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Home , Benjamin Constant, History of liberalism, On Liberty

THE GRADUATE CENTER PH.D. PROGRAM IN HISTORY SPRING 2018

DRAFT (minor changes may be made)

Professor Helena Rosenblatt Hist 72100 The History of from Locke to Rawls Tuesday 4:15-6:15 p.m. 3 credits [email protected]

Course Description:

This course is an in-depth introduction to some of the founding thinkers and texts of the liberal tradition. We will read canonical texts and works of interpretation in an effort to answer questions such as: What do we mean when we speak of liberalism? What if any, are its core principles and values? What is alive and what is dead in the liberal tradition? We will focus on works by Locke, Wollstonecraft, Rousseau, Constant, Mill, Green, Spencer, Hobhouse, Hayek and , and finish with an examination of Rawls. Main themes: Property and the Role of ; Women’s and Roles; and the ; Morals, Empire and Race.

Course Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to *Read texts more critically and effectively *Identify and summarize key arguments in texts in an articulate and persuasive manner, verbally and in writing *Demonstrate an understanding of the principal ideas in the

Course Requirements:

*Regular and intelligent class participation demonstrating thorough reading of all assigned materials: 30% *One-page analytical summaries of the weekly readings and two interesting discussion questions for each class: 30% (Summaries must be handed to me at the beginning of class; questions must be emailed to me and the class by 8 a.m. on Tuesday) (FIVE over the course of the term) *A 20 page paper on one liberal text. Topics must be decided and approved by March 13; final paper submitted by May 14. No late papers will be accepted. 40%

Jan 30 Introduction: What is Liberal about Liberalism?

Stephen Holmes, The Anatomy of Anti-Liberalism, Harvard U Press, 1993, as much as you can read but definitely preface, introduction and conclusion.

Fareed Zakaria, “The Rise of Illiberal ,” Foreign Affairs, Vol 76, no 6 (Nov-Dec 1997), pp. 22-43.

Feb 6 Method

Quentin Skinner “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas,” History and Theory, 8 (1969), 3-53.

Jack Diggins, “The Oyster and the Pearl,” History and Theory vol 23, no 2 (May 1984), pp. 151- 169.

‘Editors’ Introduction’, and James Parr, ‘Understanding Conceptual Change Politically’, in Terence Ball, James Farr, and Russell L. Hanson (eds.), Political Innovation and Conceptual Change (Cambridge, 1989). Texts will be provided.

Feb 13 : Two Treatises of Government A) Social Compact and Property

Two Treatises of Government

C.B.McPherson, The Political Theory of Possessive , ch V: Locke: The Political Theory of Appropriation’

Feb 20 NO CLASS (Classes follow Monday schedule)

Feb 27 John Locke: Two Treatises of Government B) Women and Slavery.

Butler, Melissa. “Early Liberal Roots of : John Locke and the Attack on Patriarchy” in Shanley, Mary Lyndon and Pateman Carole eds. Feminist Interpretations and Political Theory. Text will be provided

Ruth W. Grant, “John Locke on Women and the Family,” in Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning . Ian Shapiro, Editor, Yale University Press, p. 286-308.

Holly Brewer, “Slavery, Sovereignty and “Inheritable Blood”: Reconsidering John Locke and the Origins of American Slavery,” American Historical Review, vol 122, issue 4 (October 2017)

March 6 Wollstonecraft and the Birth of Feminism

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Hirsch, Pamela. “: A Problematic Legacy,” in Clarissa Campbell-Orr, ed., Wollstonecraft’s Daughters: Womanhood in England and France, 1780-1920, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996, pp. 43-60. Text will be provided

Nussbaum, Martha C. "The Feminist Critique of Liberalism," The Lindley Lecture, The University of Kansas 1997. Text will be provided

Schaeffer, Denise. "Feminism and Liberalism Reconsidered," American Political Science Review vol 95, no. 3, (Sep, 2001), pp. 699-708.

March 13 Rousseau and Democracy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract. There are many easily obtainable editions.

James Miller, Rousseau. Dreamer of Democracy, chapter 5. Text will be provided.

March 20 , Theorist of Liberalism

Benjamin Constant, The Spirit of Conquest and Usurpation, Part One (“The Spirit of Conquest”)

Principles of Politics Applicable to All Representative (1815 version) Beware that the oll. Libertyfund version is NOT the 1815 version, despite the fact that it implies that it is.

“The of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns”

All three texts can be found in Constant, Political Writings, ed. Biancamaria Fontana, Cambridge University Press, 1993.

March 27 and Individuality

On Liberty

The Subjection of Women

Both can be found in and , Alan Ryan ed., Penguin Classics.

They can also be found at http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/mill-on-liberty-and-the-subjection-of-women-1879-ed

Susan Moller Okin, “John Stuart Mill, Liberal Feminist”, in Women in Western Political Thought., PUP 1979. Pp. 197-230.

March 30-April 8 Spring Break

April 10 Liberalism and Empire

Jennifer Pitts, A Turn to Empire. The Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France, intro and chapter 5.

Uday Mehta, Liberalism and Empire. A Study in Nineteenth Century British Liberal thought Chapts 1-4

Gregory Claeys, Imperial Sceptics, British Critics of Empire, 1850-1920, ch 3.

A Ryan, ‘Introduction’, J. S. Mill’s Encounter with India, M. I. Moir, D. Peers, and L. Zastoupil eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999, pp. 3–17.

April 17 Two Kinds of Liberalism: Laissez-faire or the

Herbert Spencer, The Proper Sphere of Government, twelve letters (1842-3) or Man versus the State, 1884 both available at http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/spencer-the-man-versus-the-state-with-six--on-government- -and--lf-ed

and T.H. Hill, “Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract” 1880 https://books.google.com/books?id=BuChaIE- Z4UC&pg=PA365&lpg=PA365&dq=T.H.E.+Hill+liberal+contract&source=bl&ots=yQ2056Ex G3&sig=_MyL_YJN3OrMAUape- iRyAfwq3g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLjLft09TXAhXtSN8KHdoUADIQ6AEIRzAF#v=o nepage&q=T.H.E.%20Hill%20liberal%20contract&f=false and selections from LT Hobhouse, Liberalism, pages tba https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28278/28278-h/28278-h.htm

April 24 Race Science and Eugenics.

Michael Freeden, “Eugenics and Progressive Thought: A Study in Ideological Affinity,” Historical Journal vol 22, no 3. (September, 1979) pp. 645-71.

Domenico Losurdo, Liberalism. A Counter-History, transl Gregory Elliott, Verso: 2011, chapters one and two

Thomas Leonard, Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics and American Economics in the Progressive Era, pages tba.

May 1 , F. A. Hayek,

John Dewey, selected essays. F.A. Hayek, The Road to , Bruce Caldwell, ed., The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek, vol II, Press, 2007, pages to be announced. Isaiah Berlin, “”

May 8 Rawls

John Rawls, A Theory of , pages to be announced.

May 15 The Stakes http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/10/5/the-dreaded-l-word-pbpbresident-reagan- criticizing/

Selections from/reviews of and , Mark Lilla

https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/does-trumps-rise-mean-liberalisms-end

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/04/522554630/francis-fukuyama-on-why-liberal-democracy-is-in- trouble