• Class times: TTH 1:00–2:15 PM
• Classroom: Mundelein 621
• Instructor: Italo Alves ialves@luc.edu
• Office: Crown 334H Book an appointment

Essential Course Information

Course Description

This course will provide an introductory exploration of the field of social and political philosophy, which grapples with questions about the nature of society, power, justice, and the state. It will offer a critical examination of the foundations of social and political theories, as well as the values that guide them, and it is designed for students with an interest in understanding the underlying foundations of modern political systems and the ways in which these foundations shape our contemporary world. The first part of the course will focus on modern political philosophy, which revolves around questions involving the justification of the state, the concept of natural rights, the role of private property, and various forms of government. We will examine the social contract theory of the state and the early socialist and anarchist critiques of this theory. The second part will explore contemporary issues in social and political philosophy, building upon the critical approaches opened up by the socialist critics and expanding them to include issues such as class, gender, sexuality, race, coloniality, and ecology. We will examine the ways in which these issues intersect and shape our understanding of social and political dynamics. Students will be encouraged to engage in critical thinking and analysis, and to apply the ideas and theories discussed in class to contemporary situations. This course has no prerequisites.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the major philosophical questions in the area of social philosophy with attention to the historical and conceptual development of these questions and be able to articulate some of the major problems and responses central to this area of philosophy.

Technology and Course Materials

Perusall. There is no need to purchase any books or texts for this course. Readings will be made available through Perusall, an external website that allows students to read and annotate texts collaboratively. In order to access the readings, create an account on https://perusall.com using your name and Loyola email address, select “Enroll in a Course”, and enter the following course code: [redacted]

Sakai. The syllabus and many other relevant materials for this course, as well as important communications, will be posted on Sakai. Students are strongly encouraged to check Sakai frequently for any additional materials and to keep up with all course information.

Assignments and Grading

Grade Scale (% = points)

Grade Components

As you can see, the sum of the grade components amounts to 110% of the grade, or 110 points. This means that there are multiple ways to earn points. For example, if you don’t get a satisfactory grade on one assignment, you can make up for it on another assignment and still earn a high final grade.

Participation (10 points max.)

Participation is an important component of this course. You can participate in different ways. The most important of these are attending class and engaging in discussions, which requires that you read the assigned texts and come to class ready to talk about your thoughts and questions.

Perusall Annotations (1 point per reading, 20 points max.)

Post at least 3 high-quality annotations for each reading assignment on Perusall. Students who fail to post at least 3 high-quality annotations will not receive points for the assignment. The deadline for each reading assignment can be found in the Course Schedule below.

Expert of the Day (10 points per presentation, 20 points max.)

Students will sign up in advance and come to class prepared to talk about the day’s reading for 3–5 minutes and facilitate discussion. Students should serve as experts twice, once before and once after the midterm.

Quizzes (5 points each, 20 points max.)

We will have online quizzes throughout the semester that will make up 20% of your final grade (5% each).

Midterm and Final Exam (20 points each, 40 points max.)

We will have one midterm and one final exam in this course. The midterm will cover all course content up to its date. The final exam will cover all the course content.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

The university prohibits plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, and facilitation of academic misconduct. Penalties may range from a grade of “F” to expulsion from the university. Read Loyola’s full statement on Academic Integrity.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Use of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing Chat) is permitted only for brainstorming and checking grammar and style. Using these tools for other purposes (e.g., writing a draft of an assignment, entire sentences or paragraphs, papers, annotation comments, or any other course assignment) is not permitted. You are entirely responsible for all assignments you submit. Unauthorized use of AI will be treated as a violation of Loyola’s Academic Integrity Policy and subject to the same penalties.

Late Submissions

Except for the midterm and final exams, assignment submissions will be accepted up to seven days after the deadline. However, grades will decrease linearly each day, starting from the original grade point and reaching zero after day seven. For example, if an assignment is worth 10 points by the deadline, it will be worth ~8.75 one day later, ~7.5 two days later, etc. Your grade will be calculated accordingly.

Class Conduct

Our classes will be devoted to discussing potentially controversial ideas. This classroom is a safe space for students identifying as LGBTQ+, and insensitive remarks directed at students because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or appearance will not be tolerated.

Intellectual Property

All lectures, notes, PowerPoints, and other instructional materials in this course are the intellectual property of the instructor. As a result, they may not be distributed or shared in any manner, either on paper or virtually, without the instructor’s permission. Lectures may not be recorded without the instructor’s consent; when consent is given, those recordings may be used for review only and may not be distributed.

Accommodations

Any student requesting accommodations related to a disability or other condition is required to register with the Student Accessibility Center (SAC) and must meet with the instructor individually to discuss their accommodations. All information will remain confidential. Please note that software may be used to audio record class lectures in order to provide equitable access to students with disabilities. If used, recordings are deleted at the end of the semester. For more information about registering with SAC or questions about accommodations, please contact SAC at (773) 508-3700 or SAC@luc.edu.

Course Schedule

Introduction

Aug 29 (T) Introduction, no reading required.

• Sign up for Perusall and complete assignment.

Aug 31 (Th) Strauss, What is Political Philosophy? (pp. 343–355)

1 • The Modern State

Sep 5 (T) Hobbes, Leviathan, chapters 13 and 14, §1–5 (pp. 82–87)

Sep 7 (Th) Hobbes, Leviathan, chapters 17, §13–15, and 18 (pp. 114–122)

• Experts of the Day: sign up on Sakai by midnight.

Sep 12 (T) Locke, Second Treatise on Government, chapters 1–3 (pp. 3–13)

Sep 14 (Th) Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, excerpt (pp. 1–16)

Sep 19 (T) Rousseau, The Social Contract, Book I, chapters 6 and 8, Book II, chapter 3, Book IV, chapter 2 (pp. 54-56, 59-60, 66-67, 136-139)

Sep 21 (Th) Weber, Politics as a Vocation (pp. 32–45)

• Quiz #1 due by 1:00 pm.

Sep 26 (T) Mill, On Liberty, excerpt from chapters 1 and 2 (pp. 1–11), chapter 4 (pp. 73–90)

Sep 28 (Th) Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, Chapter V (pp. 64–74)

2 • Property and Capitalism

Oct 3 (T) Locke, Second Treatise on Government, chapter 5, §25–34 (pp. 14–18)

Oct 5 (Th) Proudhon, What is Property?, excerpts (pp. 65–72)

Oct 10 (T) Mid-Semester Break. No class.

Oct 12 (Th) Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto, chapter I (pp. 473–491)

3 • Distributive Justice

Oct 17 (T) Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program, §5 (pp. 528–532).

• Quiz #2 due by 1:00 pm.

Oct 19 (Th) Rawls, Justice as Fairness, Part I, §3, Part II, §13.1 (pp. 10–15, 42–43);
Nozick, Anarchy, State, Utopia, chapter 7, section I, excerpts (pp. 149–175)

Oct 24 (T) Midterm exam

4 • Authority and Power

Oct 26 (Th) Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (pp. 311–315, 474–479)

Oct 31 (T) Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality, Chapter 1, Introduction (pp. 1–11)

Nov 2 (Th) Foucault, History of Sexuality (pp. 135–145)

5 • Ruptures of the Social

Nov 7 (T) Foucault, Society Must Be Defended (pp. 254–263)

Nov 9 (Th) Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (pp. 1–13)

Nov 14 (T) Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Introduction (pp. 13–28)

6 • Neoliberalism

Nov 16 (Th) Fraser, Behind Marx’s Hidden Abode. Quiz #3 due by 1:00 pm.

Nov 21 (T) Brown, Undoing the Demos, chapter 1, excerpts (pp. 17–21, 28–35)

Nov 23 (Th) Thanksgiving Break. No class.

7 • What’s Next?

Nov 28 (T) Frase, Four Futures. Quiz #4 due by 1:00 pm.

Nov 30 (Th) No additional reading required.

Final Focus Week

Dec 5 (T) No class. Individual meetings with the instructor.

Dec 7 (Th) No class. Individual meetings with the instructor.

TBA Final exam

Bibliography

Note that it is not necessary to buy any book for this course. Readings will be made available.

Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford. The Authoritarian Personality. London: Verso, 2019.

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.

Brown, Wendy. Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution. New York: Zone Books, 2015.

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press, 2004.

Foucault, Michel. Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the College de France, 1975-76. London: Picador, 2003.

———. The History of Sexuality - Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.

Frase, Peter. “Four Futures.” Jacobin, December 13, 2011. https://jacobin.com/2011/12/four-futures/.

Fraser, Nancy. “Behind Marx’s Hidden Abode.” New Left Review, no. 86 (April 1, 2014): 55–72.

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. Edited by Samuel Moyn. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Edited by J. C. A. Gaskin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Marx-Engels Reader. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: Norton, 1978.

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Other Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books, 1974.

Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.

Rawls, John. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Discourse on Political Economy and The Social Contract. Translated by Christopher Betts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

———. “Discourse On the Origin of Inequality.” Marxists.org. Accessed January 6, 2023. https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/rousseau/inequality/index.htm.

Strauss, Leo. “What Is Political Philosophy?” The Journal of Politics 19, no. 3 (1957): 343–68. https://doi.org/10.2307/2126765.

Weber, Max. The Vocation Lectures. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004.

Woodcock, George, ed. The Anarchist Reader. Glasgow: Fontana, 1977.