Teaching Philosophy of the Political Theory Project
Teaching Philosophy of the Political Theory Project
The pedagogical mission of the Political Theory Project is to enliven and enrich political debate by fostering responsible ideology. Responsible ideology means putting in the hard work to be justified in holding one’s political views. This requires a synthesis of humanistic and social scientific methods---normative, historical, and positive approaches to political knowledge.
Political philosophy contributes to our understanding of what is just and what kinds of things have fundamental value. History teaches us where we have come from and what has been tried. The social sciences contribute to our understanding of how the world works and what is feasible.
To know what political regimes we should advocate all things considered, we need insights from all these areas. We need to know whether our values are the right ones to realize through politics. We also need to know how social institutions work in practice to discover what best realizes our values.
Philosopher John Stuart Mill suggested that one is not in a good position to hold one’s views until one understands what it would be like to hold contrary views. We want to help students take those differing perspectives. Responsible ideology means confronting contrary views with an open and active mind.
Numerous studies suggest that people tend to converge on political beliefs they find pleasing rather than on those for which they have strong evidence. We help Brown students avoid this danger. We create intellectual discomfort. Our master method is Socratic: to question everything. We do this not to inspire skepticism but to invigorate political thought. We search for problems with our favored views and for fresh ways to challenge our presuppositions. We ask ourselves the hard questions. Better yet, we find ways to turn easy questions into hard questions. Responsible ideology means embracing the possibility that the things that seem most obvious are not obvious at all. We encourage respectful confrontation. That means holding up each idea for inspection as if it were new. We promote intellectual freedom by empowering students to break the chains of their own dogmatism.
In announcing these principles, of course, the Project is in no way criticizing existing courses at Brown. We are aware that many courses on political topics at Brown strive to create an open learning environment like that which we hold up as their ideal. Further, we recognize that it is sometimes appropriate for a course not to be examine multiple perspectives, as PTP courses do, but instead provide students with a chance to encounter one author, one ideology, or one set of principles in a sustained way (e.g. semester-long courses on Karl Marx or Adam Smith). However, we do assert the ideals below as appropriate for any and all courses that are sponsored by the Political Theory Project. Thus, the principles enunciated below are intended define the Project’s own curricular niche.
Political Theory Project-sponsored courses have the following features:
1. They cover topics of fundamental and enduring significance.
2. They challenge students to think rigorously about their own deepest assumptions, typically by examining the topics from diverse ideological perspectives.
3. They tend to cover both classic and contemporary texts on the topic.
4. They are writing and discussion intensive.
5. They are interdisciplinary or at last open to being interdisciplinary, focusing not merely on normative political philosophy but also using the tools of historians and, where appropriate, of the social sciences.
6. They are conducted in a "open learning environment", that is, an environment of mutual respect in which students feel not only comfortable, but excited, about sharing their ideas, regardless of how unpopular their ideas are.
COURSES ALREADY DEVELOPED OR IN DEVELOPMENT
Prosperity: The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation: 10,000 years ago, everyone everywhere was dirt poor. Why are so many people now prosperous? Why do some societies grow rich while others remain poor? What does it take to succeed in societies whose economies are largely market-based? What does it take to deserve to succeed? What are some of the ethical problems arising from market exchanges, and are there any feasible solutions to these problems?
This course is an interdisciplinary study of what makes societies fair, free, and prosperous. We will evaluate the institutions of the market using the tools of ethics, political philosophy, economics, history, and political science. We will investigate issues concerning the nature of money and prices, the role of the division of labor, business ethics, commerce and entrepreneurship, overconsumption and overpopulation, exploitation and alienation, the relationship between wealth and happiness, the motivations of market actors, the rule of law, liberty and market society, rent-seeking and corporate welfare, and more. We will conduct experiments and play games in class to illustrate certain concepts.
Emergence and History of Economic Thinking: What, if anything, is distinctive about the economic mode of analysis? How did the discipline of economics arise? What were some of the problems economists were trying to solve, and how did they attempt to solve them? What should we learn from the history of economics? This course explores ideas in the history of economics and philosophy about the division of labor, the basis of social cooperation, views about wealth (what is it?), how it is created and distributed, and its relation to value and justice. We will start at the beginning: Plato's and Aristotle's views on economics and the division of labor. Reading include St. Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Francois Quesany, Bernard Mandeville, David Hume, Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, Thomas Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, Nassau Senior, John Stuart Mill, J.J. Rousseau, Karl Marx, W.S. Jevons, John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek.
Capitalism, For and Against: What is capitalism? What are its defining traits and institutions, and the roles of the market and the state? How should individual rights and social responsibilities be balanced? What are capitalisms' strengths and weaknesses? Are capitalist societies or other types of systems the best way to achieve justice, promote excellence, and provide freedom, happiness, and material well-being? What are the coherent criticisms of and alternatives to capitalism? Are capitalist societies just or are they full of inequality and exploitation? Do they give people freedom or oppress them in one way or another? Do they encourage virtue or vice, excellence or mediocrity, happiness or misery? Are there other types of society that would be preferable? What might be done to improve capitalist societies?
State Sovereignty and International Law: How should international law affect domestic politics and authority? What kinds of international rules, regulations and norms are there? What authority do they have? Should states obey international law even when it conflicts with their interests and that of their citizens? Is a law-governed order attainable in a world of sovereign states? This seminar explores the evolution of international law and its relation to state sovereignty. Authors include Bodin, Gentili, Grotius, Pufendorf, Rabkin, and Held.
Freedom: What is freedom? How important is it? How do we know? And if it is important, what should we do about it? This interdisciplinary course provides the tools to analyze different conceptions of liberty, including liberal egalitarian, classical liberal, Marxist, and fascist views. Our challenge is determine how the various aspects of freedom––political, personal, economic, and moral––are complementary, and determine what sorts of institutions promote or undermine these aspects.
The American Founding: This capstone seminar surveys original sources, classic interpretations, and new perspectives on America's revolutionary founding during the second half of the eighteenth century. Major topics include imperial loyalty and protest, popular sovereignty, liberty and republicanism, rebellion and revolution, independence, confederation and consolidation, constitution-making and constitutional interpretation, the politics of opposition, the rise of political parties, and the legacy of the American founding.
Authority and Legitimacy: What gives people in power the right to make and enforce laws? The course examines classic and contemporary conceptions of political authority and legitimacy. What is authority and when is it legitimate? Does legitimate authority depend on the consent of citizens, or on the justice of decisions? Can the people hold ultimate authority over the law, or is this merely empty rhetoric?
Environmental Ethics: What sorts of things have value? Does the realm of moral consideration extend past human beings to include animals, plants, and nature itself? How does environmental concern figure into the worthwhile life? What role do consumer goods play in a good life? How would we know? Good intentions are not enough to make good policy. Thus, this course also investigates what sorts of policies actually help protect the environment. We will learn what economics and other social sciences tell us about human behavior and how to shape institutions. We will examine issues in wildlife management, human population, resource use, and more.
COURSES WE'D LIKE TO SEE DEVELOPED
Many of these courses could be taught from the perspective of different disciplines. Where suggested readings are included, they are just suggestions.
Democracy: To what degree does democracy help realize or impede important goals of social justice and prosperity? Does democracy tend to produce good political outcomes? Are there feasible, better alternatives? How much democracy do we really want, all things considered? How knowledgeable, well-informed, and rational do voters tend to be? How good is the quality of democratic discourse? What kinds of motivations—noble or ignoble—do politicians and bureaucrats tend to have? Should some items be removed from the political bargaining table? Readings might include: Rousseau, Joshua Cohen, Alasdair MacIntyre, Jeffrey Stout, Diana Mutz, Bryan Caplan.
Law, Prosperity, and Fairness: How did laws and governments emerge? What problems were laws supposed to solve? How well did various legal systems solve those laws? Why did the nation-state develop, and was its development good or bad? How do different legal systems and rules help to make us more free? How do different legal system and rules help to make societies more fair? What makes a legal system good?
Ideas and Institutions of Early America: What was the goal of the American experiment? How did ideas shape politics and how did politics shape ideas? How well did early America live up to its own ideals? Readings might include: Gordon Wood, Joyce Appleby, James Madison, Tocqueville.
Federalism vs. Anti-Federalism: Is the American Constitution instrumental to maintaining liberty, or a threat to it? What were the different views before it was ratified? What should we think now? Readings might include: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, Saul Cornell, Jeffrey Rogers Hummell.
Liberalism and Religion: To what extent is liberalism a natural outgrowth of Christianity, and in particular, Protestantism? Does liberal politics require a Christian or post-Christian secular society? Readings might include: John Locke, Max Weber, Robert Bellah, John Rawls, Stanley Hauerwas, William Connolly, Jeffrey Stout, James Butterfield.
Separation of Church and State: What is the role of religion and politics, and what should it be? Readings might include: Perez Zagorin, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther, John Rawls, Richard Rorty, Richard John Neuhaus, Philip Hamburger.
Law and Economics: What, if anything, can economics teach us about the effects of various legal rules, and what, if anything, should that tells us about their value? Readings might include: Ronald Coase, Richard Posner, Duncan Kennedy, Warren Samuels.
Economic Analysis of Political Behavior: What insights, if any, can economics give us into determining how citizens, legislators, judges, and other political agents behave? Readings might include: Public choice theory (Buchanan, Tullock), Arrow, Marx.
New Institutional Economics: How do various institutions function, and what good and bad do they do for people? Readings might include: North, De Soto, Coase, Greif, Williamson.
Political Theory Project Courses
Spring 2009
POLS0820R: Global Governance (Buckinx)
"Global governance" denotes the myriad ways in which states, institutions, networks, and associations help administer global affairs. In this seminar, we will explore who governs the world and how, and we will evaluate different normative theories of global governance, including the liberal/political, cosmopolitan democratic, and republican approaches. We will focus on the values and the global structure that their proponents deem most desirable. What values, if any, ought to govern the practice of global politics? And how should such values be institutionalized? Are there any good reasons for favoring a centralized global authority akin to a world state, or should we prefer a different global institutional arrangement? What role do we envision for the nation-state?
POLS1821H: Authority and Legitimacy (Volmert)
What gives people in power the right to make and enforce laws? The course examines classic and contemporary conceptions of political authority and legitimacy. What is authority and when is it legitimate? Does legitimate authority depend on the consent of citizens, or on the justice of decisions? Can the people hold ultimate authority over the law, or is this merely empty rhetoric? Authors include Hobbes, Rousseau, Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, Althusser, Wolff, Nozick, and Habermas.
POLS1821K: Just War Theory (Chiu)
Survey of just war theory, with emphasis on ancient, medieval Christian, and contemporary thinkers. What standards should we use to judge the justness or rightness of a war and of conduct during war? Should our judgments on these separate phases of war be related? Who is the relevant agent? Where does its moral authority come from? Are there any post-war obligations? How has the ideal of the warrior/soldier changed over time and why? Prior coursework in the humanities or social sciences is required.
Fall 2008
FRESHMEN SEMINARS
POLS0820D: Freedom (Landemore)
What is freedom? Why is it important? How important is it compared to competing values (such as equality, justice, solidarity, or love)? Can individuals be free as citizens? What kind of rights and duties, if any, does freedom entail? We will examine different conceptions of liberty --liberal egalitarian, classical liberal, Marxist, and fascist views. We will determine how the various aspects of freedom--psychological and moral but also social, political, and economic--are complementary and determine what sorts of institutions promote or undermine these aspects.
POLS0820W: Capitalism and Political Theory (Nacol)
This course will focus on fundamental readings in social and political theory that take capitalism seriously, beginning with 18th-century reflections on commerce and continuing to 21st-century accounts of global political economy. The aim of the course is to illuminate the major implications of capitalism for politics. What kind of political order does capitalism make possible or foreclose? What impact does capitalism have on sociability and culture? What are the implications of capitalism for justice and equality, human freedom and agency? Authors to be read include Rousseau, Smith, Marx, Weber, Schumpeter, Hayek, Marcuse and Harvey.
Spring 2008
FRESHMEN SEMINARS
POLS0820O: Political Theory of Capitalism (Rasmussen/Tomasi)
Are capitalist societies just or are they full of inequality and exploitation? Do they give people freedom or oppress them in one way or another? Do they encourage virtue or vice, excellence or mediocrity, happiness or misery? Are there other types of society that would be preferable? What might be done to improve capitalist societies? This course will investigate these questions through a study of some of the seminal philosophical arguments for and against capitalism, focusing especially on the works of Locke, Smith, Rousseau, and Marx.
POLS0820N: Political Thinking for a Global World (Jenco)
This course will consider how we should think, and act, in a world increasingly marked by global interconnectedness. We will devote our attention to the intellectual and epistemological issues raised by cross-cultural exchange, and survey how theorists in both "the West" and elsewhere have thought about and formulated responses to issues like citizenship, human rights, feminism, and cultural identity.
SENIOR SEMINARS
ECON: Cosmopolitanism, Economic Development, and Welfare Rights (Akhtar)
Cosmopolitanism is the view that all persons have equal moral standing regardless of their nationality. We will explore the ethical foundation of this view and its relationship to Human Rights. In particular we’ll explore the question of whether people should have not just human rights to life, liberty and security, but also to a basic level of economic subsistence. A right to some basic economic wellbeing is often called a Welfare Right.
POLS 1820R: Early Modern Orders (Nacol)
This course will approach problems of political, social and economic order from the perspective of early modern British political thought. Authors include Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Smith. We will explore the conceptions of political authority, power and subjecthood that emerge from their theoretical engagements with orders of all kinds and consider whether these persist in our contemporary understandings of politics.
PHIL 0570: Environmental Ethics (Brennan)
In the first half of the course, we will ask what sorts of things have value. Does the realm of moral consideration extend past human beings to include animals, plants, and nature itself? How does environmental concern figure into the worthwhile life? What role do consumer goods play in a good life? How do we know? Good intentions are not enough to make good policy. Thus, in the second half of the course, we will try to determine what sorts of policies actually help protect the environment. We will learn what economics and other social sciences tell us about human behavior and how to shape institutions. We will examine issues in wildlife management, human population, resource use, and more.
Fall 2007
FRESHMEN SEMINARS
ECON 0780S: Political Theory and Economic Analysis (Akhtar)
In this class, we will examine what role economics plays in the development of particular political systems. After understanding the difference between descriptive and prescriptive judgments, we will attempt to understand how politics and economics are related, and where they seem to come apart. We will do this both by examining historical political theories and views and by looking to real-world problems, such as globalization and economic development, where economics and politics seem especially integrated. For the
latter topic, we will explore some of the crucial assumptions of economic theory related to economic growth and development such as welfare, efficiency, and rationality, and the different political systems, with strong emphasis on democratic ones.
POLS0820D: Freedom (Brennan)
What is freedom? Is it important? How do we know? What should we do about it? We will analyze the different conceptions of liberty - liberal egalitarian, classical liberal, Marxist, and fascist views. We will determine how the various aspects of freedom political, personal, psychological, economic, and moral are complementary, and determine what sorts of institutions promote or undermine these aspects.
POLS0820M: Medieval and Renaissance Political Thought (Nacol)
This course focuses on two schools of thought---scholasticism and humanism. Its major theme will be the development of the idea of political community, but we will consider other "conversations" about the relationship between being human and living and acting in an increasingly political world- ones about citizenship, rule, law, and rights. Authors include Aquinas, Dante, More, and Machiavelli.
LECTURE
POLS0110: Introduction to Political Thought (Tomasi)
Why do laws made by other people have authority for me? Can it be fair for one person to be wealthier than another? How free should society be? Is sexism like racism? Such questions are explored through a careful reading of some classic texts in political philosophy, from the fourth century B.C.E. to the present.
SENIOR SEMINARS
POLS1820O: Methodologies of Political Theory (Jenco)
Are there "perennial questions" of political life that transcend time and culture? How should we think about the texts of the political theory "canon"? This class will consider these questions by discussing and applying a variety of methods used to construct theories about politics, including: the "Cambridge school" approach; Straussianism; postmodernism; critical theory; postcolonialism; and comparative political theory.
POLS1820T: Rousseau (Rasmussen)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the deepest and most influential critics of the Enlightenment, and of the liberalism and capitalism that we have inherited from it. He is also one of the most complex thinkers of the modern age, standing at once on both the left and the right of the political spectrum, appealing to ancient thought and practice while at the same time paving the way toward postmodernism, and appearing to be both a profound champion of democracy and a precursor to totalitarianism. This course will examine this intriguing thinker through a study of the First and Second Discourses, The Social Contract, The Reveries of a Solitary Walker, and Emile.
Spring 2007
PS 82-15 Ancient and Modern Political Thought: Viguier
This course is a general study of significant political thinkers and ideas. The seminar covers the two great historical periods of Western political philosophy, ancient and modern. Representative thinkers and ideas from each period are used to illustrate important insights on the human experience and political predicament. Among the major political philosophers considered are Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau.
PS 0105: Ethics and Public Policy: Frazer
This course is intended to help students think critically about the controversial ethical questions which are being so hotly debated in the formulation of public policy today. We will try to weigh both sides of current arguments over distributive justice and economic policy, the rights of women and racial minorities, the political status of the family, the regulation of the beginning and end of life, and the conduct of our foreign policy. Students will see that questions of morality arise in the formulation of public policy, not only with regard to so-called “values” issues, but with regard to virtually all areas of political life.
PS 104 Ancient Political Thought: Corbett
The Greeks and Romans stand at the beginning of the Western tradition of political philosophy, yet their thought is somehow foreign. What was the special perspective from which they viewed political life? Does that perspective vitalize or confuse our own thinking on justice, education, and the good life? This course examines these and other questions through a close reading of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero."
PS182-51 Modern Classical Liberalism: Tebble
This political philosophy senior seminar provides an in-depth exploration and critical appraisal of key texts in the modern Classical Liberal tradition. One of the most well known modern theories of Classical Liberal institutions – Friederich Hayek's epistemological defense of liberalism - will be our starting point. Subsequently we will examine contemporary currents in Classical Liberal thought; more specifically, Chandran Kukathas’s liberal tolerationist response to cultural diversity. Finally Milton Friedman’s arguments that seek to link economic freedom with political freedom and Robert Nozick's rights-based account of the minimal state will be examined in detail.
PL 99: Moral Metatheory: Brennan
Moral theory investigates morality, but moral metatheory investigates moral theory. Some problems we’ll consider include: Is moral theorizing worthwhile? What’s the point of moral theory? What should good theories do? Does widespread disagreement or the reliance on questionable intuitions invalidate moral theorizing? What exactly does the moral theorist know? What counts as good philosophical methodology, and how do we know?
Fall 2006
Intro/Freshmen seminars:
Tebble - PS 11 Introduction to Political Thought – C Hour
Why do laws made by other people have authority for me? Can it be fair for one person to be wealthier than another? How free should society be? Is sexism like racism? Such questions are explored through a careful reading of some classic texts in political philosophy, from the fourth century B.C.E. to the present. Enrollment limited to 250. Written permission required.
Brennan - PS 82-05 Freedom (Freshmen seminar) – P Hour
What is freedom? Is it important? How do we know? What should we do about it? We will analyze the different conceptions of liberty - liberal egalitarian, classical liberal, Marxist, and fascist views. We will determine how the various aspects of freedom political, personal, psychological, economic, and moral are complementary, and determine what sorts of institutions promote or undermine these aspects. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission required. FYS
Corbett - PS 82-06 Philosophy of the American Founding (Freshmen seminar) – 8:30-9:50 W/F
In what theoretical context was the constitution created? What problems were the Founders attempting to address? A great deal of modern scholarship centers on the influence of philosopher John Lock. Some scholars argue that his was the primary influence. This seminar will examine these claims by comparing John Locke's thought with that of some of the more influential Founders. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission required. FYS
Senior Seminars:
Vigueier - PS 182-44 Justice and the City – Wed 6:00-8:00pm
Examines selected problems in political thought against the backdrop of urban settlements, emphasizing dilemmas posed for liberal political theory by dramactic inequalities of wealth and life chances, and diverse identities and associations. Readings are drawn from a range of classic texts and recent studies in political theory, sociology, economics, and urban studies. Enrollment limited to 20.
Frazer - PS 182-58 German Moral and Political Thought – P Hour
In the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, German thinkers produced some of the most original and challenging work on ethics and politics ever written. This course will include close readings, in translation, of the writings of Kant, Herder, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche. Themes discussed will include the foundations of morality and the proper relationship between ethics, politics, and economics. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission required.