Time Schedule:
David Watkins
POL S 201
Seattle Campus
Philosophical bases of politics and political activity. Provides an introduction to the study of politics by the reading of a few books in political philosophy. Organized around several key political concepts, such as liberty, equality, justice, authority, rights, and citizenship. Offered: AWSpS.
Class description
Description: In this course, we will look at political issues from a different perspective than most political science courses; specifically, we start with questions about what politics ought to be like rather than what they are like. This leads us to a fascinating list of important questions: How does a government become legitimate? Do we need to consent to be governed? How much power should governments have? Does a government need to be a democracy to be legitimate? What kind of democracy? How do we have a democracy and maintain respect for difference? What is freedom and how much should we have? What is justice? These and other questions will be addressed as we read texts from historical and modern social and political theorists who grapple with these and other difficult and important questions. While we will deal with many of the themes and questions mentioned above, the primary theme of the course will be the concept of the social contract: the idea that a legitimate political order is grounded in an agreement, or social contract, that sets out the rights and responsibilities of rulers and subjects and the nature of the relationship between them. The social contract concept occupies a central location in the tradition of western political thought, although it remains quite controversial. We will begin the class by examining the work of three proponents of very different versions of social contract theory: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The second half of the course will be devoted to several political thinkers who are critical of social contract theory for very different reasons: Edmund Burke, Hannah More, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Frederich Nietzsche, and Charles Mills.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
