Syllabus for PS 339
Liberalism and Its Critics
MW 4-5:20
Professor David Leitch
dleitch@uoregon.edu
111 LIL
Office hours in PLC 914 MW 2-3:30
The purpose of this class is to allow you to familiarize yourself with contemporary debates over liberalism in the modern nation-state and some of its alternatives. The course is divided into three parts. The first part of this course looks at the beginnings of liberal theory and some of the first criticisms and critiques. All of these authors have been instrumental in developing contemporary liberalism. The second part of this course looks at a number of recent theorists interested in defending some form of liberalism. These writers will not always agree with one another, but will all be advocates of liberalism. The third part of this course looks at a number of recent critics of liberalism. In addition to criticizing liberalism, each of these authors will articulate some alternative position. These authors frequently disagree with one another, but are all critical of the contemporary liberal order.
Liberalism has become the dominant political theory in contemporary American discourse, and as such, informs both scholarly debate and political rhetoric. Understanding the varietals of both liberal theories and critical theories helps position you as a more active, engaged, and effective citizen. You can use these analytic tools to help decode political positions and understand how certain seemingly-unrelated policies fit together into a conceptual whole. Moreover, reflecting on liberalism's place in contemporary America necessarily prompts reflection on one's relationship to politics, community, and individuality.
There are two textbooks for this class, Liberalism and Its Critics, edited by Michael J. Sandel, and Multiculturalism, edited by Amy Gutmann, both available at the bookstore and online. We will read most of both of them. While the readings are on the short side, they are dense, so budget a fair amount of time. The early readings are all available online (as they are in the public domain) via Blackboard.
There are three primary assignments for this class. The first is a weekly summary (two pages or so) of the reading, including at least one question you have. If you do not understand the reading, summarize what in the argument you are having trouble understanding. These weekly assignments will be graded simply as A, B, C, or F. The second is a midterm paper, due November 2nd. The third is a final paper. The final paper is a take-home assignment, due by 3:15 PM, December 9th. Both papers should be somewhere between 6 and 10 pages in length (1800-3000 words). The midterm paper will focus on early liberal writers, and the final will focus on critics of liberalism. In addition to all this, I expect you to attend and participate in class. Grading breaks down as follows:
Weekly summary assignments = 20%
Midterm paper = 40%
Final paper = 40%
If anyone has any questions about academic integrity or citation, please let me know. I expect everyone to follow the University's guidelines on academic integrity and to submit only their own work. That said, I do encourage the formation of study groups, so long as you submit work that is your own.
Week One: Introduction
9/30: Introduction
Week Two: John Locke
10/5: John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chapters 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9
10/7: John Locke, “A Letter Concerning Toleration”
Week Three: John Stuart Mill
10/12: J. S. Mill, On Liberty, Chapters One and Two
10/14: J. S. Mill, On Liberty, Chapters Three and Four
Week Four: Immanuel Kant
10/19: J. S. Mill, On Liberty, Chapter Five; Benjamin Constant, “The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns”
10/21: Immanuel Kant, Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals, from page 20 to halfway down page 31 and, “On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns”
Week Five: John Rawls
10/26: John Rawls, “Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 14, 3 (Summer 1985): 223-251
10/28: John Rawls, “The Right and the Good Contrasted”
Week Six: Contemporary liberalism
11/2: Isaiah Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty” also, midterm paper due
11/4: Ronald Dworkin, “ Liberalism”; Friedrich A. Hayek, “Equality, Value, and Merit”
Week Seven: Communitarianism
11/9: Michael Walzer, “Welfare, Membership, and Need”; Michael J. Sandel, “Justice and the Good”
11/11: Alasdair MacIntyre, “The Virtues, the Unity of a Human Life, and the Concept of a Tradition”; Peter Berger, “On the Obsolescence of the Concept of Honor”
Week Eight: Multiculturalism
11/16: Meech Lake Controversy
11/18: Susan Moller Okin, “Feminism and Multiculturalism: Some Tensions,” Ethics 108, 4 (July 1998): 661-684 and “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?” Boston Review, October/November 1997
Week Nine: Recognition and Its Critics
11/23: Charles Taylor, “The Politics of Recognition”
11/25: Susan Wolf, “Comment”; K. Anthony Appiah, “Identity, Authenticity, Survival: Multicultural Societies and Reproduction”
Week Ten: Critics of recognition
11/30: Hannah Arendt, “The Revolutionary Tradition and Its Lost Treasure”
12/2: Last class – review session