Political Science 2004
Survey of Western Political Thought
Section 790
Spring 2007
This course will provide a basic introduction to Western political thought. As a result, no assumptions will be made in regard to prior information possessed by students. The readings have been selected and the lectures prepared in a manner to allow students with no background in the subject to grasp the concepts being offered. At the same time, the broad array of material presented should permit individuals with some academic training in Political Science, Philosophy, or related fields to gain new and useful information.
The lectures in this course will focus on five system of thought which have legitimated much of Western political action. Moreover, these systems will be integrated into broader sets of ideas which include particular beliefs in regard to science, economics, sociology, psychology, and religion. Students are expected to learn both the major tenets and the major interrelationships within each of these worldviews. In addition, students should begin an examination of how their own thoughts about politics are related to other aspects of their belief systems, the conditional nature of these belief systems, and the available options to their pattern of beliefs.
Students are reminded that many of these readings discuss abstract and complex concepts. Also, stylistically they represent almost three thousand years of human history and extremely diverse cultures. Even if only a few pages from a given author are assigned, it may take considerable time and effort to discern what s/he is seeking to express. Keep this fact in mind when you allocate study time to this course. You will not grasp this material lying on your bed with a CD playing and your roommate talking on the phone. Find a quite and isolated place to do your reading.
No attempt will be made in this course to offer an assessment of the ultimate merit of the systems of thought discussed and no such evaluation will be expected of students. Instead, the lectures will attempt to make a best-case argument in support of each body of thought. It is hoped that through this technique students will be provided with a range of viewpoints from which to begin evaluation of their current beliefs. In order for this process to be successful, though, members of the class must be willing to reflect upon their current political beliefs, to suspendalthough certainly not rejectacceptance of them, and to honestly confront the potential validity of alternative systems of thought.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Instructor: Thad TeczaOffice: Ketchum Rm. 134A
Home Phone: 3296493Office Hours: TTh 2:003:15
e-mail:ffice Phone: 22985
Classroom: Darley Commons 103Lectures: TTh 12:30-1:45
UNIVERSITY POLICIES:
This course will conform to all University of Colorado policies related to privacy, academic honesty, sexual harassment, disabilities accommodation and religious accommodation. A complete statement of these policies can be found in the Student Handbook.
ATTENDANCE:
Class participation is not a component of the grade in this course. However, the class proceeds from the assumption that learning is an interactive process that requires regular class attendance. As a result, missing a significant number of classes will constitute grounds for failing the course.
WORK REQUIREMENTS:
Please note that 6 to 9 hours of work per week outside of the classroom is expected of each student in the class.
REQUIRED TEXT:
Ebenstein, William and Alan Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present, Sixth Edition (Belmont, California: Thompson-Wadsworth, 2000)
Grading:
There will be three ten page typed papers in this class. They will be due February 27, April 10 and May 1. Each will contribute one-third to the final grade. They will not be cumulative. The papers are not required to advance a thesis or present an argument. They simply should demonstrate that you understand the system of thought presented during that section of lectures in the course and how each of the authors assigned in a particular section does or does not conform to the system of ideas presented in lectures during that section.
These papers are to be typed and should use New Times Roman font. They should be double-spaced with normal college margins, headers and footers. They should only be on one side of each page. All pages except the first should be numbered. All statements of fact regarding particular authors must provide a page reference to the Ebenstein text. You must use an academically recognized system of referencing.
The papers will be graded on the degree to which they clearly express an understanding of the material from the lectures and the relationship between the authors from the readings and the lectures. You must demonstrate that you have read the excerpts from the writings of the authors and not just the introductions provided by Ebenstein. While writing style is not, of itself, a component of the grading, to the degree that your inability to express your ideas affects my ability to comprehend them, writing will affect your grade. You should seek to have a skilled independent person proofread and critique each paper before submitting it.
LECTURE AND READING SCHEDULE:
January 16-18:
Lectures: Ideologies
A.Definition of an ideology
B.The spectrum of ideologies
January 23-February 15:
Lectures: Classical Conservative Philosophy
A.Historical setting
B.Cosmology
C.Theory of causality and definition
D.Human nature
E.Society, politics, and government
Reading: Ebenstein, pp. 1115, 173-180
February 20-22 :
Lectures: The Ascendance of Conservative Philosophy
A. Christianity
B.Feudalism
Readings:Ebenstein, pp. 218-244
February 27- March 8
Lectures:Transformation
A.The Renaissance and the Enlightenment
B.The Protestant Reformation
C.Capitalism
Reading:Ebenstein, pp. 245-261, 281-343
Weeks : March 13-April 5
Lectures:Liberalism
A.The liberal "problem"
B.The state of nature
C.Human nature
D.The formation of society
E.Politics and government
F.Economics
Reading:Ebenstein: pp. 355-407, 442-472, 492-503, 578-623
April 10-12
Lectures:Socialism
A.Utopian socialism
B.Democratic socialism
Reading:Ebenstein, pp. 754-813
April 17-19
Lectures:Communism
A.Cosmology
B.View of History
C.View of capitalism
D.Preconditions for communism
E.Communism
Reading:Ebenstein, pp. 639687
April 24-26
Lectures:Fascism
A.Historical setting
B.Corporatism
C.The cult of the leader
Reading:Ebenstein, pp. 708-72
May 1-3
Class Discussion: Current Political Thought in America
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