Core Seminar in Political Theory (Pol S 509)
University of Washington
Department of Political Science
Spring 2025
Instructor: Professor Jamie Mayerfeld Seminar:
Office: Gowen 35 Savery 169
Office Hours: Wed: 2-4 and by appt. Tuesdays 1:30 – 4:20
This is the core seminar in political theory. We will read a selection of influential works of political theory, past and present, so that students may begin to understand some main debates and developments in the field. The theme of the course is justice. Central questions include: What is justice? How is it related to the human good, to human nature, and to reason? Does order have priority over justice? Should politics be constrained by justice? Is democracy connected to justice, and if so, how? What is climate justice, and what does it demand of us?
Texts: The following books are on sale at the University Book Store:
- Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates, trans. G. M. A. Grube and John Cooper (Hackett)
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, trans. David Ross (Oxford University Press)
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Hackett)
- Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor and Jens Timmermann (Cambridge University Press)
- Max Weber, The Vocation Lectures, trans. Rodney Livingstone (Hackett)
- John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, rev. ed. (Harvard University Press)
- Stephen Gardiner and Arthur Obst, Dialogues on Climate Justice (Routledge)
Additional readings are available in a course packet, on sale at Professional Copy n’ Print, 4200 University Way NE. I will place copies of the course packet on reserve at Odegaard Library.
Requirements:
- You are required to complete the assigned readings prior to seminar. The texts are challenging, but also rewarding. You will get the most out of them through careful, critical reading (and re-reading).
- Discussion is an essential part of this course. Students should contribute regular, thoughtful, and well-informed comments to seminar. Shy students should make an effort to speak up. Talkative students may need, in some instances, to practice restraint.
- Each student will give a presentation, roughly 5-10 minutes long, on the assigned reading (or one of the principal assigned readings). The presentation should examine and critically engage the argument (or an important part of the argument). Your presentation should not be a mere summary, but instead an original argument relating to the reading. Your argument may be interpretive (offering an illuminating understanding of the argument in the reading) or evaluative (offering a positive or critical assessment of the argument). Or it may apply the argument to some issue or question not raised in the text. Whatever type of presentation you choose, please articulate a clear position and defend it with relevant reasons and evidence.
- Main writing assignments. Students have the choice of writing two 5-7 page essays or one 10-15 page essay preceded by a prospectus.
- Two essays. Write two short (5-7 page) essays focused on the assigned readings. The first essay is due on Friday, May 2, by 11:59 pm. The second essay is due on Wednesday, June 11, by 11:59 pm. You are responsible for constructing the question or theme addressed in your essay. (I may suggest some possible questions or themes.)
- Long essay. Write a long essay (10-15 pages) in which you explore an issue in greater depth. It should address one or more of the assigned readings to at least some significant extent. Your long essay is due on Wednesday, June 11, by 11:59 pm. You are also required to submit a prospectus on Friday, May 2, by 11:59 pm. Your prospectus, around 3-4 pages long, should state the central question or problem of your essay, discuss how you will investigate it, and sketch the argument you intend to make in your essay.
Evaluation:
Quality of weekly participation 15%
Seminar presentation 15%
If you choose the two-essay option:
First essay 35%
Second essay 35%
If you choose the long essay option:
Prospectus 15%
Long essay 55%
Maintaining a Respectful Learning Environment: It is important for discussion to be open to a wide range of perspectives and for everyone to feel comfortable about participating. Learning will be facilitated if all class participants work to engage in class discussions with respect and empathy for one another. Contradictory views are encouraged, and can contribute to learning as long as everyone remains open to new information and willing to learn from people with different perspectives and life experiences. It is essential to avoid inflammatory, derogatory and insulting words and personal attacks. Such conduct inhibits learning and prevents the free exchange of ideas.
Disability and Learning: Your experience in this class is important, and I am committed to maintaining an inclusive and accessible learning environment. If you experience barriers based on disability, please seek a meeting with Disability Resources for Students (DRS) to discuss and address your concerns. If you have established accommodations with DRS, please communicate your approved accommodation to the relevant instructor(s) at your earliest convenience so we can accommodate your needs. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. You can contact DRS at uwdrs@uw.edu, 011 Mary Gates Hall, 543-8924 (voice); 543-8925 (TDD). http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/.
Academic Integrity: Cheating and plagiarism of any kind are offenses against academic integrity and are subject to disciplinary action by the University. Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work and presenting it as your own (by not attributing it to its true source). If you are uncertain what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me. The Political Science/JSIS/LSJ/CHID Writing Center also offers guidance on plagiarism.
All use of ChatGPT and other AI text generators (including QuillBot) is prohibited. The only exception is for simple spell check or grammar-check, or Grammarly when used for simple grammar checks but not for extensive rewriting. (However, I discourage use of Grammarly altogether.) You may not use AI text generators for any course-related purpose. The reasons for this policy are stated here.
By Friday, April 4, at 11:59 pm, you are required to submit a document stating that you will abide by the course policy on ChatGPT and other AI Text Generators. At the end of the course, no later than Friday, June 13, at 11:59 pm, you will submit a document stating that you have abided by this policy. Submitting both documents is necessary to earn credit in this class. Both documents must be truthful.
Religious Accommodations: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available here: Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.
Late paper policy: Late essays will be penalized.
Course Schedule:
* = in course packet
April 1: Plato, Apology and Crito (in The Trial and Death of Socrates)
These two dialogues record dramatic moments towards the end of Socrates’ life. In them, Socrates expresses a fierce commitment to justice and insists that it is in our own interest to be just.
April 8: Aristotle, Politics, Book I, chapters 1 and 2 *; Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books I and II entire; Book III, chapters 6-9; Book V, chapters 1-3, 7, 10; Book VI entire; Book VIII, chapters 1-6, 9-11; Book IX, chapters 6, 12; Book X, Chapters 6-9. (Corresponding to pages 3-37, 49-55, 80-86, 92-93, 98-99, 102-17, 142-50, 153-57, 171-72, 181-82, 192-203 in the Oxford/Ross edition.)
Aristotle builds his ethical theory on a conception of the human good defined as virtue put in action.
April 15: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, chapters 6, 10-11, 13-21
Hobbes ambitiously derives a theory of politics and justice from his observation of human motives and beliefs.
April 22: Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Try to read the entire text, but if that’s difficult, read up to the top of p. 48 in the Cambridge/Gregor-Timmermann edition.
Kant builds his influential moral theory on the idea of a universalizable will. He argues that we are free when we act from (not merely in accord with) duty.
April 29: James Madison, The Federalist no. 10 *; W. E. B. Du Bois, “Of the Ruling of Men,” from Du Bois, Darkwater *
In different ways, Madison and Du Bois discuss the challenge of securing justice in societies characterized by diversity, inequality, and hierarchy.
May 6: Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation”
Weber develops an influential theory of the state and political leadership. In the closing third of his lecture, he warns against efforts to constrain politics by morality or justice.
May 13: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (pages to be announced)
Rawls builds his theory of justice on the premise that persons are free and equal and legal and political institutions should be designed accordingly.
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, rev. ed., pp. 3-24, 52-58 (top two lines only), 62 (beginning with “Now these reflections”) to 65 (including first paragraph of section 13), 73-81, 86-93, 118-23, 118-35 (through last full paragraph), 180-94, 221-27. Optional: 326-43. Note: these pages refer to the 1999 revised original. Let me know if you are reading the original 1971 edition, and I will send adjusted page numbers.
May 20: Iris Marion Young, “Five Faces of Oppression,” from Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference *; Iris Marion Young, “Democracy and Justice,” from Young, Inclusion and Democracy *
In “Five Faces of Oppression,” Young offers a map of the political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of injustice. In “Democracy and Justice,” she develops a theory of deliberative democracy tied to justice.
May 27: Stephen Gardiner and Arthur Obst, Dialogues on Climate Justice, Dialogues 1-4.
Gardiner and Obst argue that the climate crisis must be understood as a problem of justice.
June 3: Students present drafts of their second essays or long essays.