John F. Kennedy School of Government s1

JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

DPI-230: LEGITIMACY AND RESISTANCE

SPRING 2013

Mondays, 4:10 – 6:00

Littauer 332

Arthur Applbaum Faculty Assistant:

Adams Professor of Democratic Values Jennifer Valois
Rubenstein 217 Littauer 201

This course examines theories of political legitimacy and of justified dissent and resistance from the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century to the Arab Spring today. Readings are drawn from the Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, and Joseph Raz.

Prerequisite: one course in ethics, moral philosophy, political philosophy, or political theory.

GETTING STARTED

Come prepared for the first session on Monday, January 28. A short written assignment is due before class.

REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION

Class Participation

Attendance in all classes is mandatory. You are expected to come to each session prepared to discuss the week’s readings and examples, and to make thoughtful contributions to the learning of your classmates. Class participation counts for 25% of your grade.

Weekly Written Assignments

Before the first class meeting on Monday, January 28, you are to complete a quiz, “Puzzles of Legitimacy,” that is available on the course webpage. The quiz should be submitted online at the KNet course webpage in the “Class Discussions” box, and will be graded Complete/Incomplete.

Before each subsequent class meeting, you are to complete a brief three-question written assignment. The first question will be specific to that week’s topic. The second question always will be, “Comment on an argument in this week’s readings that you found to be especially illuminating.” The third question always will be, “What aspect of this week’s readings did you find most puzzling, and why?” Answers should be no longer than 300 words in total, and will be graded Complete/Incomplete.

Assignments are due in the “Class Discussions” box on the course webpage by 8:00 p.m. each Sunday, the day before the class meets. All assignments submitted through the Class Discussions box should be posted with a subject line that adheres to the following format: “Last Name, First Name – Assignment for Class X.” You will be assigned to read a number of your classmates’ answers before the start of class on Monday.

You are permitted to skip one week’s written assignment over the course of the semester. Late assignments will not be accepted. The written assignments count for 25% of your course grade.

Term Paper

A term paper between 5,000 and 6,000 words in length on an approved topic is due Friday, May 10 at 4:00 p.m. A 500-word paper proposal is due Monday, March 25 at 10:00 a.m. The term paper counts for 50% of the course grade. The proposal and the paper are to be submitted online at the KNet course webpage in the “Assignments for Online Submission” section.

In the paper, you are to analyze a current or past episode of contested political legitimacy somewhere in the world after 1980, using ideas and arguments drawn from the readings and class discussions.

READINGS

Five books required for purchase are available at the COOP:

Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos (1579). Edited by George Garnett. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan (1651). Edited by Richard Tuck. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

John Locke. Two Treatises of Government (1690). Edited by Peter Laslett. Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Immanuel Kant. The Metaphysics of Morals (1797). Edited by Mary Gregor. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971). Harvard University Press, revised edition, 1999.

All other readings for the course are available either on the course webpage or in a paper course packet from the Course Materials Office. The syllabus indicates where each reading can be found. The paper packet from the CMO contains only readings that are not available on the course webpage.

CLASS SCHEDULE

1. Puzzles of Legitimacy

Monday, January 28

Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos (1579), pp. 3, 5; "Who Tyrants Are," pp. 140-148. [book]

Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629, second edition (Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. xi-xiii, 76-98, 223-224. [packet]

2. Resistance and the French Wars of Religion

Monday, February 4

Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos, pp. 21-22 (“This should be … destroyed”), 35-50, 59-63, 67-78, 96-104, 129-160 (“to protect”), 164 (“Come then”) -172. [book]

3. Hobbes and Social Contract

Monday, February 11

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651), ed. Richard Tuck (Cambridge University Press, 1996), “Introduction,” pp. ix-xlv; chaps. 13-18 (pp. 86-129). [book]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 – NO CLASS (PRESIDENT’S DAY)

4. Hobbes and the English Civil War

Monday, February 25

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651), ed. Richard Tuck (Cambridge University Press, 1996), chaps. 19-21 (pp. 129-154); chap. 29 (pp. 221-230); “A Review and Conclusion,” pp. 483-487 (“… this Discourse.”), 490 (“There is nothing …) -491. [book]

5. Locke and Social Contract
Monday, March 4
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1690), ed. Peter Laslett (Cambridge University
Press, 1988), “Locke the man and Locke the writer,” pp. 16-44; Second Treatise, sects. 1-

24, 95-131 (pp. 267-285, 330-353). [book]

6. Locke and the Revolution of 1688

Monday, March 11

John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1690), ed. Peter Laslett (Cambridge University Press, 1988), Second Treatise, sects. 169-243 (pp. 380-428). [book]

MONDAY, MARCH 18– NO CLASS (SPRING BREAK)

7. Kant and the Right of Humanity

Monday, March 25

Arthur Ripstein, Force and Freedom: Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy (Harvard University Press, 2009), pp. 1-56. [packet]

Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals (1797), trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 23-31, 37-38, 44-46 (Ak. 229-238, 245-248, 255-257). [book]

8. Kant and the Social Contract

Monday, April 1

Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals (1797), trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 84-98, 110-113 (Ak. 306-323, 338-342). [book]

9. Kant and the French Revolution

Monday, April 8

Immanuel Kant, “On the Common Saying: That May Be Correct in Theory, But It Is of No Use in Practice” (1793), in Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 290-304 (Ak. 8:289-306). [packet]

Christine M. Korsgaard, “Taking the Law into Our Own Hands: Kant on the Right to Revolution,” in The Constitution of Agency: Essays on Practical Reason and Moral Psychology (Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 233-262. [on-line]

10. John Rawls and Dissent

Monday, April 15

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, revised edition, 1999), §§1-3, 18-19, 51-59 (pp. 3-15, 93-101, 293-343). [book]

John Rawls, Political Liberalism (Columbia University Press, 1996), pp. 3-11, 133-140, 212-222. [on-line]

11. Joseph Raz and Authority

Monday, April 22

Joseph Raz, “Authority and Justification,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 14 (1985), pp. 3-29. [on-line]

Joseph Raz, The Morality of Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 70-80. [on-line]

Arthur Isak Applbaum, “Legitimacy without the Duty to Obey,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 38 (2010), pp. 215-239. [on-line]

12. Legitimacy and Resistance in the Arab Spring

Monday, April 29

Duncan Pickard, “The National Transitional Council of Libya,” HKS Case Program, DRAFT [on-line]

Arthur Applbaum, “Legitimacy for Liberals,” DRAFT [on-line]

Arthur Applbaum, “All Foundings Are Forced,” DRAFT [on-line]

term papers are due by FRIDAY, May 10, at 4:00 p.m.