GVPT 241 Spring 2007 Professor James Glass Off Hrs Mon 1 2 or by appointment Ext 5 4119 E mail jglass gvpt umd edu History of Political Theory Introduction SUB THEME The Psychological Foundations of Political Ideas Description This course looks at major themes in the history of political theory particularly the relationship between the public and the private and the impact of that relation on the self We begin with Plato in the classical period we then turn to modern political theorists such as Hobbes Locke and Rousseau We end the course with an introduction to themes in contemporary political theory with specific reference to the impact of psychoanalysis the role of genocide on political theorizing and the approach to the public and the private We will be concerned with the purposes of action the impact of transformation on political structure the impact of the self on public structures and how concepts of self stand at the center of concepts of power We will also look at how theories of human nature affect the development and elaboration of political concepts and how the political theorist responds to disintegration violence and political rebellion All political theorists put forward a theory of self or human nature it is that formulation the conception of how self works the role of desire passion and individuality that has a great deal to do with what political concepts are intended to do and how the political theorist links theories of politics and self to the structure and implementation of institutions action and ethics Required Texts Plato The Last Days of Socrates Machiavelli The Prince Hobbes Leviathan selections Locke Two Treatises of Government selections Rousseau The Social Contract and Discourses selections Marx Early Writings M Cardinal The Words to Say It 1 J Kosinski The Painted Bird S Freud The Future of an Illusion Schedule of Readings and Lectures I The Classical View Plato Reading Apology nature of political life and action response of the individual the gadfly nature of persecution role of authority Crito role of the state in assuring citizenship responsibilities of the citizen responsibility of the rebel against authority Republic no reading assignment the role of the philosopher and philosophy the danger of poetry and tragic poetry the importance of reason fear of the passions the role of the philosopher king II Aristotle and the Rise of Politics and Constitutionalism No reading assignment citizenship and participation the obligations of the citizen the importance of constitutions the disappearance of passion greed desire as threats to the state III The Modern Period Machiavelli and Action Reading Machiavelli The Prince the replacement of soulcraft by statecraft 2 IV the role of action and the Prince the meaning and significance of corruption the transcending of corruption violence and its place in political transformation Hobbes and Power The Structure of Sovereignty Reading Leviathan selections V modern concept of authority the fear of politics and passion the imposition of force the sovereign as perfect ruling reason the destabilizing effects of rebellion the power of political speech the use of geometry as political model Locke and the Appearance of Theories of Citizenship and Property Reading Locke Second Treatise on Government selections VI government as protector of property rights the purpose of society as the furthering of property interests the role of government and the critique of tyranny concept of labor and value the theory of possessive individualism the obligations and role of citizens Rousseau and the Critique of Property and Inequality Reading Discourse on the Origins of Inequality Rousseau s critique of the arts and sciences Platonic resonance attack on property and the division of labor the corrupting influences of interest Rousseau s theory of the state of nature and its relation to political rule inequality and its origins economic dynamics behind the origins of inequality destructive effects of the politics of inequality 3 VII Rousseau and the Power of Community Reading The Social Contract selections VIII the role of consent the concept of sovereignty the concept of general will community and its action the individual and the group the role of ideology in community Marx Revolution and Transformation Reading Marx Early Writings selections IX the theory of revolutionary change new theories of labor and value the role of the proletariat alienation the vision of a future society the interpretation of capitalism and production the function of money The Contemporary World Freud and His Legacy Reading S Freud The Future of an Illusion the nature of psychological experience the self and the forces of belief internal psyche and external political structure illusions and their function Reading M Cardinal The Words to Say It the theory of the unconscious the theory of desire and psychological defenses new ways of thinking about the self and its structure contra Marx indications of psychoanalytic implications in the study of politics 4 X The Contemporary World Genocide Reading J Kosinski The Painted Bird methods of mass destruction mass murder as a form of politics twentieth century legacies mass murder and technology the Holocaust and the annihilation of faith in politics individual group and state brutality as normal forms of politics Requirements Students will complete the readings before each discussion section There will be two midterm exams and a Final Examination The midterms will count each 30 of your grade and the Final 40 Discussion sections are mandatory you may not miss more than two discussion sections An explanation and a note must accompany any more absences Discussion section participation can help your grade if you are on the borderline between two grades 5