(Course Outline: Poli 302) DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE University of Ghana POLl 302: MODERN WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST 2nd Semester 2012/2013

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE University of Ghana

POLl 302: MODERN WESTERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST

2nd Semester 2012/2013

LECTURERS: Kwesi Jonah and Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh

Course Description and Objectives

The course provides historical and analytical study of the works of some selected Modern Western Political thinkers. The emphasis will be on the politics of enlightenment and the historical developments of the selected thinkers' perceptions and thoughts on the significance of political philosophy as well as various forms of political issues such as civil disobedience, political obligations, theories of the state, sovereignty, maintenance of political power, modern governance etc. Students should at the end of the course be able to demonstrate the following: (a) critical thinking, (b) appreciation of theoretical postulations and the controversies surrounding them, (c) implications of some of the ideas on current political behaviour etc.

Main Requirements

It is obligatory for all students to read the assigned texts before attending class. Lecture notes may be given where necessary. However, students should be able to generate from the readings in line with the numerous questions that the lecturers will give to them and also ask in class.

Mode of Examination

Students will be required to answer series of questions at the end of the semester based on the various texts they are required to read. Students should also pay keen attention to questions that may be generated as part of the teaching and discussions in class.

Course Outline and Reading List

1. Relevance of Political Philosophy

* Leo Strauss, 'What is Political Theory?' in Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds), Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996, pp.375-397.

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W.T. Jones, Masters of Political Thought, Volume 2: Machiavelli to Bentham, (George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd, London, 1963), Introduction, pp.13-21.

T.D. Weldon, States and Morals: A Study in Political Conflicts, John Murray, London, 1950, Chapter 1 - The Aim of Political Philosophy.

2. The Politics of Enlightenment

* 1.S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002, pp.192-227.

Cohen Mitchell and' Niccole Fermon (eds), Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996, pp.375-397.

3. The Theory of the Social Contract

a) Thomas Hobbes (The Leviathan)

* Ebenstein, William, Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present, Dryden Press, Illinois, 1989, pp.362-389.

* J.S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002, pp.192-227.

Forrest E. Baird & Walter Kaufman, Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Nietzche, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997, pp.471-512.

W.T. Jones, Master of Political Thought: Machiavelli to Bentham, George C. Harrap, London, 1963, pp.85-150.

4. The Theory of the Social Contract

b) John Locke (Two treatises of Government)

* Ebenstein, William, Great Political Thinkers: Plato to the Present, Dryden Press, 1989, pp.390-421.

* J.S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, Routledge, London and New York, 2002, pp.230-248.

Sabine George and Thomas L. Thorson, A History of Political Theory, 4th ed., Harcourt Brace, New York, 1989, pp.478-499.

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5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (On the Social Contract and Discourses on the       Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men

*Mitchell Cohen and Nicole Fermon, Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1996, pp.280-313.

John Gingell, Adrian Little and Christopher Winch, Modern Political Thought: A Reader, Routledge, London, 2000, pp.133-154.

1.S. McClelland, A History of Western Political Thought, (Part IV: The theory of the Social Contract, pp. 249-276), Routledge, London, 1996.

6. Critique of Social Contract Theory

* Patrick Riley, "Social Contract Theory and Its Critics", in Mark Goldie and Robert Wokler, (editors), The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006, pp.347-378.

7. John Stuart Mill (On Liberty and the Subjection of Women)

* Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds), Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996, pp.375-397.

Bellamy Richard and Angus Ross, A Textual Introduction to Social and Political Theory, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 1996.

Baird E. Forrest and Walter Kaufman, From Plato to Nietzsche,_2nd ed., Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1997, pp.l027-1037.

8. Martin Luther King Jr. (Letter from Birmingham Jail) (Civil Disobedience)

* Cohen Mitchell and Niccole Fermon (eds), Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996, pp.623-63 5.

* Howard Zinn, "King, Martin Luther, Jr.", in John A. Garraty and Jerome L. Stemstein, editors, Encyclopedia of America Biography (2nd edition), Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1996, pp.645-647.

World Book Vol. 4 (Chicago, 2006).

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