Lehrman American Studies Center

“This is that noble Science of Politics, which, of all sciences, is the most important to the welfare of nations, which, of all sciences, must tends to expand and invigorate the mind, which draws nutriment and ornament from every part of philosophy and literature, and dispenses, in return, nutriment and ornament to all.” -- T. B. Macaulay

Description:

This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. The course will focus on the concept of the regime as the central principle of political life: the polis experience (Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau), and the rise of democracy and its consequences (Tocqueville, Flaubert). We will focus especially on the way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life.

Texts:

1. Sophocles, Antigone
2. Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates
3. Aristotle, Politics
4. Machiavelli, The Essential Writings
5. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Political Writings
7. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
8. Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

Requirements:

• There will be three short papers (5-7 pages each) and a final exam. The papers will be due on Tuesday September 23, October 21, and November 18 at a time and place to be determined by your TA. Attendance and participation in sections is a further requirement. Each paper, the final examination, and participation in section will count for approximately 20% of the final grade. Students taking the class in one of the WR sections will have a different paper schedule to be explained by your TA.

Course Outline:

• Week 1 of September 1
  • Introduction: What is Political Philosophy?

• Week 2 of September 8
  • Socratic Citizenship
  • A. Sophocles, Antigone
    • The ancient polis was the site of the most intense and violent human conflict: between the household and the political authority, men and women, human reason and the appeal to a higher law. What does the conflict between Antigone and Creon represent? Is Creon a tyrant or a spokesman for the law? What does the play reveal about the role of reason/speech in political life?
  • B. Plato, Apology of Socrates
    • Who was Socrates and why was he put on trial? What were the historical circumstances surrounding the trial? Socrates is charged with impiety and corruption. What is meant by these terms and in what respects are they considered a threat to Athenian democracy? Socrates challenges his audience to live an “examined life.” In what sense is this idea a plausible basis for citizenship?

• Week 3 of September 15
  • A. Plato, Crito
    • In the Crito Socrates defends the right of the city to put him on trial and even to take his life. What are his arguments regarding political authority? Why are we obliged to obey the laws? Socrates writes a speech for the Law of Athens. Are his reasons convincing? Is he being sincere? What are the limits, if any, of political obligation?
    • The Regime and its Forms
  • B. Aristotle, Politics, I, II (1-5)
    • What does Aristotle mean in saying man is a “political animal?” He claims that the city (polis) exists “by nature.” What does he mean by this? He also defends the naturalness of slavery. What does he mean by slavery? Who are slaves by nature? If we are by nature political animals – entitled to take a part in the offices of government – how is it natural for some people to be enslaved others?

• Week 4 of September 22
  • A. Aristotle, Politics, III-IV
    • Aristotle offers a typology of regime forms. What is a regime? How many kinds are there? He distinguishes between regimes ruled by the one, the few, and many. Are there other criteria for distinguishing between regime types? Where would the American regime fit in Aristotle’s typology? And is there one regime that is best by nature?
  • B. Aristotle, Politics, VII
    • The essence of politics is the faculty of judgment or deliberation. What are the qualities necessary for the exercise of good political judgment? How does political judgment differ from other intellectual activities? How is the capacity for the exercise of judgment acquired and transmitted? Is there one kind of regime where good political judgment is most likely to be found?

• Week 5 of September 29
  • Jerusalem and Athens
  • A. Genesis, 1-4; 1 Samuel, 8
    • The Western tradition is made up of elements derived from both Greece and the Bible, Athens and Jerusalem. How does the Bible’s account of the origins of political institutions differ from that of Plato or Aristotle? What are the political teachings, if any, of the opening chapters of Genesis?
  • B. I Samuel 17-20; II Samuel, 1, 5-6, 11-15, 18
    • If there is an ideal prince anywhere in the Bible, it is surely the story of David. Yet David is far from perfect. How does David rise to power? What are the qualities that enable him to succeed? What flaws does David exhibit once he achieves political power? What are the most outstanding features of David’s kingship?

• Week 6 of October 6
  • New Modes and Orders
  • A. Machiavelli, The Prince (chaps. 1-12)
    • Machiavelli claims to offer a new kind of political science based on the “effectual truth” of things. What does he mean by this? To whom is the Prince addressed and what are the qualities of a good prince? Machiavelli distinguishes between armed and unarmed prophets. Why does he invoke this language in discussing the qualities of a prince?
  • B. Machiavelli, The Prince, (chaps. 13-26)
    • Machiavelli speaks continuously of the virtù of a prince. What is princely virtù and how does it differ from Christian or moral virtue? Is the Machiavellian prince a tyrant or does he display quasi-democratic sympathies? What is the function of the final chapter of the Prince?

• Week 7 of October 13
  • A. Machiavelli, Discourses, Preface, Book I, chaps. 1-13, 25-26, 29, 55, 58: Book II, chap. 2
    • The Discourses is Machiavelli’s book about republics. What is the relation between the princely or monarchical teachings of the Prince and the republican or popular teachings of the Discourses? What are the distinctive features of Machiavelli’s republic and how does it differ from Aristotle’s politeia?
  • B. Machiavelli, Mandragola
    • Machiavelli was not only a political theorist but a playwright. In what ways does Mandragola convey his political teachings through the devices of comedy? In particular how do Machiavelli’s politics come to invade the sphere of domestic life? In what way is the family a metaphor for politics?

• Week 8 of October 20
  • The Sovereign State
  • A. Hobbes, Leviathan (Letter Dedicatory, Author’s Intro, ch. 5, 6, 11)
    • Hobbes follows Machiavelli in claiming that he has established a new political science. What does Hobbes mean by a science of politics? How is it different from Aristotle’s? Hobbes treats human beings as uniquely prone to the passions of pride and fear. Why do these two passions seem paramount in his account of human psychology?
  • B. Hobbes, Leviathan (ch. 13-18)
    • What is the state of nature and what function does it play in Hobbes’s new science of politics? What is the status of the laws of nature? Are they laws in the sense of the law of gravity or are they moral laws?

• Week 9 of October 27
  • A. Hobbes, Leviathan (ch. 21, 24, 29-30, “Review & Conclusions”)
    • The center of Hobbes’s political philosophy is his account of sovereignty? Who or what is the sovereign? What problem did Hobbes’s sovereign seek to answer and what problems did it create? Is Hobbes’s sovereignty a recipe for absolutism? What is the role for law in his theory of government?
  • The Democratic Age
  • B. Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality (Author’s Preface, Part I)
    • How does Rousseau’s state of nature function as a critique of Hobbes and Locke? What is the pity or compassion in Rousseau’s account of natural man? What does he mean by the capacity for perfectibility?

• Week 10 of November 3
  • A. Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality (Part II)
    • What are the sources of inequality: are they principally material (private property) or psychological (pride, amour propre)? What are the moral consequences of the progress of civilization and what is Rousseau’s alternative to our current condition of corruption and degradation?
  • B. Rousseau, Social Contract, I-II
    • Rousseau believes that all legitimate government is based on the exercise of the General Will. What does he mean by this term? How is the General Will established? How is it determined and how does it differ from the will of all? What is the basis of Rousseau’s dislike of representative government? What alternative does he propose?

• Week 11 of November 10
  • A. Social Contract, III-IV
    • Rousseau has been credited for the creation of a new form of government – “totalitarian democracy.” Are his doctrines of the “Legislator” and his views on “civil religion” susceptible to this charge? Do Rousseau’s teachings contain the seeds of later revolutionary doctrines (Robespierre, Marx, Lenin) or is this charge over stated? What do you imagine the most important legacy of Rousseau to be?
  • Democracy and its Consequences
  • B. Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 3-15, 56-65, 235-64
    • Tocqueville regards the general trend of history as moving toward greater and greater equality. What confirms him in this belief? What does he mean by calling equality a “social fact?” What accounts for the “mildness” of American democracy in contrast to the European experience?

• Week 12 of November 17
  • A. Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 274-302, 426-28, 479-84, 485-88
    • Among the “habits of the heart” that help to sustain democracy, Tocqueville pays particular attention to religion. What is the relation between democracy and religion and why does Tocqueville regard it as essential? To what extent is Tocqueville’s account of religion influenced by Rousseau’s chapter on “civil religion?” What are the dangers to which religion is prone in a democratic age?
  • B. Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 500-08, 535-39, 589-99, 661-65, 673-76
    • Tocqueville fears that even democracy may create new, even unprecedented forms of tyranny. What does he mean by democratic despotism? How does it differ from his earlier fears of tyranny of the majority? How accurate are Tocqueville’s predictions about the tendencies of democracy? Is he optimistic or pessimistic about democracy’s future?

• Thanksgiving Break

• Week 13 of December 1
  • A. Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Parts 1 and 2
    • Why would a course on political philosophy end with a novel like Madame Bovary? In what respect, if any, is the novel political? What is Flaubert’s attitude to the modern world of post-revolutionary France? Flaubert once said “Emma Bovary, c’est moi” (I am Emma Bovary). What do you think he meant by that?
  • B. Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part 3
    • Flaubert is a contemporary of Tocqueville. How do their attitudes differ toward the middle classes, religion, the age of equality? What lesson or teaching are we supposed to learn from Emma’s death?