This course in political philosophy is designed so that we might grapple with some of the basic ideas which have permeated the search for understanding politics and the values explicitly or implicitly involved in different theories of politics. We are particularly concerned with the classical writings from Plato (5th century B.C.E.) to Machiavelli (16th Century C.E..).  Contemporary links to the classical ideas and between the classical ideas and contemporary politics will be drawn so that the relevance of the classical to the present is appreciated. The emphasis is on political “philosophy,” that is, ideas on the “true,” the “right”, the “good” and the political implications derived therefrom. This involves discussions of what “is” and what “ought” to be in a political society

Class Discussion and Discussion Notes :
     Tuesdays: Any time we have a reading assignment on a Tuesday, discussion notes in typed form are required. . The course is organized to engage all of us in a discussion of major political ideas. This cannot be done effectively unless everyone has not only read through but reflected upon the reading assignments. Thus, you are expected to develop some discussion notes containing several (3-5) major ideas which you see in the readings and which you feel would be good for discussion. These need not be extensive and in flowing essay form. They should not encompass more than one page, single-spaced.  However, they should be short paragraphs commenting upon passages in the readings. The intent is not to engage in extensive writing but within one single-spaced page to put down some ideas upon which you have reflected. You may raise questions about the ideas, indicate positive or negative reactions, draw comparisons with other writers you have read, or perhaps with contemporary politics. INDICATE THE PAGES [!!] to which you are referring alongside each point you are commenting on so that we might quickly go to the relevant passages in our class discussion.

These should be sent to me via email or blackboard by Monday evening [midnight] -- Blackboard is preferred. . You should, of course, bring a copy to class for discussion.

    Thursdays: NO DISCUSSION NOTES due on Thursdays. However, you should come to class with pages and passages marked for discussion. I'll ask in class for some of these.

    Grading of these notes will be generally “OK” or “Skimpy” (or some other such phrase to indicate that not much content is contained in the notes). Discussion notes that indicate exceptional quality in the ideas that have been picked out and the comments on them will be noted. The final grade on participation in the course will rely heavily on these . In effect, daily preparation and regular presentation of your ideas [ graded "OK"] in these discussion notes will result in an "A" for 15% of your course grade.

    The paper in this course is not a research paper but an essay describing your personal political philosophy in the context of the classics. This means describing your ideas in a comprehensive fashion so as to constitute a comprehensive statement of your political philosophy in relation to the early classics. These ideas should be cast in manner so that you are accepting, rejecting, or modifying ideas which we have studied during the semester. The quality of the paper will depend upon the accuracy of understanding the ideas we have studied and the carefulness of your reasoning in accepting, rejecting or modifying these ideas and presenting your ideas.

Process Writing: I will ask for two drafts prior to the final paper. Each of these drafts will be commented upon but not graded. (However, the effort put into developing good drafts will be noted and be part of the consideration for the final grade.) The second draft is expected to build on the previous draft, and the final paper upon the two previous drafts. Obviously you will be adding new material as you read new ideas.

Re-write of Paper: If you have displayed good effort in working on the paper throughout the course you may re-write the final paper after seeing your grade. The re-write grade will become your final grade for the paper.

Length: approximately 6 - 7 single-spaced pages.

Citations: You should provide page citations for ideas and quotes from the various writers. Since the texts are the texts in the course you need only indicate the page location with the short form of citation. For example: (Plato 18), (Cicero 26), etc.

Books:
 The Republic of Plato, Trans. by G.M.A. Grube, Revised by C.D.C. Reeve
 Aristotle's Politics, Trans. and Ed. by Ernest Barker
 Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince and the Discourses
 St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics, Ed. by Paul Sigmond
 Marcus Cicero, The Republic, Trans. by Niall Rudd

Assignments:
Aug. 24 Introduction: The Nature of and Approaches to Political Philosophy

                --why study?

                        --are we all political philosophers?

                            --what is "political" ?"philosophical"?

                                     --elements to political definitions:

                                            --order/values/coercion/distribution/deliberation and decision

-- ideology cf theory:--"Political theories employ conceptual lenses to develop and justify the mores that order, or should order, social life. That is to say, political theories organize ideas, principles, and facts into reasoned sets of propositions to gain both understanding of the political world and moral footing within it. These ideas, principles, facts, and methods of reasoning remain susceptible to ideological use and abuse. If political theorists remain self-conscious about their role as purveyors of conceptual lenses and propagators of mores, however, they may avoid the gravest of the threats of ideological thought.""(Leslie Thiel,  Thinking Politics)

                        --what does it mean to be "human" -- the "human" question" ?"

                        --Socratic irony -- the course's presupposition

                --approaches to study

                            --historical and historicism

                            --textual-philosophical/interpretative

                            --textual-method of knowing

                            --personal-philosophical

                            --classical to the contemporary:

                                --Plato to Strauss

                                --Aristotle to Neo-Aristotelians and communitarians

                                --Cicero to our constitutional forefathers

                                --Augustine to the realists of international relations

                                --Machiavelli to Neustadt and presidential analysis

Aug. 29 Plato, The Republic, pp. 1-31
                --What line of argument is used against Cephalus's concept of justice?
                            --In what sense is "to each his due" used here?
                                --[This will change meaning later in the text and the principle will emerge in a different form.]
                --What line of argument is used against Polemarchus? and the basic principle stated?
                --Why does Thrasymachus shift ground in arguing vs. Socrates? Should he?
                --Why the analogy of ruling as an "art"?
                --What lies at the heart of the answer to the question as to whether injustice is more profitable than justice?
                           --What roles played by ideas of "happiness" and "virtue" to the answer to this  question?
                --What political significance is the answer to the question of injustice/justice?

Aug. 31 Plato, The Republic  pp. 32-68
                --What is meant by "contract theory" and why does Plato bring it up?
                --What is the myth of the ring and its relationship to the question of justice?
                        --What would you do with the ring?
                --How does Plato's view of the development of society contrast with contract theory?
                --What is the significance of the idea of "division of labor" re: justice?
                --Who are the guardians? Any modern day equivalents?
                --What is Plato's view of education?

Sept. 5  Plato, The Republic  pp. 88[412b] - 121
                --What is the guardians' style of life? Why set up this way?
                        --What are the underlying principles of concern here?
                        --What are  the basic problems at issue?
                --What is the myth of the metals? What is the essence of the argument here?
                        --Any modern day analogies?
                        --This is often referred to as the "noble lie." Is this appropriate? What is
                            the link between myth, political power and justice presented here?
                --What link is drawn by Plato between the individual and the state?

  Sept.7  Plato, The Republic  pp. 122-156
                --How does the argument here work in favor of women's political opportunities?
                --Why does Plato talk of abolishing the family organization?
                --What beginnings of international law are found here?
                --What is the philosopher king and how do we know him/her?
                        --Any modern day analogies?
                --How absolute are values for Plato?
                --What is the difference between "belief" and "knowledge"?
                        --Note Plato's view of the sophists. Modern day analogies?
                --What is meant by the paradox that philosophers must become kings?

Sept. 12 Plato, The Republic  pp. 157-185

                --What are the qualities necessary to rule? How are these qualities corrupted? What hope then?
                --What is the ultimate end of the state and how related to customs and institutions?
                --What is the meaning and significance of the 4 stages of cognition?

Sept. 14 Plato, The Republic  pp. 186-194, 213-246
                --What is the allegory of the cave and its significance?
                --What is the cycle of fall from the ideal state?
                --How do values/virtues relate to each type of state?

Sept.  19 Plato, The Republic  pp. 246-263, 285-292
                --What is Plato's argument re: whether it is best to live an unjust or a just life?
                        --What significance is this to the state?

                --Contemporary Descendants of Plato: Truth and Absolutes

                        --Religion and Natural Law
                        --Totalitarian or Democrat?
                        --Leo Strauss to the Postmodernists: the Certitude of Plato to the Ignorance of Socrates

First draft: paper on your political philosophy in the context of the classics. At this stage this should be personal reactions to Plato's ideas indicating first the nature of the idea and then why you may or may not integrate into your personal philosophy. [approximately 2-3 single-spaced pages]

Sept. 21    EXAM

Sept. 26  Aristotle, Politics, pp. 7-51 [BK I: Chpts. 1-4/ BK IV: Chpt 1]
                --How does society develop and what significance re:
                            (1) rulers, slaves, women and (2) nature of a "person"?
                --What role does "nature" play in Aristotle's thought and what relationship to convention?
                --Why refer to household management as a moral art?
                --What is Aristotle's view of Plato's ideal state?

Sept. 28 Aristotle, Politics  pp. 51-56; 84-119 [BK !; Chpt. 2/ BK II: Chpts 1-13]
                --What is Aristotle's conception of citizenship?
                --What is Aristotle's conception of a constitution and its significance?
                --What is the typology of constitutions and the basis for each type?
                --What is Aristotle's idea of distributive justice?
                --What is the role of law in a state?

                --What arguments are made for why people ought to be sovereign?

Oct. 3    Aristotle, Politics  pp. 120-177 [BK III: Chpts. 14-18/ BK IV: Chpts 1-16]

                    --Who is to govern when the claims of different groups are present?

                    --What is the role of law? Why emphasis on it? What types of law?

                    --What general types of constitutions re: quality and what determines? Note esp.

                                 what is "best" and how this is determined.

                    --What criteria for "perverted" constitutions?

                    --What is the significance of classes for Aristotle and what are they?

                    --What arguments for proportional equality in office holding? (Note especially

                                 what is meant by proportional equality.)

                   --What does Aristotle see as the nature of inquiry in studying politics? 

                   --What is Aristotle's view on "democracy"? Note the various types and what

                               determines them.

                   --What are the elements that differentiate the types of kingship?    

                            --[Memorizing the various types of systems is less significant than

                             understanding the elements of analysis used in sorting out the types.] 

                   --Does Aristotle have an "ideal constitution"? What is the "best" constitution?

Oct.  5  Aristotle, Politics  pp. 178-217 [BK V: Chpts. 1-10]

--What is the key to making a political system such as democracy work according to its legal   constitution?
--What affects the role of law in general throughout the different systems? [You need not memorize each system but note how the role changes and why.]
--What is necessary for broadly based democracy and how do the poor get a shot at it?
--What role is there for socio-economic variables in analyzing politics?
--What are the characteristics of the members of a polity? [Again, don't memorize all the "sub-species" but note the basic factors considered that affect the type of polity one has.]
--How does the polity relate to the present U.S. constitutional system?     --What is the importance of the middle class?
--What is the difference between the "best" constitution and the "ideal" constitution?
--Note the interplay of the "three elements of government." [ Don't memorize all the different variations but seek a sense of how these elements can be developed in different ways and what affects some of these variations.]
--What leads to revolution and how to avoid it?

Oct. 10    Fall Break

Oct.  12 Aristotle, Politics  pp. 217-228; 251-272; 279-290 [BK V: Chpts. 11-12/  BK VII: Chpts 1-9, 13-15]

 --What guidelines does Aristotle give for ensuring constitutional stability?

--Chp. XI is important re: preserving tyrannies since it will relate to Machiavelli's arguments in some ways in The Prince. Why does Aristotle provide such advice?

--What is "the good life" and how does this relate to politics?  --What is the connection between the individual and the community?  --What is needed for the ideal state? What is Aristotle's way of knowing this?

--What are some of the basic principles of education he advocates?

Oct.  17 Contemporary Descendants of Aristotelian Theory:
             Structural Functionalism, Natural Law, Communitarianism.

Oct.  19 Cicero, The Republic, pp. 3-34 [Book One]
                --What is the relationship between wisdom and happiness"
                --What is the significance of natural law in these passages?
                --Why is the state important and what is the best state?
                --How is a commonwealth defined?
                --What kind of equality is advanced by Scipio?
                --How does Scipio know that what he's advocating is the best kind of politics?
                --How do Scipio's ideas relate to Plato and Aristotle?

Oct. 24 Cicero, The Republic, pp. 60-94 [Books Three - Six]

--Note that Philus represents Carneades' classical arguments against natural law ideas. Cicero, in effect, presents the other side from his views here.   --What are the key points of argument presented by Philus?
--What are the points of reply by Laelius (who is representing Cicero's ideas)?
--Which arguments do you find most convincing?
--Why the discussion of the soul? Note Scipio's dream and its significance.

Oct. 26 Cicero  -- Stoics -- Roman Law-- no additional reading  --- Second draft of  paper on your political philosophy in the context of the classics. This should include the earlier section on Plato and discuss major ideas we've discussed since Plato. This should lay out some of the major ideas and why you see them as fitting your philosophy or not. [approximately 2 additional  single-spaced pages to first draft]

Oct. 31   St. Augustine and His Modern "Realist" Legacy

Nov. 2     EXAM

Nov. 7     St. Thomas Aquinas, On Politics and Ethics, pp. 14-29; 37-39; 44-76
                --How does one arrive at knowledge?
                --What is the relationship of man and society?
                --What determines "good" and "bad" government and which is the "best" government?
                --What view on revolution presented here?
                --What is the significance of natural law and how is it known?
                --What is the role of government?
                --What are Aquinas's views on women?

Nov.  9 Aquinas Today through Jacques Maritain. et al.,  pp. 172-180;204-211 ---Contemporary Critics  and Defenders of Natural Law,  pp. 211-225

--How does Maritain fit liberal democratic ideas with natural law theory?

              (Note especially ideas on equality, secular thought, pluralism,

                        and individual natural rights)

--What view of "person" is presented here by Maritain?

--How does one know natural law according to Maritain?

--What is the basic nature of Costillo's communitarian society?

--What is Solar's unique (for Thomistic thought) view of proper

--What are the key elements of criticism provided by Nielsen?

--How do Nielsen's criticisms tie into the ones found in Cicero's account through the  comments of Philus? (Remember, these represent Carneades' views and not Cicero's.)

--Are Bourke's replies to Nielsen convincing to you?

--What alternative to Thomistic natural law thinking is offered by Niebuhr?

Nov. 14 Machiavelli, Prince, 1st half
                --What are the critical pieces of advice offered to the prince?
                          --With which ones would you agree the most? disagree?
                --What is Machiavelli's source of knowledge?
                --Given Machiavelli's advice, what appears to be his view of "person," of "the good,"
              and of "society." Note especially how Machiavelli uses the idea of virtue throughout.

Nov. 16 Machiavelli, Prince, 2nd half
                --What are the critical pieces of advice offered to the prince?
                           --With which ones would you agree the most? disagree?
                --What is Machiavelli's source of knowledge?
                --Given Machiavelli's advice, what appears to be his view of "person," of "the good,"
                and of "society." Note especially how Machiavelli uses the idea of virtue throughout.

Nov. 21 Machiavelli, Discourses  1st book, chps. 2,5,9.12,13,17-22; 24-27; 29, 30, 32
                --What political maxims for effective political action are set forth in these passages?
                --Is the advice in the Discourses at odds with that given in The Prince?
                --What advice/analysis seems to ring true today?
                --What is the gist of the basic approach to political theory by Machiavelli?
                --How do his ideas relate to the nature of "self," the relationship of the individual
                            to society  and the role of politics?

Nov. 23 Thanksgiving

Nov. 28 Neustadt and Modern Machiavellianism [Not in your reading. I'll cover in class.]

                No Reading -- Work on your final paper

Nov. 30 Final paper on your political philosophy in the context of the classics. You need to indicate the "context of the classics" by setting forth some of the major ideas in clear detail and then indicate your political philosophy at this juncture in your life. The first part should comprise about 75% of the paper and the second part 25%. You may wish to set out the ideas we've studied first and then indicate your philosophy in the last couple of pages or weave your ideas into the text as you move from idea to idea. [approximately 2 additional single-spaced pages to previous drafts]

Dec. 5  Review -- Student Comments on Their Papers [Time will dictate how much of this we can do.]

Re-write due by Dec. 11.  The option to re-write your paper will be available to anyone who has shown a good faith effort to develop the paper throughout the course.  The option is not available  if this effort has not been shown.