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POL 373H1F: the Emotions and Political Theory

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POL 373H1F: the Emotions and Political Theory POL 373Y: The Emotions and Political Theory Lectures: Wednesdays 12 to 2 Instructor: Rebecca Kingston, Associate Professor of Political Science Office Hours: Wednesdays 3 to 5, Sid Smith 3117 Contact info: (416) 946- 0187 or [email protected] Course Description: Despite some renderings of the art of proper political thinking as the search for the supremacy of reason over passion, recent scholarship across the humanities and social sciences has revealed the multiple ways in which emotion can be recognised as a key component of morality and good politics. Revisionist approaches to the history of political thought have come to recognise that many political theorists writing prior to the twentieth century were more receptive to emotion as a positive political force than previously acknowledged. Through deeper exploration of the history of political thought, theorists have found more appealing and sophisticated accounts of the place that emotions play in political life and in normative theories of morals and politics. In this context, this course has two objectives. The first objective is to explore the work of some important thinkers in the history of political thought with a focus on their conception of emotion and of emotion’s place in political life. While thinkers are chosen selectively, a reading of their ideas will provide us with a map of competing ways in which an appreciation of emotion can be understood and integrated into a theory of politics. The first half of the course will allow students to see some of the historical development of competing models of the place of emotion in politics. A second objective of the course is to give an opportunity for students to explore some of the crucial issues that are raised with the new perspectives and appreciation of emotion in collective life. For this purpose, the second half of the course is organised thematically focusing on a number of key debates today for theorists who take the emotions seriously. Basic outline: A. First Term. The Emotions and the History of Thinking About Politics Part I (three weeks): Introduction. What is an emotion and how do we begin to think about the place of emotion in political life? Part II (three weeks): The Classics: Three Models of Rational Self-Control (Stoics, Plato and Aristotle) 1 Part III (three weeks): 17th and 18th Century Reflections on Emotions in Politics (clash of emotions, the politics of interest and moral sense) Part IV (two weeks): The Modern Age. Towards the Severing of Emotion and Moral Theory? B. Second Term. Emotions and Politics in Contemporary Theory Part I (two weeks): Thinking about emotions in contemporary politics. Are there good and bad emotions? Part II (three weeks): Neuroscience, affect theory and their critics Part III (five weeks): Exploring the place of courage, shame, empathy and fear in political life and for a theory of politics Part IV (two weeks): Should public happiness be the overriding objective of public policy? Assignments (instructions for each assignment noted below): First Term Essay, 10 pp., due November 21st in class: 15% First Term Test (during the exam period TBA): 20% Second Term Essay, 15pp., due March 20th in class: 20% Final Exam (during exam period TBA): 30% Participation/questions: 15% Essay- Your essays should focus on a particular question related to the theme of the course. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you approach this question through the study of the political theory of one or more thinkers, though you are not limited to thinkers on the course syllabus. It is also strongly recommended that you consult with me when determining your paper topic. Your paper should include a standard scholarly format for your references and bibliography (consult The Chicago Manual of Style for questions with regard to this). Plagiarism is a serious offence and University policy on plagiarism will be strictly enforced. Materials discussing this policy will be made available on the course’s Blackboard site and can also be consulted at http://writing.utoronto.ca/advice/using-sources . Please keep all rough and draft work and hard copies of your essay until the final grades are posted. Dates due are noted above. A penalty of 2% a day (out of 100%) will be assigned to 2 all late papers. This includes weekends. I can accept electronic submissions of your essays, but please follow up with a printed copy. Turnitin.com -Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website. Participation/Questions- Grades for participation will be determined in two ways. Half the participation grade will reflect the student’s quantity and quality of contributions to general class discussion. The second half of the participation grade will be devoted to a question prepared by a student based on one of the week’s readings. Students will be asked to prepare a question based on the reading for that week to launch discussion, and that question will also be handed in at the end of class. Please sign up ahead of time for the week that you intend to prepare the question. A sign-up sheet will be made available before and after class over the first month of term. Accessibility Needs- The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible: http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca/ or [email protected] . Books and Course Packet: The following books will be available for purchase at the Bob Miller Bookroom, 180 Bloor Street West (across from the ROM). Their telephone number is 416-922-3557. Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric, trans. H.C. Lawson-Tancred (London: Penguin Books, 1991, 2004). Cicero, Cicero On the Emotions: Tusculan Disputations 3 and 4, trans. Margaret Graver (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002). R. Kingston and L. Ferry, eds. Bringing the Passions Back In (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2008). S. Thompson and P. Hoggett, Politics and the Emotions (London: Continuum, 2012). In addition there is a packet of course readings. These are available from Print City also at 180 Bloor Street West (across from the ROM). Their telephone number is 416-920-3040. The readings in this course packet are identified in the readings below with CP. 3 Readings and assignments: *Please note that this schedule of readings may be subject to some modification over the course of the term. Readings from the course packet are followed by the letters CP in brackets. Week 1 (September 12th ) - I. Introduction to the course. -Distribution of a G & M article on happiness and public policy: available online at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on- business/economy/economy-lab/canada-among-the-happiest-countries- in-the-world/article610509/ Week 2 (September 19th ) - I. What is an emotion and how do we begin to think about the place of emotion in political life? - Read: 1) Ronald de Sousa, “Emotion,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available online at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion . A link to this entry is available on the Blackboard site for the course. 2) Robert C. Solomon, “The Philosophy of Emotions,” In Handbook of Emotions, 3rd ed. Eds. Lisa Feldman Barrett et al. London: The Guilford Press, chap. 1, pp. 3-16 (CP). Week 3 (September 26th) I. What is an emotion and how do we begin to think about the place of emotion in political life? Con’t. - Read: 1) Mario Vargas Llosa, The Dream of the Celt (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012), chaps. 4 and 5, pp. 21-56 (CP). This book is a fictionalised account of the life of Roger Casement, one of the world’s leading human rights activists in the twentieth century. In reading this selection reflect on the types of emotions depicted as they are related to political action and awareness (for good or evil), as well as to a sense of justice. How do reason and emotion factor in to attitudes and practices of benevolence, empathy and oppression as depicted in these chapters? -you only are required to read the two chapters noted above as found in the reader, but if you would like to read to whole book find the link for purchase here: http://www.amazon.ca/Dream-Celt-Mario- Vargas-Llosa/dp/0374143463 4 2) Simon Thompson and Paul Hoggett, “Introduction,” Politics and the Emotions, Eds. S. Thompson and P. Hoggett (London: Continuum, 2012), pp. 1-19. 3) Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper and Francesca Polletta, “Introduction: why emotions matter,” In Passionate Politics. Emotions and Social Movements, eds. Goodwin et al. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 1-24 (CP). Week 4 (October 3rd) -II. The Classics. Three models of Rational self-control. #1 The Stoics - Read: - Cicero On the Emotions, Book 3, parts 1 and 2; Book 4 and relevant commentary Week 5 (October 10th) - II. The Classics con’t. Three models of Rational self-control. #2 Plato - Read: -1) Plato’s Republic, books 3-4 and 8-9. Use your own copy from POL200y or access the text online at: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html . -2) Christina Tarnopolsky, “Plato on Shame and Frank Speech in Democratic Athens,” In Bringing the Passions Back In, pp.
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