Spring 2020
CLIT 3027: From States of Nature to States of the World: Political Theory as World Lit.
Dr. Daniel Vukovich
Venue: CPD- 218, Mondays from 2:30 to 5:20.
*No separate tutorial sections. Phone: 3917- 7934
Office: 934 RR Shaw Arts Bldg, Centennial Campus Office Hours: Monday and Thursday mornings, or by
appointment.
Email: [email protected] Please allow for a min. 24 hour response time for email.
Description:
This course surveys classic texts that offer ‘big picture’ analyses of humanity, human nature, the creation of society or political orders, and, in sum, of the state of the world. Texts range from Confucius to Machiavelli and the early modern classics (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Mill). We will then cover critical responses to these ways of seeing and writing. These later texts will range from Marx and Freud to feminist and anti-colonial thinkers such as Carole Pateman and Aime Cesaire.
understandings of ‘human nature’ (what we are inherently and naturally like), and of how human or political society came about from our origins in the ‘state of nature.’ (Tip: we’re still part of the natural world.) These ideas about the ‘state of nature’ and how ‘we’ decided to form governments and societies are just as important today, and they still inform our thinking about the real world.
These are all also – and importantly – highly imaginative, visionary, metaphorical and, in short, literary representations of the world and humans and politics.
We will begin at the beginning, in antiquity and the later Renaissance, because the oldest voices are sometimes the wisest. We then move forward to the modern 19th and 20th centuries of developed, global capitalism, when everything was thought to have changed for the better, or worse. We will move far and wide, from ancient Greece and China through Europe and its colonies, in and out of the period of Western dominance, and up to the more ambiguous present.
Learning Outcomes:
The course will develop your skills in historical, textual, contextual, and cross-cultural analysis.
The immersion in classic texts and debates will develop your knowledge of intellectual, political, and cultural history. The course will develop your awareness of alternative
viewpoints about the nature of humans and the systems and societies they form.
1. 3027 Coursepack : pdfs available at
http://sites.google.com/site/honggangdaxue/
You will be responsible for printing and reading them.
Grading:
100% Continuous Assessment:
*Instructions and a prompt for each essay will be given in class 1-2 weeks before the due date.
* Each paper will be at least 1k+ words. 25 % Participation
25% Paper 1. Due Date: 28 Feb, Friday. 25% Paper 2. Due Date: 26 March, Thursday
25% Paper Three. Due Date: 12 May, Tuesday, Finals week.
Late Work Policy:
1. Late work is NOT accepted, except under verified medical or other emergencies. If you need a brief extension for a particular assignment, you must see me one week in advance and commit to a new due date.
2. You must complete ALL major assignments to pass the course. Don’t skip a paper.
A writer who presents the ideas or words of another as if they were the writer’s own commits plagiarism. This is a disciplinary offense that can result in failure or expulsion. Consult http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism and http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism. Do not offer quotes or paraphrases of others’ work without providing proper citation. If you have any question, see me before you hand your paper in. We use the MLA format because its easiest.
SCHEDULE
1. Subject to change. If you miss class it is your responsibility to find out what you missed or if there is new work. Contact me or a classmate. The website will be updated weekly, on avg.
2. https://sites.google.com/site/honggangdaxue/clit-3027-from-states-of-nature-to-states-of-the-world This is our site, and you’ll find the texts and some
notes and links there. It will also have the most current schedule/dates/syllabi info.
3. Read the headnotes and Intro’s to all our authors whenever available.
Week 1, Jan 20: Syllabus Review. Some Keywords & Questions. How did we
get here together? Why? For whose benefit?
Week 2, Jan 27: Lunar Holiday. No class.
Readings: all on course website or linked at bottom of our class website:
1. Stanford Encyc. Entry on Confucius and his political/ethical thinking:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/#ConPol
2. Read Section/Book 7 of The Analects, esp. 子曰三人行必有我师
[PDF on website]
3. Read Section V and the 1.1 section of VI in the pdf of The Doctrine of the Mean. [PDF on website]
4. Extracts from Han Feizi (incl. the editor’s Introduction) [PDF on website]
Recommended: Chapt 3, "Confucius' Teachings II: The
Foundation of a Good Society and Other Topics" (45-63) in Lee Dian Rainey, Confucius and Confucianism: The Essentials (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). PDF of book on website.
Week 4, Feb 10: Machiavelli
Readings: “The Prince” [Morgan anthology.] Read all of the selections including the headnote.
Week 5, Feb 17: Hobbes
Readings: extracts from Leviathan: Headnote and Hobbes’s own Introduction, chapters 1-4, 6, 10, 13-17, Conclusion in the
Week 6, Feb 24: Locke
Readings: Locke’s Second Treatise in the Morgan anthology.
>>>>> Paper 1 Due Feb 28th
Week 7, March 2nd: Rousseau
Readings: Extracts from The Social Contract & The Discourse on Inequality. [Morgan anthology. ]
Week 8, March 9: Reading Week. No Class.
Week 9, March 16: Foundation Day, No Class.
Week 10, March 23: Mill
Reading: On Liberty [Morgan anthology.]
Week 11, March : Pateman
Readings: The Sexual Contract, selections: chapts.: Preface, 1, 4. 7. PDF on website.
Week 12, March 30: Marx
Readings: Extracts from: Alienated Labor, On The Jewish Question, The Communist Manifesto, Critique of the Gotha Program. [Morgan anthology.]
Week 13, April 6: Freud
Readings: Civilization & Its Discontents. PDF on website.
Week 14, April 13: Easter Holiday, No Class
Week 15, April 20: Freud, II.
Recommended: The Future of an Illusion. (PDF on website.)
Week 16, April 27 : Friends and Enemies: Is that All There Is? [Carl Schmitt]
Readings: The Concept of The Political & Appendix. PDF on Website.
