Department
of Government, Law & International Affairs
Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem!
(From shadows and images to
truth!)
Epitaph of John Henry Cardinal Newman, 1801-1890
I. Title: Modern Political Thought
II. Instructor's name: Dr. Winfield H. Rose
Phone numbers:
E-mail:
winfield.rose@murraystate.edu
Homepage:
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/winfield.rose/main.htm
Office hours: 9:30 – 10:30
a.m. MWF; 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. TTh; 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. MW.
Other times by appointment.
III. Class location, meeting time and language of instruction:
Faculty Hall Room 507; 2:00 – 3:15
p.m. TTh; English.
IV. Catalog description:
The development of political thought from
the Renaissance to the present with emphasis on
Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke, Marx, and the contemporary
malaise.
V. Required texts:
1. George Klosko, History of Political Theory: An
Introduction. Volume 2: Modern Political Theory. Thomson
Wadsworth, 1995.
2. Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison and John Jay, The
Federalist (any edition, on-line, hard copy or e-copy).
3. Winfield H. Rose, "The Theological, Philosophical, and Historical Foundations of the American Polity," available at Copy Express.
VI. Content outline:
See list of thinkers to be studied.
VII. Instructional activities:
Classes will be a combination of discussion and lecture. Class attendance is important and expected. Students should come to class with their assignment read and they should be prepared to ask as well as answer questions. Class attendance (15%) and participation (5%) will comprise 20% of the course grade. It is imperative that you not fall behind in your reading; if you do, it will be extremely difficult to catch up. I ask not that you know and understand everything perfectly before or after class; I do ask that you do your best to know and understand as much as you can as well as you can, both before and after class.
Ubersetzen Sie
bitte:
Haben Sie bereit ihre Zuweisung
fur Heute?
Ich hoffe, dass so.
Wenn nicht, es wird
eine schreckliche Storung in der Kraft.
Meister Obiwan
You have an exciting opportunity here to take a great voyage into the realm of ideas, into the realm of ideas about subjects that really matter, into what Plato called episteme (truth) rather than doxa (opinion), and to affirm once again the validity of Aristotle's assertion that politics is the master science. You have the opportunity and the challenge to become a philosopher. Yes, a philosopher, a lover of wisdom. Are you equal to the task? All I ask is that you try, not just a little but the best you can; I ask that you try honestly, faithfully, regularly, conscientiously, and earnestly. If you will do this, you will receive a fair and just reward. Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem!
There will be two exams, a mid-term and a final. The mid-term will be on a day around the middle of the semester to be determined; the final at the officially designated last day of class. They will count 30% each. Absences will be permitted only in the most extreme circumstances.
VIII. Outside writing assignment: The final 20% of your grade will be based on a research paper. This should be a well-researched, well-organized, and well-written first-rate, analytical paper that amply signifies your status as an advanced student in political science. Your paper should be 20 or so pages in length, written according to the American Political Science Association style manual (available on line), printed in #12 font (see my handout "Tips on Good Writing" on my homepage also). Do not take all or almost all your sources from the internet and please do not ever use Wikipedia as a formal source. The paper is due April 17, 2012. PLEASE do not wait until the last minute to start this project! You may select your topic from the list below. First, you may select one of the following thinkers:
Isaiah
Berlin
William F. Buckley
OR, you may choose one of the following topics:
James Burnham
Anarchism
R. G.
Collingwood
The Political Ramifications of the Protestant Reformation
John
Dewey
The Art of War (Sun Tzu, Machiavelli and von Clauswitz)
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Democracy (Is democracy the best government?)
Francis Fukuyama
Fascism
Thomas Hill
Green
Constitutionalism
John H.
Hallowell
Justice
Alexander
Hamilton
Islamism (aka Islamofascism)
Lee
Harris
Nationalism or National Socialism (Nazism)
Richard
Hooker
The German Catastrophe (why Germany embraced Nazism)
Samuel P. Huntington
Harry V.
Jaffa
Socialism
Paul
Kennedy
Totalitarianism
Russell Kirk
Walter Lippmann
Harold
Laski
I also am willing to entertain a proposal from you; just be sure
Theodore Lowi
to discuss it with me before you begin work.
Hans Morganthau
Reinhold Niebuhr
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thomas Paine
Michael Polanyi
Carroll Quigley
John Rawls
Jean-Francois Revel
Ellis Sandoz
Roger Scruton
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Pitirim Sorokin
Oswald Spengler
Leo Strauss
Henry David Thoreau
Arnold Toynbee
Eric Voegelin
Richard M. Weaver
George Will
IX. Academic Honesty: The policy
on academic honesty adopted by the Board of Regents on February 14, 1975 and
reprinted in all university bulletins since then is incorporated into this
syllabus.
XI. Students with
Disabilities: The
Office of Student Disability Services (OSDS) is designed to coordinate and
administer services and accommodations for students with documented
disabilities. In doing so, OSDS will review disability documentation, meet with
students to determine appropriate reasonable accommodations, and work with
other areas on campus to implement services. Their goal is to provide
individuals with disabilities access to programs, services, and activities at
Murray State University. Contact Information: Velvet Wilson,
Director, 423 Wells Hall, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071.
(270) 809-5737. velvet.wilson@murraystate.edu.
XII. Classroom Policies: (1) I realize that unexpected problems can develop but please do not make a habit of being late to class; the world operates on a schedule. (2) Attendance is expected and unexcused absences will lower your grade; excused absences will be determined by the University's attendance policy as reprinted in the current university bulletin. (3) Having cell phones and pagers go off in class is distracting, disturbing and rude, so please turn them off before class begins. Absolutely no texting is allowed. (4) No caps in class; this goes for young ladies as well as young gentlemen. (5) Please do not prepare to leave or get up to leave class before class is dismissed. Thank you.
Relevant Web Sites:
Biographies:
The Philosophers
Pantheon of Famous
Philosophers
Political
Theory Resources
Hippias Search of Philosophy on the
Internet
Great Books of the Western World
Texts and Documents
Primary Historical Documents
from Western Europe
Texts and Contexts
Political Theory
Primary Documents
Yahoo
Search Engine for Social_Science/Philosophy/Political_Theory
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Modern Political
Theory Websites
Voegelin
Institute for American Renaissance Studies
The Heritage Foundation
Middle East Media Research Institute
THINKERS TO BE STUDIED
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527
Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679
John Locke, 1632-1704
David Hume, 1711-1776
Baron de Montesquieu, 1689-1755
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826
James Madison, 1751-1836
Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805-1859
Edmund Burke, 1729-1797
John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873
Georg W.F. Hegel, 1770-1831
Karl Marx, 1818-1883
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900
Max Weber, 1864-1920
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Defining Deviancy Down."
Robert Kaplan, "The Coming Anarchy"
Francis Fukuyama, "The End of History and the Last Man"
Roger Scruton, "The Political Problem of
Islam"
Let's roll!