This class will serve both as an introduction to politics (or "social theory") and an introduction to forms or methods of philosophical thinking. It is a reading and writing intensive class. The texts have been selected to present a variety of approaches to political or social problems. The style and manner of the works are quite distinct; our texts will span roughly 2400 years of written history (admittedly only from the western tradition).

Tackling this variety will aid you a great deal when approaching other works in the humanities, and generally as you read, more on this below.  Though the following different themes will certainly be focused on in this class – an evaluation of the political import and revolutionary potential of “sex” roles, the tension between critical citizenship and obedience to political authority, the amoral dimensions of practical politics, the relation between calculating social forces and framing a political constitution, the role and efficacy of individual or civil rights, the political import of norms and a legal framework, the development of an "economic" analysis and the ideal of class revolution, and the anarchist critique of authority as such - I will attempt to construct a coherent chain of thought.

Basic themes, concepts, and problems will be developed and "carried over" through our readings of the texts. The goal of this course is to impart a historically informed perspective which can: 1) serve as a first foundation to continued study in political theory; 2) further develop the capacity for reading comprehension and critique; 3) give confidence in (and perhaps a desire for) approaching texts from different time periods and cultures; 4) help develop a perspective from which the current culture or society can be evaluated; 5) give one the opportunity to consider the role and place for differing forms of political action.

Texts:

Aristophanes – Lysistrata - $7; Machiavelli – Discourses on Livy - $10; Locke – 2^nd Treatise on Government - $7

Kant – Towards Perpetual Peace and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History - $18.50; Marx – Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, Manifesto of the Communist Party - $8

Emma Goldman – Anarchism and Other Essays - $10