GOVERNMENT/HISTORY/PHILOSOPHY 445

MODERN EUROPEAN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Dr. Donald N. Schroeder

Office: D. Rich 107 Office Hours: 2-3 MTWTh

Phone: 893-1486 or by appointment

E-mail: schroeder@campbell.edu

Spring, 2006

Course Objectives

This course is a survey of some of the more important European political thinkers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The focus will be on the development of liberalism, but some attention will be paid to the classical conservatism of Edmund Burke and Marxism. The purpose of this survey will be not only to understand the significance of these ideas in the history of political thought, but also to encourage you to develop your powers of reason and observation to critically evaluate political ideas and value-assertions.

Course Requirements

Your grade will be based on three essay exams, including a comprehensive final, and a formal term paper due on April 13^th.

Essay Exams: Your questions will come from a list of possible questions distributed in advance. You must provide me with a "blue book," with your name on it, in advance of the exam to enable me to initial it. The "blue book" will be returned to you when you take the exam. On exam dates, you will write one essay from the advance list chosen by chance (tossed die). However, the final will require two essays (probably requiring two "blue books"), one from the last segment of the course and another from a comprehensive list.

Term paper: You are required to write a formal 15- to 20-page term paper, typed. Students are allowed to go beyond the maximum, but there will be a severe penalty for papers below the minimum. Your topic must be chosen only after consultation with me. On the due-date, you must turn in (1) the finished paper, (2) a copy on 3 ½ inch diskette, and (3) your research notes. All copies on diskettes must be on Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word. The paper researched and written for this course must be done exclusively for this course. Papers written for other courses are not to be used to fulfill this requirement. In addition, the paper written for this course is not to be used to fulfill similar requirements in other courses. Any attempt to use this paper in more than one course will be treated as an Honor Code violation. Permission from an instructor to do so will not be considered grounds for an exception. Again, your paper is due on April 8^th.

All papers will be uploaded to “Turnitin.com” for analysis. “Turnitin.com” is an on-line service that matches student-written work against a huge data-base of published and other student-written material to determine whether portions of an assignment were improperly copied. Additional information about “Turnitin.com” can be found on its’ web-site, www.turnitin.com.

Grades: Each essay counts as 1/6 of your grade (4 essays including 2 from the final) and the term paper 1/3.

Absence Policy

Consistent with the recommendation of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, you must attend at least 90% of the classes scheduled. If athletics or some other University sponsored activity makes this impossible, discuss it with me within the next two weeks.

Academic Integrity

All students are subject to the academic integrity and behavioral expectations of the University.

Learning Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities who desire modifications or accommodations should contact Laura Rich, director of Student Support Services in the Hight House at 814-4364 or richl@campbell.edu.

Texts:

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, (Cambridge Press)

John Locke, Two Treatises on Government, (Cambridge Press)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Basic Political Writings, Donald Cress, trans., (Hackett Press)

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, (Penguin)

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty and other writings, (Cambridge Press)

Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, The Marx-Engels Reader, (Norton)

Selected Articles on Reserve (to be announced)

The Style Manual: Standards for Written Work, by the Faculty of the Department of Government and History

Course Outline

I. Thomas Hobbes

Required: Leviathan, Parts I & II

A. Biography and Hobbes' Philosophical Antecedents

B. Science, Politics and Human Nature

C. The State of Nature and Liberty

D. The Social Contract and the Nature of Sovereignty

II. John Locke

Required: The Second Treatise on Government

A. Biography

B. Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

C. The Social Contract and Locke's Political Principles

D. Natural Law

E. Property

F. Locke and the Liberal Tradition

FIRST EXAM

III. Jean Jacques Rousseau

Required: The Social Contract

A. Biography

B. The State of Nature, Primitive Man, and the Stages of Human Development

C. The General Will

D. Liberty and Community

E. Emile: The True Citizen

F. Romanticism: From Rousseau to Nietsche

IV. Edmund Burke

Required: Reflections on the Revolution in France

A. Biography and Special Features of Burke's Political Thought

B. Burke and Natural Law

C. Reason and Politics

D. Prescription

SECOND EXAM

V. John Stuart Mill

Required: On Liberty

A. Biography

B. Utilitarianism and the Nature of Happiness

C. The Nature of Liberty

D. Contemporary Utilitarianism

VI. Karl Marx

Required: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, The Communist Manifesto, and Capital, Book I [in the Marx-Engel Reader]

A. Biography and Special Features of His Social and Economic Thought

B. Dialectical Materialism

C. Marxist Economics

D. Development of Marx's Ideas

E. The Classless Society

VII. Conclusion

THE FINAL!