand up at other times as well. Every question is useful -- if you feel confused it is likely that other people do as well. E-Mail. You can also e-mail me any concerns or questions you have – I always enjoy hearing about how things seem from your perspective. Unless what you ask is private I will try to answer your e-mail out loud in class – if you are wondering about something others probably are as well, and if you find something interesting others might too. 9. Please show up to class and section on time. Important announcements (deadlines, discussion of paper topics and so on) frequently come in the first five to ten minutes of class. If you arrive late you risk missing important information that could influence your grade. 10. You should type all papers and take-home exams in the usual way - double spaced, with regulation one inch (or thereabouts) borders and 12 point font size. Papers are due in (to your TA) at the beginning of class on the days stipulated above. All late papers lose two marks per day unless a verifiable doctor’s note is provided. Before turning your paper in please submit it toTurnitin.com, the anti-plagiarism detection service. You do this by going to your MyUCLA “Courses” page and finding the Turnitin icon link to PS115C. Click that to link the class. Click the “submit” icon next to the assignment name in order to submit your paper. If you have any problems with Turnitin call 310-206-4525 to talk to a Turnitin specialist. Papers that are not turned in to Turnitin lose 7 % of their grade. All students have a right to protest their grades after carefully reading the TA’s comments, mulling them over for 24 hours and then explaining in writing what they think is wrong. If you are not satisfied after the TA has re-read a paper or exam once, you should come and see me and I will read your paper and adjust the grade (up or down as the case may be). 11. Please bring 2 -3 blank (don’t write your name on the book until you are asked to please) blue books for all exams. 12. Make sure that your correct e-mail is registered on URSA so that you can receive emails from me and the TAs. 13. This class is available as a video and audio podcast from Bruincast. You can also find outlines for most lectures on the class website. Please be patient and forgive me if I stray a bit from the outline –- I find a bit of improvisation keeps lectures lively. If you have trouble following my lectures please look closely at my outlines – they will show you my main points and how everything hangs together. I try my hardest to provide rich, intellectually ambitious lectures, but that means we have to pack a lot in to each meeting; the outlines will show you the main compartments into which the contents of the class are divided.

PS10/2015 Essay Question #1 Why does Aristotle think that ethics and political science need to be studied together? Goals: To integrate and deepen your understanding of the Aristotle works we look at in the first weeks of class. To work on your writing skills in preparation for the longer papers later in the quarter. To start applying good writing practices. To help you understand why becoming serious about political science entails becoming serious about ethics (even though we all know that politics is essentially about power and struggle.) Protocols 1) This question requires you to set out the basic elements of the Aristotelian view of the connection between ethics and political science. Please make sure that you are exact and truthful about your portrayal of Aristotle. Back up everything you say about Aristotle with citations (not quotations) from his texts. Please cite passages by footnoting page numbers and the first four words of the sentence you are referring to, thus: Aristotle believes that educated people should have a greater say in political decision-making.1 Subsequent references to the same book can be footnoted as “Ibid. p. 3.” If you are not yet familiar with how to cite texts in footnotes you can learn by reading a manual of style (see below). Your paper should include at least four citations per page, drawn from the assigned texts for this course and from any outside reading that you do. 2.) Another of the goals of this exercise is to learn to write and to argue clearly and succinctly. This means that you should write one or more drafts of your paper and sharpen your argument in each re-writing. Handing in a draft (a paper which you haven’t re-written at least once) will usually result in a B or C grade.

1Ar i s t o t l eThePol i t i c sandt h eCo ns t i t u t i o nofAt h e ns( Ca mb r i dge ;Ca mbr i dg eUni v e r s i t yPr e s s , 19 96)p . 80( “ I ft h ee x i s t e n c e . . . ’ ) [ No t et hats ubs e que ntc i t at i onsoft hes ameboo ks ho ul dber e f e r r e dt oasI bi d. pX.pl ust hefir s tf o ur wor ds . ]

You can check and see how well you are writing by reading your essay aloud to yourself from beginning to end. Re-write passages that seem clumsy or difficult to read so that they flow better. This is a natural part of the writing process -- all good writers edit and re-write their work in some such way. It might also help to have a friend read your final copy over and tell you where he or she has difficulty following you, or where your writing seems awkward. Writing several versions of your papers is the only way to write well and writing well is one of the only ways we have of becoming more correct in our thoughts and knowledge. Employers want the people they hire to be detail oriented and careful -- writing carefully is a good form of training for this. We will take points off your grade for awkward writing, clumsy grammar or poor sentence structure. 3) Your paper should be from 2-3 pages in length, typed in a twelve-point font size, with standard borders, and follow a standard formatting style such as that in the Chicago Manual of Style. Papers over three pages will not be accepted. The paper should be handed in by January 28th at the beginning of class. Because this first practice paper will be graded by your peers you should be careful not to put your name or any other identifying information on your paper. Turnitin will register who submitted the paper but the people marking your paper will not know who you are. Your grade on your first paper will be an average of the four grades your graders give you. If you think this final grade unfair and you have substantive reasons for thinking so you may ask your TA to regrade, and he or she will raise, lower or re-affirm the grade given by your classmates. In other words, the peer review process is not the final word – the TAs will read any papers whose author has a good reason to believe he or she has been judged unjustly....