Seminar: Political Thought of Montesquieu Political Science 148 Tufts University Spring Semester 2015
This seminar will study Montesquieu’s political thought as it emerges through his comparative analysis of political regimes—Western and Eastern, ancient and modern—in his major work The Spirit of the Laws. Montesquieu’s thought is central in the history of political thought both because he is the Continental philosopher who had the greatest impact on the American founding and because he is an important figure in the transition from ancient to modern thought. Themes will include the principles that guide tyranny, monarchy, and republican government; the principle of separation of powers; the meaning of political liberty; the impact of commerce on political life; the relation of mores to laws; the extent to which political regimes affect human possibility; and the character of Montesquieu’s liberalism.
We will begin, however, with an examination of Montesquieu’s Persian Letters, his first major work. It is a novel in the form of letters that tells the story of two Persians traveling in and around Paris. Despite its pleasing character, this work is a penetrating analysis of political, religious, and sexual tyranny. We will ask what the relation of this work is to his great work of political philosophy, The Spirit of the Laws.
Office Hours: Vickie Sullivan [email protected] x72328 Mondays, 1:30-2:30 p.m. (Classics, Eaton 328) Wednesdays, 1:30-3:30 p.m. (Political Science, Packard 206) Other times by appointment
Required Books:
Montesquieu, Persian Letters, trans., C.J. Betts, Penguin Books.
Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, ed. Anne Cohler et al, Cambridge University Press.
Books on Reserve:
David W. Carrithers, Michael A. Mosher, and Paul A. Rahe, eds., Montesquieu’s Science of Politics: Essays on the “Spirit of the Laws” (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001). JC179 .M74 2001
Anne M. Cohler, Montesquieu’s Comparative Politics and the Spirit of American Constitutionalism (Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1988). JC179.M753 C64
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Sharon R. Krause, Liberalism with Honor (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002). JC574.U6 K73 2002
Alan Macfarlane, The Riddle of the Modern World: Of Liberty, Wealth and Equality (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000). JC585 .M43 2000
Pierre Manent, The City of Man, trans. Marc A. LePain (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998). BD450 .M267713 1998
Pierre Manent, An Intellectual History of Liberalism, trans. Rebecca Balinski (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994). JC571 .M326613 1994
Thomas L. Pangle, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism: A Commentary on the “Spirit of the Laws” (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973). JC179.M8 P35
Thomas L. Pangle, The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu’s “Spirit of the Laws” (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). JC179.M8 P36 2010
Diana J. Schaub, Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu’s “Persian Letters (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995). PQ2011.L6 S33 1995
Robert Shackleton, Montesquieu: A Critical Biography (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1961). JC179.M8
Judith N. Shklar, Montesquieu, Past Masters Series, (Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, 1987). PQ2012 .S53 1987
Requirements:
As this is a seminar, class participation will be an integral part of the course. To aid participation, beginning the second week of the semester, one student shall write a “class paper” (7 to 10 pages in length) on the material to be discussed in class. The class paper will be due at noon on the Monday before the class meeting and will be made available to the other members of the seminar through
As you write your class paper, please keep the following things in mind. After you have selected a topic, you will need to frame the argument. You should state the thesis explicitly in the introduction of the paper and support it vigorously throughout the paper. This means that you must know what you are going to argue before you begin writing. (Often, when writing, one makes important discoveries that change the direction of the argument. When such a fortunate event happens to you—and it is fortunate—it is necessary to rewrite the essay to take account of your new insight.)
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In addition to having a thesis, the class paper must provide evidence for the argument. It is necessary to quote and to cite the evidence from the work that the paper interprets. Sources from the required reading should be cited in the text as follows: Montesquieu says, “Political liberty is found only in moderate governments” (Spirit of the Laws, 11.4, p. 155); or Rica adopts Western dress (Persian Letters, L. 30, p. 83). (After your initial naming of the text you need not repeat it in the references, unless you also cite from both works, e.g. both Spirit of the Laws and Persian Letters.) If you are not using the editions that I ordered for the class, please provide information regarding your editions in a note. It is not necessary to consult outside sources for these class papers, but if you do, you must provide full references to any outside sources in notes.
The other members of the seminar are required to write reaction papers (1-2 pages in length) to the week’s class paper, which are due at the seminar meeting each week. In writing the response paper, you should concentrate on the argument of that week’s paper. Is the argument clear? Is it well supported? Is there other evidence that the author ignores that would buttress the point? Does other evidence exist that contradicts the thesis of the student paper? Are there ramifications of the argument that the author ignores? All these questions could furnish the focus of a response paper. When providing additional evidence in your response paper, follow the directions above for citation of the text. Obviously, in order to write the reaction paper, it is necessary to have read not only the student paper, but the assignment in Montesquieu as well.
Any work that is submitted after the due date will suffer a penalty. No work will be accepted after the end of the semester.
Final grades will be determined in the following manner:
Class paper, seven to ten pages in length 20% Final paper, twenty pages in length 40% Reaction papers 20% Analysis of journal article, three pages in length 10% Participation 10%
Again, as this is a seminar, class attendance and participation will be integral parts of the course. No one will pass the course if he or she misses three or more class meetings for any reason.
Learning Objectives:
This seminar serves as an intellectual capstone project for the major. Accordingly, it requires a substantial research paper (20 pages in length). In researching and writing this paper, students will learn how to conduct and present research in the subfield of political theory. The final paper must examine secondary material not assigned for the seminar meetings. The final paper will be evaluated on the following criteria: a clearly defined thesis that is argued throughout the paper; use of evidence to sustain this thesis; use of secondary sources; contribution to the scholarship; and the quality of writing.
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DATE ASSIGNMENT______
Wednesday, January 14 Introduction to the course
Wednesday, January 28 Persian Letters, Montesquieu’s Preface, letters 1-56
Wednesday, February 7 Persian Letters, letters 57-111
Wednesday, February 14 Persian Letters, letters 112-161
Wednesday, February 21 Spirit of the Laws, Author’s Foreword, Author’s Preface, Books 1-3
Wednesday, February 28 Spirit of the Laws, Books 4-5
Wednesday, March 4 Spirit of the Laws, Books 6-7
Wednesday, March 11 Spirit of the Laws, Books 8-10
Wednesday, March 25 Spirit of the Laws, Book 11
Wednesday, April 1 Spirit of the Laws, Books 12 and 14 Proposal for Final Paper Due
Wednesday, April 8 Spirit of the Laws, Books 19, 20, and 21 (chapter 20 only)
Wednesday, April 15 Spirit of the Laws, Books 24 and 25
Wednesday, April 22 Spirit of the Laws, Books 26 and 29 Analysis of Journal Article Due
Monday, May 4 Final Papers due at noon in Department of Political Science
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