GVPT 241 History of Political Theory A Political Theory of Civil Society Summer 2006 Session II July 17 August 25 Tuesday and Thursday 9 00am 12 20pm Sungmoon Kim Ph D Candidate Department of Government and Politics University of Maryland College Park Tydings Hall 5115 301 405 4144 smkim gvpt umd edu Office Hour Tue1 30pm 2 30pm Thur 1 30 2 30pm and by appointment COURSE DESCRIPTION The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the history of political theory by examining the writings of major ancient and modern political theorists Specifically this course will focus on major themes of the history of political theory the human nature and its relation to civil society Students will be expected to learn how the collapse of the ideal of human nature in classical political philosophy troubled many modern political theorists and in what ways they wrestled with creating a stable and sociable civil and political society Aristotle Arendt Hobbes Locke Smith Rousseau and Mill will be the theorists covered in the course The summer session will be divided into three parts Part 1 examines the ancient ideal of civil society polis and how its breakdown has resulted in what we will call the Hobbes Problem In Part 2 we will study the modern theory of civil society by reading John Locke s two complementary books Second Treatise and Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Adam Smith s Theory of Moral Sentiment Particularly we will focus on how the emerging commercial republic or the market has impacted on human nature and the idea of civil society Part 3 looks at how some later modern theorists took issue with the earlier modern idea of civil society by investigating two different political theorists Rousseau and Mill Rousseau raised the question of the importance of legitimacy in constituting civil society and Mill countered the Lockean framework of civil society by emphasizing the inalienable sovereign individuality and providing a different vision of civil society It is imperative that all should be carefully read and notes should be taken All reading assignments should be completed BEFORE the meetings for which they are assigned 1 COURSE REQUIREMENTS Attendance Attendance is crucial since class meets only twice a week It is assumed that students will attend every session unless a serious illness or emergency happens IMPORTANT More than three absences will result in a failing grade Class Discussion In every meeting the last one hour will be saved for group discussion Students will discuss each week s discussion questions on syllabus for the week Every week I will choose a couple of discussion leaders who will lead the remaining class Since we have total 12 weeks students will be assigned this position at least once Students are welcome to meet with me prior to the day they lead the discussion Short Papers Students will be asked to write 2 short critical papers 4 5 double spaced pages Since there will be NO WRITTEN EXAMS in this course these two essays will be critical in determining your final grade The first paper is due on August 15 and the second is on August 24 The paper is expected to be turned in on due dates Late papers will receive a deduction of 1 3 grade letter grade per day after due date e g A A No paper will be accepted after the due date Evaluation Your final grade will be calculated on the following basis Class discussion participation and attendance 20 Presentation 20 First essay 30 Second essay 30 Grades are assessed on an absolute that is NO CURVE scale according to which 60 69 D 70 79 C 80 89 B and 90 A Again no more than three absences will result in a failing grade ASSIGNED READINGS Hannah Arendt On Human Condition seclections Thomas Hobbes Leviathan selections John Locke The Second Treatise of Government entire Some Thoughts Concerning Education entire Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiment sections Jean Jacques Rousseau The First and Second Discourses entire J S Mill On Liberty entire Recommended Reading J S Mill The Subjection of Women 2 PART 1 The Ancient Ideal of Civil Society and the Hobbes Problem Meeting 1 7 18 The Ancient Ideal of Civil Society and Its Breakdown Reading Hannah Arendt On Human Condition Chapters 1 2 and 5 Polis the public vs Oikos the private Vita Activa vs Vita Contemplativa Modernity a rise of the social Modernity market and human nature Meeting 2 3 7 20 725 The Hobbes Problem Reading Thomas Hobbes Leviathan Books I 17 Human being as a Machine Christian ontology vs Modern epistemology Self love state of nature and fear of death Sovereign state and absolutism Part 2 The Modern Reconstruction of Civil Society Meeting 4 7 27 Natural Law Market and Social Contract Reading John Locke The Second Treatise of Government entire Two interpretations of the state of nature natural law or the market Transcendental individualism vs Possessive individualism The political implications of social contract A labor theory of value Meeting 5 6 8 1 8 3 Civility and Liberal Traditionalism Reading John Locke Some Thoughts Concerning Human Understanding entire Nature vs Nurture the value of education Mastery of others self mastery and individuality Desire for reputation and the virtue of civility A dialectic of unsociability and sociability Civil Society and the market Meeting 7 8 8 8 8 10 Strangership as Citizenship Reading Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiment Books I III 3 The neutrality of the concept sympathy Self command through moral psychology Impartial spectator and the constitution of conscience Cool strangership or warm civic friendship Civil Society Gesellschaft or Gemeinschaft The complexity of modernity Part 3 The Critical Reformulation of Civil Society Meeting 9 8 15 Self love amour propre and the Origin of Art and Science Reading Jean Jacques Rousseau The First Discourse entire Civilization as corruption Self love amour propre as evil The problem of luxury Political romanticism The first essay is due Meeting 10 8 17 Legitimizing Civil Society Reading Jean Jacques Rousseau The Second Discourse entire Natural man and the state of nature amour propre vs amour de soi Money and the origin of inequality Social contract and general will Meeting 11 8 22 Sovereign Individualism and Solidarity upon Harm Principle Reading J S Mill On Liberty entire The problem of the tyranny of majority or public opinion The importance of negative freedom Self development as character building Cruelty and solidarity Meeting 12 8 24 Conclusion Civil Society market and