Course Title: Social & Political Philosophy/Political Theory (PHIL 2010-01/PLSC 2500-01; Spring 2005)
Subject: An introduction to political philosophy, including the nature of the state, law, justice, and rights
Location/Time: AC 218 MWF 9:00am
Texts: 1) Political Philosophy, by Pojman [P]; 2) Philosophy of Law, by Feinberg & Coleman [F]
Instructor: Dr. Patrick Hopkins, Dept. of Philosophy
Office: Christian Center 19
Office Phone: 974-1293
Office hours: by appointment
Email: hopkipd@millsaps.edu

Course Description: This will be an introductory course on conceptual and ethical issues in social, political, and legal philosophy. We will begin by asking about the nature, origin, purpose, and best structure of the state, including the classic writings on democracy, contractarianism, socialism, libertarianism, capitalism, theocracy, monarchy, and paternalism. We will then move on to analyzing major concepts in social philosophy, including justice, rights, and equality. In the second half of the class, we will move on to the philosophy of law, asking fundamental questions of the nature and source of law, the obligation to obey the law, constitutional issues, the purpose and nature of punishment, the nature of property, and addressing various specific legal and moral questions such as affirmative action, gay marriage, privacy rights, plea bargaining, torture, the death penalty, and the separation of church and state. Throughout, we will examine actual court cases and rulings.

Class will consist of assigned readings, short writings, lectures, class discussions, and student group projects. Students must keep up with the readings, must participate in class, and must attend outside group meetings or class will be an unpleasant experience.

Course Requirements:

Grades: Grades will be based on a cumulative 100 point scale distributed as follows:

Group Project 1 10 points A 90-100 points
Group Project 2 20 points B 80-89 points
Test 1 20 points C 70-79 points
Test 2 20 points D 60-69 points
Short Writings 20 points (5 each) F 0-59 points
Briefings 5 points
Attendance 5 points

Tests: There will be 2 take-home tests. Each will cover the material we have talked about in class and/or you have been assigned to read. Each test will be composed of 5 essay questions. The tests will emphasize your ability to explain the issues and to argue for your position. These essays will NOT simply be your opinions, but rather an argument explaining the reasons you have for your position. On the day the test is assigned, I will give you a list of 6 essay questions, from which you must choose 5 for the test. There will be no surprises. You are to send me your tests in a single MS Word file by email by noon the day they are due. I will not accept paper. You are to pledge the honor code on the tests at the end. To complete the test, you may use any of the readings in the class, but you are NOT to have any communication about the test with anyone else or use any other sources except basic references.

Briefings: Once during the semester, each person will give a 2 minute public talk to the class. These will be at the beginning of class. The talk will consist of answering a question that the instructor has assigned regarding that day's readings or other related material. You will be given a handout describing briefings.

Group Projects: There are two group projects this semester. For each, you will be assigned to a group of 4-5 people (depending on the size of the class) and will be given instructions for what to do. I will not tell you what the projects concern until they are assigned. However, I will tell you now that the projects are serious, count for nearly a third of your grade, will involve considerable research, effort, organization, time together outside of class, writing, and public speaking.

Short Writings: Throughout the semester, there will be 4 short writing assignments. These will cover various topics and will turned in to me via email, just as with the tests.

COURSE POLICIES:

Reading Assignments: There are near-daily reading assignments for this class. You should make every effort to read what is assigned. Remember, class discussion is a large part of this class. I will not simply lecture. Students may be asked questions at random.

Attendance Policy: You have 3 free absence days, meaning you can miss up to 3 classes without penalty. Every missed class after that (without proper official physician's excuse) will cost you 2 points off of your final grade (of the 100 total points).

Make-up tests and assignments: A) Group work cannot be made up, for obvious reasons. B) No make-up tests will be given except in extreme circumstances. Regardless of circumstance, any make-up test will be harder than the original.

Written Work by email: You must send me all your short writings, take-home tests, and any other appropriate materials by email, as a single MS Word document. I will not accept any materials in class. Pledge all materials at the end of the text with your typed name.

Contacting me: Feel free to call me at the Philosophy dept., to leave messages on my voice-mail, to come by my office during office hours, to see me immediately after class, to make appointments to see me, or to email me. I'm here to discuss anything about the class with you. Make use of that.

Grading on Product: I grade your tests and your reports on the finished product. I do not grade for effort. So, if you spend 134 hours working on a test and still get a bad grade, do not tell me how long and hard you worked. Such information is irrelevant, though possibly sad. You are graded on what you turn in.

Withdrawal from Class: If you cannot follow course policies or you find yourself doing poorly, you may wish to withdraw from the class. I freely give permission to withdraw regardless of reason. You don't have to justify anything. Keep in mind, that the last day to withdraw with a W grade is March 31. Withdrawal after the deadlines is treated just like getting an F.

Incompletes: Incompletes are given ONLY if the student is unable to complete the course requirements because of extreme circumstances beyond their control, such as emergency medical problems. In such circumstances, students will be required to sign a contract specifying what they must do to complete the course (which will require additional work over the course's normal requirements). Failure to comply with the requirements of the contract will result in an F for the class. Incompletes automatically convert to Fs at the end of the semester following the semester in which the I grade was received.

Disability/Special Needs Students: If a student has a disability and requires special services for the class, they should contact me right away. If they do not contact me very early in the course, their needs may not be met. Any student with such needs must have official forms from the Dean's Office describing their special requirements.

Cheating/Plagiarism: Any instance of cheating or plagiarism is punishable by failing the course and being brought up before the Honor Council.

Life Stuff: One of the reasons I'm a professor at a place like Millsaps College rather than a big anonymous university is so that I can work with students as real people and not numbers. I'm interested in your life, where it's been and where it's going. So, if you want (or need) to talk about anything that's troubling you, interesting you, frustrating you, or whatever, anytime during the semester, come talk to me. This is not boilerplate. I'm serious. If you're going crazy, or feel like you are, or want to figure out what to do with your life, I'm here and want to listen.

All course policies apply directly to you. If your schedule/circumstances makes it impossible for you to abide by course policies, then you should withdraw from this class.

GENERAL SCHEDULE

DATES SUBJECTS AND EVENTS ASSIGNMENTS
JANUARY M 10 " Introduction to class None
W 12 " Plato
" Group Project #1 Assigned, due noon next Wednesday email
F 14 " Aristotle email
M 17 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Class Does Not Meet
W 19 " Machiavelli
" Group Project #1 due by noon today P 2 (Pojman book, beginning at page 2, all of Machiavelli article)
F 21 " Hobbes
" Shorting Writing #3 assigned, due Monday by noon P 8
M 24 " Hobbes P 8
W 26 " Locke P 30
F 28 " Locke P 30
M 31 " Hume P 63

FEBRUARY W 2 " Smith email
F 4 " Marx
" Required Friday Forum with Jan Narveson
" Shorting Writing #2 on Narveson talk assigned, due by noon Monday Email
M 7 " Marx P 84
W 9 " Mill P 95
F 11 " Wolff
" Beran P 131; 136
M 14 " Rawls
" Copp P 143; 150
W 16 " Feinberg P 192
F 18 " Dworkin P 198
M 21 " Fish P 239
W 23 " Nozick P 256
F 25 " Rawls
" Short Writing #3 Assigned, due Monday by noon P 270
M 28 " Devlin
" Hart P 311; 318

MARCH W 2 " Vlastos
" Pojman P 365; 391
F 4 " Mosley
" Pojman P 421; 429
M 7 " Feinberg P 460
W 9 " Gewirth
" MacIntyre
" TEST #1 Assigned, due by noon on Thursday, March 17 P 468; 479
F 11 " Bix
" Fuller F 8; 20
M 14 " Austin F 24
W 16 " Hart
" TEST #1 due by noon tomorrow F 36
F 18 SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
SPRING BREAK
M 21
W 23
F 25
M 28 " Hart
" Fuller
" Group Project #2 Assigned F 50; 67
W 30 " Dworkin
" Riggs v. Palmer
" Last Day to Drop Course with W F 82; 100

APRIL F 1 " Holmes
" Frank F 119; 125
M 4 " Scalia
" Dworkin F 187; 196
W 6 " Langbein F 333
F 8 " Griswold v. Connecticut F 354
M 11 " Roe v. Wade F 359
W 13 " Bowers v. Hardwick F 368
F 15 " Feinberg
" Skokie v. National Socialist Party
" Short Writing #4 assigned due by noon Monday F 379; 399
M 18 " Scheppele
" Michael v. Sonoma County F 456; 471
W 20 " Waldron
" Moore v. Regents of California
" TEST #2 Assigned, due by noon the 26th F 560; 588
F 22 " Thomson
" Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories
" Last Day of Class F 642; 686
T 26 " Final Test due by noon