Harvard Kennedy School of Government

GOVT E-1075/W Pop Culture and Political Philosophy Spring, 2016

Logistics

Lectures: Thursdays, 7:40pm -9:40pm, Maxwell-Dworkin G115

Instructor Christopher Robichaud (Ph.D. in Philosophy, MIT) Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Office Hours: Thursdays 5-6pm and by appointment Office: Littauer 214, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Email: [email protected] Phone: (617) 384-8120

Administrative Assistant Rosita Scarfo Phone:617-496-1739 Email: [email protected] Office: Belfer 127B, Harvard Kennedy School

Teaching Assistants Mark Diaz Truman, Head TA (Master’s in Public Policy, Harvard) [email protected] Office Hours: TBA Section Meetings: TBA

Wynne Lanros (Master’s in Philosophy, Tufts) [email protected] Office Hours: TBA Section Meetings: TBA

Overview

This course exposes students to classic and contemporary political philosophy by way of using it to engage popular films, television shows, comic books, novels and music.

Course Expectations and Requirements

1. Students are expected to fulfill the requirements of a writing intensive course. GOVT E-1075/W focuses on providing students with the writing skills needed to discuss with depth and clarity the philosophical ideas and arguments that arise in a variety of Ameri- can pop culture narratives.

Writing-intensive courses at the Harvard Extension School offer students the opportunity to develop writing skills for a specific academic discipline. These courses feature com- mon elements. Students will:

 Develop core writing skills, as defined by the instructor, in the discipline of the course;  Complete multiple writing assignments of varying lengths, at least two of which must be revised;  Produce a minimum of 10-12 pages of polished writing, beyond required rough drafts, over the course of the term;  Meet at least once in individual conference (in person, by phone, or online) with the instructor or TA to discuss writing in progress;  Receive detailed feedback on their drafts and revisions, on both content and expression.

2. Students are expected to complete all the readings/watch all of the shows or films as- signed for the course.

Fair warning. This is a time intensive course. Some of your time will be spent consuming pop culture—a season of Game of Thrones, say, or a play-through of Bioshock. There are some serious hours that you will have to log consuming the entertainment we’ll be looking at. Additionally, some of your time will be spent reading dense philosophy, in- cluding the entirety of Machiavelli’s The Prince and of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Many more hours will be logged reading that philosophy with care. Just as importantly, this is a writing intensive course, meaning that you will be clocking a lot of time writing, writing, and writing. (See below for details.) As such, please do not take this course if you are unable to devote the time necessary to engage it fully. You will stress yourself out and your grade will inevitably suffer.

3. Students are expected to listen to the lectures each week.

I strongly encourage local students to attend lectures each week. See below for incentives to do so. Regardless, the expectation of students listening to the lectures each week brings with it the expectation that if I discuss something in lecture that is relevant to the assignments, you do not have an excuse for missing this information if it only comes at you this way, and you are therefore responsible for it. In short: please take the time to watch the lectures each week, every week, start to finish.

4. Students are expected to exercise academic integrity in the course. There is zero tolerance for plagiarism.

You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic- integrity) and how to use sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting "the wrong draft", or being overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no excuses for failure to uphold academic integrity. To support your learning about academic citation rules, please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid Plagiarism (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism), where you'll find links to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two, free, online 15- minute tutorials to test your knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.

5. Students are expected to fulfill all the formal requirements of the course, detailed below.

Formal Course Requirements:

(1) Three Response Papers

Each response paper is to be three pages long (typed, double-spaced, 12pt font), and each will count toward 15% of your final grade.

All response papers will include feedback from the teaching assistants. The second of these three papers will involve a rewrite as well. Specific details on the papers will be presented in lecture, in section, and in course announcements on Canvas.

(2) Final Paper Draft

Your final paper will be eight pages long if you are an undergraduate student and twelve pages long if you are a graduate student. You will need to submit a complete draft of it. A complete draft is eight pages if you are an undergraduate and twelve pages if you are a graduate student. A complete draft is a complete version of your final paper, and must contain all the elements expected in the final paper. This draft will count for 15% of your final grade.

More details on the final paper will be presented in lecture, in section, and in course an-

3 nouncements on Canvas.

(3) Final Paper

Your final paper will be a revision of your complete draft. It will count for 25% of your final grade. Standards will be provided for what counts as an acceptable revision.

NOTE: It is the policy of this course that, barring medical or other serious emergencies (computer malfunctions and internet delays are not serious emergencies), late papers or papers written on the wrong topic or papers that do not fulfill the requirements provided in class or by email or on Canvas by me or the teaching assistants will receive a zero. Please be sure to do the correct assignment, and submit it on time.

(4) Participation

You will be expected to participate on a regular basis. This means attending and contrib- uting to the sections run by the teaching assistants each week. Participation counts for 15% of your final grade.

Additionally, non-distance and hybrid students who attend lecture in person for at least 11 of the 15 sessions will have their lowest response paper grade raised one letter grade (B- to a B, B to a B+, B+ to an A-, etc.). Attendance will be taken each class and to be eligible students must attend the entire lecture. This policy does not affect papers that did not originally receive a passing grade.

Distance students who make at least one substantive contribution to the online forum for at least 11 of the 15 weeks of the semester will have their lowest response paper grade raised one letter grade (B- to a B, B to a B+, B+ to an A-, etc.). This policy does not affect papers that did not originally receive a passing grade.

To be clear: these incentives are aimed at promoting interaction. It seeks to get local students into the classroom interacting with me and each other on a weekly basis, and to get distance students on the course forum interacting with the TAs and each other on a weekly basis. Local students are more than welcome to comment on the forums and distance students are more than welcome to drop in on a class if they're in town, of course.

NOTE: The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic com- munity. The Disability Services Office offers a variety of accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Please visit www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/disability-services- accessibility for more information.

Due Dates For Assignments 4

Readings, Films, Shows

All material for a lecture is to be read and/or watched prior to the class in which it is dis- cussed.

First Response Paper: Due Sunday February 7 at 11:59pm The first response paper will focus on the material from Class 3: The Case for Anarchy in V for Vendetta.

Second Response Paper, First Draft: Sunday February 21 at 11:59pm The second response paper will focus on the material from Class 5: Machiavelli and Leadership in Game of Thrones.

Second Response Paper, Revised Draft: Sunday March 13 at 11:59pm

Third Response Paper: Sunday March 27 at 11:59pm The third response paper will focus on the material from Class 9: Capitalism, Randian Objectivism, and the Bioshock Rebuttal.

Final Paper, First Draft: Sunday April 17 at 11:59pm The final response paper will focus on the material from class 15: Watchmen and Political Philosophy: Tying Things Together.

Final Paper, Revised Draft: Sunday May 8 at 11:59pm

Required Texts

There are ten required books for this course and a course packet that must be purchased. The books are:

 Political Thought, edited by Michael Rosen and Jonathan Wolff  Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand  Machiavelli: Selected Political Writings, edited and translated by David Wootton  Anatomy of the State, by Murray Rothbard  The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate, by John Kleinig, Simon Keller, and Igor Pri- moratz  House of Cards and Philosophy, edited by J. Edward Hackett  Propaganda, by Edward Bernays  Watchmen, by Alan Moore  The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore  V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore

Print and/or e-copies of all are available through Amazon; some copies will also be available through the Harvard COOP bookstores.

The course packet will be available near the start of the term, and you will have an option of purchasing an e-copy or a print copy of it. Please note: The availability of the course packet is a function of when HES has put all of the materials together. When it has, students enrolled in the course will be alerted. The instructor and teaching staff do not have control over when the materials will be finalized for purchase.

I recommend that you look at the following helpful guidelines on writing and reading philosophy:

 James Pryor, “Guidelines on Reading Philosophy” http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html#Evaluate

 James Pryor, “Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper” http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html

Required Television Shows and Films

In addition to the above texts, you will be required to watch the following, per the syllabus. It is your responsibility to secure legal copies of these films and tv shows. Most if not all can be streamed through online services like Netflix or Hulu, or can be rented for streaming through services like Amazon. New and used hard copies are available widely in retail stores and libraries.

Other material (such as selections from The Colbert Show and the play-through of Bi- oshock) are available by YouTube. Links to these will be posted for the relevant classes and can be found below on the syllabus.

 Mad Max: Fury Road  X-Men: First Class  Captain America: First Avenger  Captain America: Winter Soldier  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy  Star Wars: Original Trilogy  Game of Thrones: Season One  House of Cards: Season One  Mad Men: Season One  The Walking Dead: Season One  South Park: Season 19

Addendum I: Course Content

American popular culture is, to be blunt, filled to the brim with vulgarity, violence, sexu- al assault, and very adult situations. It is perfectly understandable for some people not to want to consume this material, for a variety of reasons, let alone to write about it or to

6 talk about it. But the course is focused on this very pop culture, and there is no way to offer accommodations without offering an entirely different course. As such, I strongly encourage you to give serious thought to whether you will be comfortable spending a semester with this material—consuming it, thinking about it, writing about it, talking about it, etc. I take enrollment in this course to constitute agreement on your part to work with this material and to meet the expectations of the course laid out above. Please under- stand that we will not be able to accommodate individual preferences in terms of the material we look at. If you think that any of it is going to be a problem for you, again, please give some serious thought to the matter before enrolling in the course.

Addendum II: Social Network Policy

I have an online presence through various social networks and am delighted if you’re in- terested in connecting with me via these sites. I’m also perfectly content if you are not. The views I express on these sites are entirely my own and are not to be confused in any way with me speaking in the capacity of my role at the Harvard Kennedy School or the Harvard Extension School. In light of that, while I’ll happily accept Facebook friend re- quests, Twitter followers, etc., I will not initiate such contact. The idea is to do whatever you’re comfortable with.

Schedule of Lectures

1. Human Nature, Gender, and Mad Max Fury Road January 28

 Film: Mad Max Fury Road.  Reading: Political Thought, Sections Ia: The Natural State of Mankind and Ib: Man’s Nature and Woman’s Nature, pp. 10-51.

2. The Walking Dead, the Social Contract, Leadership and Authority February 4

 TV Show: The Walking Dead, Season One.  Reading: Political Thought, Sections IIa: What is the State?, IIb: The Social Con- tract, and IIc: Against the Social Contract, pp. 56-72.  Course Packet: Ronald Heifetz, “Leadership” and “Leadership and Values,” Chapters 2 and 3 in Political and Civic Leadership, edited by Richard Couto.

3. The Case for Anarchy in V for Vendetta February 11

 Graphic Novel: Alan Moore, V for Vendetta.  Reading: Political Thought, Sections IId: The Anarchist Response and IVa: What is Liberty?, pp. 73-77; 122-132.  Reading: Murray Rothbard, Anatomy of the State.

4. Rights and Resistance in X-Men February 18

 Film: X-Men: First Class.  Reading: Political Thought, Sections IIe: Civil Disobedience and IVe: Rights, pp. 78-88; 172-180.  Videos: Malcolm X, If Someone Sics a Dog on You, Kill that Dog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7f5NTLgtEA Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yP4aLyq1g Malcolm X on Martin Luther King, Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdfVxCttZQ Martin Luther King, Jr. on Malcolm X https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwKIUMbi9Jk

5. Machiavelli and Leadership in Game of Thrones

February 25

 TV Show: Game of Thrones, Season One.  Reading: Machiavelli, The Prince.  Course Packet: Marcus Shulzkie, “Playing the Game of Thrones: Some Lessons from Machiavelli” in Game of Thrones and Philosophy, edited by Henry Jacoby and William Irwin.

6. Machiavelli, Democracy and House of Cards March 3

 TV Show: House of Cards, Season One.  Reading: Political Thought, Sections IIIa-d: Against Democracy, Democratic Ide- als, True and False Democracy, and Dangers in Democracy, pp. 89-110.  Reading: House of Cards and Philosophy, Chapters 3-4, 7-8, 11-12; pp. 31-52; 81-101; 128-151.

7. Captain America and Patriotism March 10

 Films: Captain America: First Avenger and Captain America: Winter Soldier.  Reading: The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate, Part One: Three Views on the Eth- ics of Patriotism, pp. 17-104.

8. Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Just War Theory March 24

 Films: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Star Wars: Original Trilogy.  Reading: Political Thought, Section VIa: Peace and War, pp. 257-266.  Course Packet: David Kyle Johnson, “Tolkien’s Just War,” in The Hobbit and Philosophy, edited by Gregory Bassham, Eric Bronson and William Irwin, pp. 103-117.  Course Packet: Charles C. Camosy, “Chasing Kevin Smith: Was it Immoral for the Rebel Alliance to Destroy Death Star II,” in The Ultimate Star Wars and Phi- losophy, edited by Jason T. Eberl, Kevin S. Decker and William Irwin, pp. 67-78.

9. Capitalism, Randian Objectivism, and the Bioshock Rebuttal March 31

 Video Game Walkthrough: Bioshock. https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A8505B811DD72E3A  Reading: Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

 Course Packet: Jason Rose, “The Value of Art in Bioshock: Ayn Rand, Emotion, and Choice, in Bioshock and Philosophy, edited by Luke Cuddy and William Ir- win, pp. 15-26.

10. Exploring Free Will and Punishment in The Killing Joke and Metallica April 7

 Graphic Novel: Alan Moore, The Killing Joke.  Albums: Metallica: Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.  Reading: Political Thought, Section IVf: Punishment, pp. 181-186.  Course Packet: Mark D. White, “Why Doesn’t Batman Kill the Joker,” in Batman and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White, Robert Arp and William Irwin, pp. 5- 16.  Course Packet: Christopher Robichaud, “The Joker’s Wild: Can We Hold the Clown Prince Morally Responsible?” in Batman and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White, Robert Arp and William Irwin, pp. 70-84.  Course Packet: Brian K. Cameron, “Madness in the Mirror of Reason: Metallica and Foucault on Insanity and Confinement,” in Metallica and Philosophy, edited by William Irwin, pp. 117-126.  Course Packet: Thom Brooks, “Ride the Lightening: Why Not Execute Killers,” in Metallica and Philosophy, edited by William Irwin, pp. 127-134.

11. Nudging, Manipulation and Truth-telling in Mad Men April 14

 TV Show: Mad Men, Season One.  Course Packet: Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, “Libertarian Paternalism is not an Oxymoron,” University of Chicago Law Review 70(4) (2003), pp. 1159-1202.  Jeremy Waldron, “It’s All For Your Own Good,” New York Review of Books. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/10/09/cass-sunstein-its-all-your-own- good/  Course Packet: Andreja Novakovic and Tyler Whitney, “In on It: Honest, Respect and the Ethics of Advertising,” in Mad Men and Philosophy, edited by James B. South, Rod Carveth and William Irwin, pp. 113-125.  Course Packet: Adam Barkman, “’You’re Looking in the Wrong Direction’: Mad Men and the Ethics of Advertising,” in Mad Men and Philosophy, edited by James B. South, Rod Carveth and William Irwin, pp.141-153.

12. Dungeons & Dragons and Propaganda: the Satanic Panic of the 1980s April 21

 Video: Dungeons & Dragons gameplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLEMb_RIZ3o  Jack Chick, Dark Dungeon Pamphlet. http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP 10

 60 Minutes segment on D&D, 1985. https://archive.org/details/60_minutes_on_dungeons_and_dragons  BBC Magazine, “The Great 1980s Dungeons & Dragons Panic.” http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105  Wired, “The Media Still Owes Dungeons & Dragons an Apology.” http://www.wired.com/2015/10/geeks-guide-dungeons-dragons/  Course Packet: Gavin Baddeley, “Dicing with the Devil: The Crusade Against Gaming” in Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, edited by Kier- La Janisse and Paul Corupe.  Course Packet: Paul Corupe, “20-Sided Sins: How Jack. T. Chick Was Drawn In- to the RPG War,” in Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe.  Reading: Edward Bernays, Propaganda.  Course Packet: Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky, “A Propaganda Model,” Chapter One in Manufacturing Consent, pp. 1-36.

13. Daily Show, Colbert Report, and The Onion: The Political Role of Satire April 28

 (Some of) the best of The Daily Show. http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/gallery/jon_stewart_best_moments/  (Some of) the best of The Colbert Report.  http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/lists/30-best-colbert-report-bits-20141215  The Onion Year in Review: 2015 http://www.theonion.com/2015  Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson, “The State of Satire, the Satire of State,” in Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Age, edited by Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson  Seth Paskin, “What is Satire For” https://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/03/23/what-is-satire-for/  Michael Tiboris and Kory Schaff, “The Word: Fearless Speech and the Politics of Language,” in Stephen Colbert and Philosophy, edited by Aaron Allen Schiller  Steven Gimbel, “Formidable Opponent and the Necessity of Moral Doubt,” in Stephen Colbert and Philosophy, edited by Aaron Allen Schiller  Sophia A McClennen and Remy M Maisel, “Savin Franklin: Satire Defends Our National Values,” in Is Satire Saving Our Nation? Mockery and American Poli- tics

14. Tolerance and/of South Park May 5

 TV Show: South Park, Season 19  Reading: Political Thought Section IVc: Toleration and Free Expression, pp. 142- 154.

 Course Packet: David Koepsell, “Respect my Religiositah!: South Park and Blas- phemy” in South Park and Philosophy, edited by Robert Arp, Kevin S. Decker, and William Irwin, pp. 97-107.  Course Packet: Kevin J. Murtagh, “Mary’s Menses and Morality: Blasphemy in South Park,” in South Park and Philosophy, edited by Robert Arp, Kevin S. Decker, and William Irwin, pp. 108-118.

15. Watchmen and Political Philosophy: Tying Things Together May 12

 Graphic Novel: Alan Moore, Watchmen.