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Home , David Boucher (academic), Social contract, Thomas Hobbes

and the : The Social

This course aims to introduce students to central questions in political , through engagement with the work of several significant political : , , Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and . The topics with which we be most deeply concerned include the of the state; the limits of the state’s ; the basis of of resistance or rebellion; the relevance of to political authority; the and value of freedom; the relationship between and ; and social . We will also, as often as we can, attempt to relate the views of these philosophers to contemporary debates.

Program of lectures and reading Week 1 (15/01) Lecture 1: Political Legitimacy and the Tradition

Reading: Easy: Wolf (2006): 34-48. Easier: ‘Authority’ and ‘Political Obligation’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Harder: Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 1. Hampton (1997): Chapter 3.

Week 2 (22/01) Lecture 2: Hobbes on Human Nature and the

Primary Reading: , Part I, chs. 11, 13-16.

Secondary Reading: Easy: Wolf (2006): 8-17. Easier: Levine (2002): 15-32. Newey (2008): ch. 4-5. Harder: Warburton, Pike and Matravers (2000): 100-105.

Seminar question: If human nature is, or were, as Hobbes describes it, does it follow that life in the state of nature would be ‘solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and short’?

Week 3 (29/01) Lecture 3: Hobbes on the Covenant, the Sovereign and the Right to Rebel

Primary Reading: Leviathan, Part II, chs. 17-22, 29.

Secondary Reading: Easy: Levine (2002): 32-54. Easier: Hampton (1997): 41-52. Newey (2008): chs. 6-8. Harder: Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 2. Warburton, Pike and Matravers (2000): 113-124. Skinner (2005): 177-208.

Seminar question: How, according to Hobbes, do living in the state of nature manage to arrive into political ? Is his account convincing? What are the problems with it?

Week 4 (5/02) Lecture 4: Locke on the State of Nature, the of Nature and

Primary Reading: Locke, Second Treatise of , chs. 1-5

Secondary Reading: Easy: Wolf (2006): 17-24. Easier: Lloyd Thomas (1995): 11-27. White (2012): 262-276. Harder: Warburton, Pike and Matravers (2000): 172-184. Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 3.

Seminar question: Are Locke’s views on property defensible?

Week 4 (9/02) – Note Friday Lecture 5: Locke on Consent, the State and the Right to Rebellion

Primary Reading: Locke, Second Treatise of Government, chs. 6-19; , ‘Of the Original Contract’

Secondary Reading: Easy: Lloyd Thomas (1995): 27-33. Easier: Hampton (1997): 53-67. Levine (2002): 95-127. Harder: Warburton, Pike and Matravers (2000): 162-171. Lloyd Thomas (1995): 34-56 (on consent), 57-88 (on rebellion) and 89-122 (on property).

Seminar question: What sort of theory of consent does Locke offer in the Second Treatise of Government? Is it plausible? Can it withstand Hume’s criticisms?

Week 5 (12/02) – no teaching for this course (lecturer away)

Week 6 (19/02) – no teaching (Flexible Learning Week)

Week 7 (26/02) Lecture 6: Rousseau on the State of Nature, Human Nature and Inequality

Primary Reading: Discourse of the Origins of Inequality.

Secondary Reading: Easy: Delaney (2009): 33-65. Wolf (2006): 24-29. Easier: Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 5. Dent (2005): 57-74. Harder: Warburton, Pike and Matravers (2000): 216-230.

Seminar question: Do you agree with Rousseau’s criticism of Hobbes’ state of war?

Week 8 (5/03) Lecture 7: Rousseau on , the and the State

Primary Reading: The Social Contract.

Secondary Reading: Easy: Wolf (2006): 77-93. Easier: Delaney (2009): 119-136. Levine (2002): 55-94. Section 3, ‘Rousseau’, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Harder: Bertram (2004): ch. 3, 5, 6, 7. Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 6. Dent (2005): 124-159.

Seminar question: Is participation in the General Will consistent with the non-renunciation of one’s freedom?

Week 9 (12/03) Lecture 8: Kant on the State of Nature, the Social Contract and Property

Primary Reading: Political Writings, pp. 54-60 (‘What is Enlightenment?’), pp. 73-87 (‘Theory and Practice, §2)

Secondary Reading: Easy: ‘Kant's Social and ’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Easier: Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 7. Guyer (2006): 262-284. Ginsberg (1974): ‘Kant and Hobbes on the Social Contract’ Southwestern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 115- 119. Harder: Pippin (2006): ‘Mine or thine? The Kantian State’. Riley (1973): ‘On Kant as the most adequate of the social contract theorists’, Political Theory, pp. 450-71. Dudley & Engelhard (2011): 136-52.

Seminar question: What is the point of Kant’s idea of rational possible unanimity? Is it a useful test of rightfulness?

Week 10 (19/03) Lecture 9: Public , the Right to Rebel and punishment

Primary Reading: Political Writings, pp. 132-164 (‘ of Morals’) Secondary Reading: Easy: Section 3.3, ‘Kant's Account of Reason’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Easier: Guyer (2006): 284-294. Harder: Surprenant (2005): ‘A reconciliation of Kant’s views on ’, Interpretation 32 (2), pp. 151-169. Reiss (1956): ‘Kant and the Right of Rebellion’, Journal of the of Ideas Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 179-192.

Seminar question: Why are illegitimate for Kant?

Week 11 (26/04) Lecture 10: The

Primary Reading: Rawls, Theory of Justice, sections 1-4. Secondary Reading: Easy: Wolf (2006): 152-176. Easier: Levine (2002): 178-217. Sections 4.6-10, ‘John Rawls’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Harder: Mandle (2009): 35-74. Freeman (2007): 141-197.

Seminar question: Is Rawls’ account of the original position more plausible than traditional accounts of the state of nature?

Week 12 (2/04) Lecture 11: The Theory of Justice and

Primary Reading: Rawls, Theory of Justice, sections 24-27.

Secondary Reading: Easy: Hinton (2015): Introduction. Sections 3.4-6, ‘John Rawls’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Easier: Hampton (1997): 133-144. Boucher & Kelly (1994): ch. 14. Harder: Hinton (2015): ch. 10. Mandle (2009): 99-108.

Seminar question: What is Rawls’ account of civil disobedience? Is it sufficient for its purpose?

Reading list

Primary text

You will be required to read substantial extracts from the following works:

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan John Locke, Second Treatise of Government Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality and The Social Contract Immanuel Kant, Political Writings John Rawls, Theory of Justice

You can use separate editions of these works, as long as they are unabbreviated. But note that the translation of Rousseau and Kant’s books will probably be different from the translations that I will be using in the lectures, and that the page references for most of the works will also be different.

The separate editions I particularly recommend, if you want to buy them, are:

For Hobbes: Leviathan, Cambridge University Press, Reprint in 2006, Edited by Richard Tuck. For Rousseau: Rousseau: 'The Social Contract' and Other Later Political Writings: "Social Contract" and Other Later Political Writings v. 2 (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Cambridge University Press, 1997. For Locke: Locke: Two Treatises of Government Student edition, Part of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, Editor: Peter Laslett, 1988. For Kant: Political Writings, Cambridge University Press, Reprint in 2007, Edited by H. S. Reiss. For Rawls: Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press [you can choose between the original edition (1971) and the revised edition (1999)].

On Learn, I will also provide links to online versions of these texts.

Secondary texts

General introductions A recommended secondary text for this course, which deals with Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and contains a number of accessible articles and extracts of articles on various aspects of each of them, is:

Nigel Warburton, Jon Pike and Derek Matravers (eds), Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill ( and Open University Press, 2000)

The second recommended text, which has very good chapters on Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke and Rawls, is:

Andrew Levine, Engaging Political Philosophy (Blackwell, 2002).

As you can see, these texts do not deal with Kant, so look at the specific reading in the Kant section for references.

Additional introductions you may want to have a look at are:

David Boucher and Paul Kelly, The Social Contract from Hobbes to Rawls (Routledge, 1994) Jonathan Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy (OUP, 1996) Jean Hampton, Political Philosophy (Westview Press, 1997)

Histories of Political Thought A number of works on the history of political philosophy contain useful chapters on the thinkers discussed in this course. They include:

John Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy (: Harvard University Press, 2007) George Sabine, A History of Political Theory (Dryden Press, 1973) , Man and Society, vols. 1 and 2 (Longman, 1963)

Hobbes A useful introductory text is:

Glen Newey, Hobbes and Leviathan (Routledge, 2002)

Book length treatments include:

Richard Tuck, Hobbes (Oxford, 1989), esp. pp. 51-76 Richard Peters, Hobbes (Peregrine, 1956) Howard Warrender, The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: His Theory of Obligation (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1957) , The of Leviathan (Oxford, 1969) M. M. Goldsmith, Hobbes’ Science of Politics (Columbia UP, 1966) , ‘Introduction to Leviathan’; ch. 1 of Hobbes on Civil Association (Blackwell 1937, reprinted 1975). , Visions of Politics, vol. III: Hobbes and Civil Science (CUP, 2002), esp. chs. 6- 7.

A highly detailed examination of Hobbes’ derivation of the state from the state of nature is:

Jean Hampton, Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition (CUP, 1986)

Locke A good introductory text is:

D. A. Lloyd Thomas Locke on Government (Routledge, 1995)

You might also try:

James Tully, ‘An Introduction to Locke’s Political Philosophy’; ch. 1 of An Approach to Political Philosophy: Locke in Context (CUP, 1993). Richard Ashcraft, Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (Allen and Unwin, 1987), esp. ch. 2 John Dunn, The Political Thought of John Locke (CUP, 1969), esp. Part III. C. B. Macpherson, The Political Theory of Possessive : Hobbes to Locke (Oxford, 1962), esp. chs. 2 and 5 A. John Simmons, The Lockean Theory of Rights (Princeton, 1962)

Rousseau Three useful general introductions and commentaries:

Chris Bertram, Rousseau and the Social Contract (Routledge, 2003) , Rousseau: An Introduction to his Political Philosophy (Macmillan, 1973) N. J. H. Dent, Rousseau (Blackwell, 1988)

Any of the following are also useful:

John Charvet, The Social Problem in the Philosophy of Rousseau (CUP, 1974) Kennedy F. Roche, Rousseau: Stoic and Romantic (Methuen, 1974) Judith Shklar, Men and Citizens: A study of Rousseau’s (CUP, 1969) Stephen Ellenburg, Rousseau’s Political Philosophy: An Interpretation from Within (Cornell UP, 1976)

Kant For general introductions with particular sections on Kant’s political philosophy:

Paul Guyer, Kant (Routledge, 2006), chs. 7-8 Paul Guyer (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Kant and (CUP, 2006), esp. the chapter on the Kantian state by Robert Pippin. Paul Guyer (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Kant (CUP, 1992), esp. the chapter on ‘Politics, Freedom and Order’ by W. Kersting. H.S. Reiss, ‘Introduction’, Kant: Political Writings (CUP, 2007 for the latest edition) Allen Wood, Kantian (CUP, 2008), chs. 11-12 Allen Wood, Kant (Blackwell, 2005), chapter 9 is partly on political philosophy.

For more detailed commentaries:

Katherine Flikschuh, Kant and Modern Political Philosophy (CUP, 2000) Patrick Riley, Kant’s Political Philosophy (Rowman and Littlefield, 1983) Howard Williams, Kant’s Political Philosophy (St Martin’s Press, 1983) Howard Williams, on Kant’s Political Philosophy (U of Chicago Press, 1992) Howard Williams, Kant’s Critique of Hobbes (U of Wales Press, 2003)

Rawls The best introduction is:

S. Freeman, Rawls (Routledge, 2007)

You may also try:

N. Daniels (ed.), Reading Rawls: Critical Studies on John Rawls’ (Basic Books, 1989). S. Freeman (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Rawls (CUP, 2003) Timothy Hinton (ed.), The Original Position (CUP, 2015). Thomas Pogge, John Rawls: His life and Theory of Justice (OUP, 2007) , The Enduring Significance of John Rawls (2001, online: http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i45/45b00701.htm) Ben Rogers, Obituary (online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/nov/27/guardianobituaries.obituaries) For more online resources on Rawls, see http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/rawls.htm

Useful websites The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - great introductory articles on pretty much everything philosophical (check Hobbes, Locke, Kant’s political philosophy, Rawls, and more): http://plato.stanford.edu/

Political philosophy – links and texts: http://www.swif.uniba.it/lei/filpol/filpole/lintexe.htm

Kant on the web: primary texts, translations, research articles, etc. (http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~ppp/Kant.html)

On Kant’s ethics and : http://ethics.sandiego.edu/theories/Kant/index.asp

Philosophy bites - podcasts on philosophy: http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/. I particularly recommend the following: - Quentin Skinner on Hobbes and the state: http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=Quentin%20S kinner - Melissa Lane on Rousseau and civilization: http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=Melissa%20L ane - John Dunn on Locke and toleration: http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=John%20Dun n

Online reading for primary texts The original text of Hobbes’ Leviathan online: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-contents.html

The full online text of Hobbes’ Leviathan revised in modern English: http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/f_hobbes.html

The full online text of Locke’s Second Treatise of Government revised in modern English: http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/lo2tr.html

The original text of Locke’s Second Treatise of Government http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/locke/locke2/2nd-contents.html

A translation by G. D. H. Cole of Rousseau’s Social Contract: http://www.constitution.org/jjr/socon.htm

A translation by Ian Johnston of Rousseau’s second Discourse on the Origin of Inequality: http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/rousseau/seconddiscourse.htm

Excerpts from Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals: http://praxeology.net/kant7.htm

Translation by W. Hastie of Part I of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals: http://philosophy.eserver.org/kant/science-of-right.txt

Translation by Mary Gregor of Kant’s essay ‘What is Enlightenment?’: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/kant/enlightenment.htm

W. Hastie’s translation of Part II of Kant’s essay on ‘Theory and Practice’: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=358&chapter =56090&layout=html&Itemid=27

W. Hastie’s translation of Part III of Kant’s essay on ‘Theory and Practice’: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=358&chapter =56093&layout=html&Itemid=27