Topics in European Political Thought in the Very Long 18th Century
HIST 339
Spring 2007 not offered
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The period 1620-1820 was marked by reform, revolution and restoration. It witnessed the rise and fall of European empires and the transformation of European politics. This tumultuous age produced not only social, political and economic upheaval, but monumental shifts in political thought as well. This seminar explores major themes in the history of European political thought during this turbulent two-century span. The class will study thirteen seminal texts in order to address topics including: theories of international order, especially empire; natural law; the function and obligation of the state; monarchism and republicanism; (civil) war and peace; civil society and sociability; mercantilism; physiocracy; and theories of political, historical and moral progress. While the emphasis is on the analysis of primary sources, students also will become familiar with some of the techniques and tendencies of contemporary historians of political thought. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Primary Sources:
Hugo Grotius, THE RIGHTS OF WAR AND PEACE(1625) (Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics) Ed. Richard Tuck (Liberty Fund, 2005).
Samuel Pufendorf, ON THE DUTY OF MAN AND CITIZEN ACCORDING TO NATURAL LAW (1673, 1682) (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Ed. James Tully (Cambridge, 1992).
Algernon Sidney, DISCOURSES CONCERNING GOVERNMENT (1680-83, 1698).
Fénelon, TELEMACHUS (1699) (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Ed. P. Riley (Cambridge, 1994).
Charles de Montesquieu, THE SPIRIT OF THE LAWS (1748) (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) (Cambridge, 1989).
Adam Smith, THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS (1759) (Prometheus Books, 2000).
Adam Ferguson, AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY (1767) (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) Ed. Fania Oz-Salzberger (Cambridge, 1996).
Edward Gibbon, THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1776-) (abridged) Ed. David Womersley (Penguin, 2000).
Henry Clark, ed., COMMERCE, CULTURE, AND LIBERTY: READINGS ON CAPITALISM BEFORE ADAM SMITH (Liberty Fund, 2003).
Immanuel Kant, PERPETUAL PEACE, AND OTHER ESSAYS ON POLITICS, HISTORY, AND MORALS (1795) (Hackett, 1983).
Condorcet, SKETCH FOR A HISTORICAL PICTURE OF THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MIND (1795).
Joseph de Maistre, CONSIDERATIONS ON FRANCE (1797) (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought). Ed. R.A. LeBrun (Cambridge, 1994).
Hegel, ELEMENTS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT (1821).
Secondary Sources:
Q.R.D. Skinner, ¿Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas¿ History and Theory 8 (1969): 3-53.
Richard Tuck, THE RIGHTS OF WAR AND PEACE: POLITICAL THOUGHT AND THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER FROM GROTIUS TO KANT (Oxford, 2001).
J.G.A. Pocock, THE MACHIAVELLIAM MOMENT (Princeton, 1976).
A.O. Hirschman, THE PASSIONS AND THE INTERESTS: POLITICAL ARGUMENTS FOR CAPITALISM BEFORE ITS TRIUMPH (Princeton, 1997).
Isaiah Berlin, ¿Joseph de Maistre and the Origins of Fascism¿. In Berlin, THE CROOKED TIMBER OF HUMANITY: CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF IDEAS (Vintage, 1992).
Selections from Istvan Hont, JEALOUSY OF TRADE: INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION AND THE NATION-STATE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (Harvard, 2005).
Selections from Edward Keene, BEYOND THE ANARCHICAL SOCIETY: GROTIUS, COLONIALISM AND ORDER IN WORLD POLITICS (Cambridge, 2002).
Selections from Emma Rothschild, ECONOMIC SENTIMENTS: SMITH, CONDORCET AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT (Harvard, 2000).
Selections from Anthony Pagden, LORDS OF ALL THE WORLD: IDEOLOGIES OF EMPIRE IN SPAIN, BRITAIN AND FRANCE, c. 1500-1800 (Yale, 1995).
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Examinations and Assignments:
Two 5-7 page essays, one 7-10 page final essay, and weekly one page response papers. |
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