General Information
Contact Information
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Teaching Assistant:
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Course Description
“Political philosophy” is, roughly speaking, the use of reason to determine how
human begins should live together in society (at least, this is one influential way
of understanding the phrase). We will read some of the central 17th and 18th
century Western texts on political philosophy.
Modality: The plan (subject to change due to various possible developments,
as we all know by now!) is that I will lecture in person in our assigned classroom.
But I intend also to live-stream every lecture over Zoom. (The special make-up
lecture on Monday, April 25th will be via Zoom only.) I will also make a recording
of every lecture available on YouTube. Office hours will be via Zoom only to begin
with, but later in the quarter there may be at least one in-person office
hour.
Course Requirements
Participation in discussion sections (good participation will be possible grounds
for raising course grade, especially if it is on a borderline).
Two short papers (2–3 pages), due Wednesday, April 27 and Wednesday,
May 11 (each worth 25% of the final grade).
One longer paper (6–8 pages) (worth 50% of the final grade), due Tuesday,
June 7.
The paper assignments are already available on-line, and are links to them
from this syllabus (see above, also in the Readings section on the appropriate
date) as well as from my main course page and on the Canvas site. I will discuss
the assignments in class when the due date draws near. You can find answers to
some commonly asked questions about my assignments and grading in my
FAQ.
Papers are to be handed in, as attachments, via the “Assignments” tool on
Canvas. Please submit in MSWord format or in a format easily convertible to
MSWord. The system will accept late submissions, but late papers may not
receive full credit. The system is not set up to allow resubmissions: once you press
the “submit” button, it will not let you change your response. If, however, you
mistakenly submit something and want to change it, please contact me and I can
make an exception.
All assignments are due by 11:55pm on the due date.
Please do not plagiarize. If you do and I catch you, you will receive no credit
for the assignment and may fail the course, and you will also be subject to
“disciplinary sanctions” from the University. (In contrast: if you hand in a paper
consisting mostly of quotes from or paraphrases of other sources you have
consulted, properly cited, then, although your paper won’t be very good, it will
not be a fail.) If you have any questions about what plagiarism is or how to
avoid it, you can ask me, or consult the resources listed on the Library
website.[1]https://guides.library.ucsc.edu/citesources/plagiarism.
For possible consequences of plagiarism, see the Academic Misconduct
Policy.[2]https://www.ue.ucsc.edu/academic_misconduct.
Attendance at lectures is not required, but I highly advise you to
attend if possible, or, if not, then at least to watch the YouTube video.
Links to the recorded lectures will appear on this syllabus as they are put
up.
Texts
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Hobbes, Leviathan
- (Hackett, 1994) (ISBN: 0872201775).
Older editions are available on Google Books and Wikisource, among
other places, and there is a LibriVox recording in two parts: books I and
II and books III and IV.
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Locke, Second Treatise of Government
- (Hackett, 1980) (ISBN:
978-0915144860).
Older editions of the Two Treatises of Government are available on
Google Books (the Second Treatise begins on p. 187) and LibriVox (the
Second Treatise begins with section 15); the Second Treatise is also
available on Wikisource.
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Rousseau, Basic Political Writings
- (Hackett, 2012) (ISBN: 1603846735).
The Discourse on Inequality is available (in different translations) on
Google Books and Wikisource and there is also a LibriVox recording.
Likewise for the Social Contract: Google,Books; Wikisource; LibriVox.
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Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
- (Dover Thrift,
1996) (ISBN: 978-0486290362).
Older editions of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman are available
on Google Books and Wikisource and there is also a LibriVox recording.
The above texts can be ordered and/or purchased as e-books from the Bay Tree
Bookstore, and are also on reserve at McHenry (and, in the case of the Rousseau
and Wollstonecraft books, also available online through course reserves). A few
additional readings from other works by Locke will be available online (either via
public link or on Canvas).
This document, and all other instructor-generated material in this course, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.