01-14-2016

PLSC 118B, THE MORAL FOUNDATIONS OF POLITICS

Yale University, Spring 2016

Ian Shapiro

Lectures Tuesday and Thursday 11:35 - 12:25 + 1 htba

Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium

Office hours: Wednesdays, 9:30 to 11:30 am

Or by appointment with lourdes.haynes@yale.edu
110 Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse

When do governments deserve our allegiance, and when should they be denied it? This course
explores the main answers that have been given to this question in the modern West. We start with a
survey of the major political theories of the Enlightenment: Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social
contract tradition. In each case we begin with a look at classical formulations, locating them in
historical context, but then shift to the contemporary debates as they relate to politics today.

Next we turn to the rejection of Enlightenment political thinking, again exploring both classical and
contemporary formulations. The last part of the course deals with the nature of, and justifications for,
democratic politics, and their relations to Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment political thinking.

In addition to exploring theoretical differences among the various authors discussed, considerable
attention is devoted to the practical implications of their competing arguments. To this end, we discuss
a variety of concrete problems, including debates about economic inequality, affirmative action and
the distribution of health care, the limits of state power in the regulation of speech and religion, and
difficulties raised by the emerging threat of global environmental decay. There are no prerequisites.

REQUIREMENTS

• Students are expected to attend all lectures and sections.

• Regular Students: Midterm 30%, Final 50%, section participation 20%.

• Writing-intensive students: Papers 50%, Final, 30%, section participation 20%.

Paper length ≈ 2,500-3000 words. Due dates:
Paper 1 Rough draft: noon Fri Feb 19 Final draft: noon Fri March 4
Paper 2 Rough draft: noon Fri Apr 8 Final draft: 11:00 AM Tue Apr 26

READINGS

We discuss some readings that are in the public domain and some that are not. The public domain
readings are marked with P and are available at mofopo.com The non-public domain readings,
marked with R, can be purchased from the reader available at students.universityreaders.com/store
(select “Connecticut” and “Yale University” when creating an account). Alternatively, they can be
found in original sources by reference to the Bibliographical Appendix at the end of this syllabus.
 COURSE SYLLABUS AND SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

R = READER; P = PUBLIC DOMAIN

INTRODUCTION

Tuesday, January 19
Informational and housekeeping session

Thursday, January 21
Introductory lecture
• Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, Chs. 2, 3 and 8 [R, 2-37]

I. ENLIGHTENMENT POLITICAL THEORY

Tuesday, January 26 (All sections start this week)

Natural law roots of the enlightenment
• John Locke, First Treatise of Government, Chs. 1-2, 9 (up to §93, inclusive) P
• John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Ch. 1 P
• Thomas Hobbes, Six Lessons to the Professors of Mathematics P

II. UTILITARIANISM: CLASSICAL AND NEOCLASSICAL

Thursday, January 28
Origins of classical utilitarianism
• Jeremy Bentham, “Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation,” Chs. 1-3,
7P

Tuesday, February 2
Classical utilitarianism and distributive justice
• Bentham in W. Stark, Jeremy Bentham’s Economic Writings, 442 [R, 37-38]

Thursday, February 4
From classical to neoclassical utilitarianism
• (No required reading)

Tuesday, February 9
The neoclassical synthesis of rights and utility
• John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chs. 1-2 P

Thursday, February 11
Limits of the neoclassical synthesis
• Mill, On Liberty, Ch. 5 P

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 III. MARXISM, ITS FAILURES AND ITS LEGACY
Tuesday, February 16
The Marxian challenge
• Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party P

Thursday, February 18
Marx’s theory of capitalism
• Marx, Capital (Vol. I), Prefaces, Chs. I, IV, VI, XII, XVI (excerpts) P

Tuesday, February 23
Marxian exploitation and social justice
• Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program P

Thursday, February 25
The Marxian failure and legacy
• Marx, Theories of Surplus Value, Ch. XVII (Sections 8-11, 14) P
• Roemer, “Should Marxists be interested in exploitation?” [R, 40-69]

IV. THE SOCIAL CONTRACT TRADITION

Tuesday, March 1
Secularizing natural law
• Locke, First Treatise of Government, Chs. 3-4 P
• Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, 2nd Section (focus on p. 19-33) P

Thursday, March 3
The state of nature
• Hobbes, Leviathan, Introduction, Chs. 13-17, 21 P
• Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chs. 2-5 P

Tuesday, March 8
The Rawlsian social contract/Distribute justice and the welfare state
• Rawls, A Theory of Justice, pg. 3-19, 52-56, 102-109, 118-123, 153-160, 221-227 [R,
70-89, 98-121]
• Rawls, “Social Unity and Primary Goods,” sect. IV, V in John Rawls: Collected
Papers [R, 90-97]

Thursday, March 10 MIDTERM EXAMINATION IN CLASS

Tuesday, March 29
The “political-not-metaphysical” legacy
• Rawls, “Justice as fairness: political not metaphysical.” Philosophy & Public Affairs
14 (1985): 226-48 [R, 122-141]
• Shapiro, “Resources, Capacities, and Ownership.” Political Theory 19.1 (February
1991), 47-72 [R, 142-165]

Thursday, March 31
The Nozickian minimal state
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 • Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, pp. 3-17, 26-35, 54-63, 78-84, 88-90, 108-119 [R,
166-183]

Tuesday, April 5
Compensation versus redistribution
• Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, pp. 149-164, 174-182 [R, 184-227]

V. ANTI-ENLIGHTENMENT POLITICS

Thursday, April 7
The Burkean outlook
• Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (excerpt 1 and 2) P
• Patrick Devlin, “Morals and the Criminal Law” [R, 228-245]

Tuesday, April 12
Contemporary communitarianism
• Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, Chs. 1-3 [R, 246-277]

Thursday, April 14
Contemporary communitarianism
• MacIntyre, After Virtue, Ch. 5 [R, 248-289]

VI. DEMOCRACY

Tuesday, April 19
Republicanism vs. democracy
• Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, The Federalist Papers, Papers No. 1, 9, 10 14, 39, 48,
51, 62, 70, 78 P

Thursday, April 21
In Search of the General Will
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract and the First and Second Discourses,
Book I Ch. 6-7, Book II Ch. 3 P
• William H. Riker, Ch. 5, “The Meaning of Social Choices” in Liberalism against
Populism, pp. 115-23 [R, 290-299]
• Jürgen Habermas, “Three Normative Models of Democracy” [R, 300-311]
• James Fishkin, “Deliberative Polling: Toward a Better-Informed Democracy” [R,312-
327]

Tuesday, April 26
Majority rule
• Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chs. 17-19 P
• Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Ch. XXI and XXII
[R,328-351]
• Buchanan and Tullock, The Calculus of Consent, excerpt from Ch.6 [R,352-361]
• Shapiro, “John Locke’s Democratic Theory,” in Locke’s Two Treatises of
Government, pp. 309-333 [R, 362-383]
• Douglas Rae, “The Limits of Consensual Decision” [R, 384-429]

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Thursday, April 28
Democracy, Science, and Rights
• Shapiro, “Elements of Democratic Justice.” Political Theory. [R, 430-467]

(Reading Period: Friday, April 29 — Thursday, May 5)

Review session will be scheduled during Reading Week.

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 Bibliographical Appendix for Students who do not want to buy the Reader

Below are additional details on the readings not in the public domain. You will need to purchase, rent,
or borrow copies of the relevant books. Articles in scholarly journals can be found in print collections
or accessed via library resources as indicated.

Thursday, January 21
• Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, Penguin Classics, 2006 (Chs. 2, 3 and 8)

Tuesday, February 2
• Bentham in W. Stark, “The Psychology of Economic Man”, Jeremy Bentham’s Economic
Writings Vol. 3, Unwin Brothers Ltd. 1954 (Read footnote on page 442, Starting at “Absolute
equality…”)

Thursday, February 25
• Roemer, “Should Marxists be interested in exploitation?” Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol.
14, No.1, Winter 1985

Tuesday, March 8
• Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Belknap Press, September 1999
o pp. 3-19: Chapter 1 (Sections 1 – 4)
o pp. 52-56: (Section 11. “Two Principles of Justice”)
o pp. 102-109: Chapter 3 (Sections 20 & 21)
o pp. 118-123: Section 24
o pp. 153-160: Section 29
o pp. 221-227: Section 40
• Rawls, “Social Unity and Primary Goods,” sect. IV, V in John Rawls: Collected Papers,
Harvard University Press, 1999

Tuesday, March 29
• Rawls, “Justice as fairness: political not metaphysical.” Philosophy & Public Affairs. Vol. 14,
No. 3, Summer, 1985 (Sections 2-6)
• Shapiro, “Resources, Capacities, and Ownership.” Political Theory 19.1, February 1991

Thursday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 5

• Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, Basic Books, 2013. Page numbers shown the syllabus.

Thursday, April 7
• Patrick Devlin, “Morals and the Criminal Law”, The Enforcement of Morals, Oxford
University Press, 1965

Thursday, April 21
• William H. Riker, Liberalism against Populism, Waveland Publishers, July 1968, Ch 5: “The
Meaning of Social Choice”, Sections 5.A and 5.B

Tuesday, April 26
• Buchanan and Tullock, The Calculus of Consent, The Collected Works of James M.
Buchanan, Vol. 3, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1999. (Read Chapter 6, up through “the Choice
of Optimal Rules” section.)
• Shapiro, “John Locke’s Democratic Theory,” in Locke, Two Treatises of Government, Yale
University Press, 2003