UCSD DEPARTMENT OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
210A: SYSTEMS OF
POLITICAL THOUGHT II
THUCYDIDES TO
AUGUSTINE
FALL 2004
F. Forman-Barzilai
ffb@ucsd.edu
SSB 371
2-3868
Office hours: Monday 11-1; or by appt.
The POLI 210 seminars (A-D) are designed to prepare graduate students for the field examination in political theory. 210A will provide an intensive introduction to European political thought from Thucydides to Augustine, focusing primarily on original texts, occasionally drawing on important and/or provocative secondary material.
Requirements:
Attendance and participation are essential. Additionally, each week, two/three students will be responsible 1) for providing a brief introduction to / bio of the thinker(s) being addressed; and 2) for guiding the group through the week’s assigned readings, based upon study questions distributed in advance. Each student (including auditors) can expect to do this twice during the term. You should see these presentations as central to the seminar and important to your grade.
One 15-20 page paper is due Wednesday, Dec. 8, on a suitable topic submitted for approval by week 6.
For Purchase:
Sophocles, THREE THEBAN PLAYS, Penguin
Thucydides, THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR, Penguin
Plato, FIVE DIALOGUES, Hackett
Plato, REPUBLIC, Hackett
Aristotle, THE POLITICS AND THE CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS, Cambridge
Aristotle, THE NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, Oxford
Marcus Aurelius, THE MEDITATIONS, Hackett
Cicero, ON DUTIES, Cambridge
Texts marked with an asterisk (*) are available for copying in the “210A folder” in the graduate student lounge.
Week 1: Introduction: The Greeks, PBS production Part I
Week 2: The Greeks: PBS production Part II
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Book 1 (paragraphs 1-125, 139-46)
Book 2 (1-17, 34-65)
Book 3 (1-15, 25-50, 69-85)
Book 4 (1-23, 26-41)
Book 5 (84-116)
Book 6 (1-31, 42-61, 88-93)
Book 7 (46-56, 60-64, 70-87)
Book 8 (1, 45-98)
F.M. Cornford, “Thucydides’ Conception of History”, in Thucydides Mythistoricus
Week 3: Sophocles, Antigone; selections from the 1986 BBC production of Antigone
C. Meier, “Tragedy and the Festival of Dionysus,” in The Political Art of Greek Tragedy*
Week 4: Plato, Apology, Crito
G. Vlastos, “Socrates and Political Obedience and Disobedience” Yale Law Review, 1974*
Week 5: Plato, Republic I-V
G. Vlastos, “Was Plato a Feminist?” TLS 1989*
Week 6: Plato, Republic, VI-X; submit paper topic
Week 7: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1; The Politics
M. Nussbaum, “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach,” in Quality of Life, eds. Nussbaum and Sen*
Week
8: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Cicero,
On Duties
Hellenistic Fragments* (Epicurus, Hierocles, Plutarch, Seneca, Lucretius, Sextus, etc)
J. Annas, “The Stoics on Other-Concern and Impartiality” in The Morality of Happiness*
M. Nussbaum, “Kant and Stoic Cosmopolitanism,” Journal of Political Philosophy
online at: http://www.blackwell‑synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/1467‑9760.00021/abs/
S. Wolin, “The Age of Empire: Space and Community,” in Politics and Vision*
Week 10: Augustine, City of God
Book I; preface; chs. 1-3, 7-16, 19-28
Book IV; chs. 1-4
Book V; ch. 1, 8-17, 20-23
Book VI; preface; ch. 1
Book XIV; chs. 1-6, 11-28
Book XV; chs. 1-6
Book XVIII; chs. 1-2, 18, 22, 41-2
Book XIX; entire (chs. 1-28)
Book XX; chs. 1-4
Book XXI; chs. 1-5, 9, 14-5, 27
Book XXII; chs. 22-24, 29-30
H. Deane, “Classical and Christian Political Thought,” Political Theory 1972.*
S. Wolin, “The Early Christian Era: Time and Community,” in Politics and Vision*
Paper due Wednesday, December 8