10:10a-11:00a  MWF	WH004
Above section meets with POLS Y382
Obtain online authorization from department
Above section carries Culture Studies credit

This is a course on modernity; specifically, it is a survey of the
main philosophical and political issues that have been generated by
the enlightenment and the emergence of the modern nation-state.
Authors within the modern Western philosophical tradition have
raised a variety of normative and empirical questions regarding the
nature of the individual and social relations as well as the nature
of the state and of political relations, many of which still
resonate with the political issues that we encounter today.

Are rights a natural possession of humans or determined by law?
What is the nature of individual freedom?  What happens when the
freedom of the individual comes into conflict with the interests of
the state?  What is the foundation of the state, and why do we obey
its laws?  How far does the jurisdiction of the state extend?  --To
the realm of individual action?  --To the realm of social and
economic interactions?  --To the realm of individual thoughts and
beliefs?  How do we evaluate the state, and how do we hold it
accountable?  These are a few of the questions that we will be
addressing in this course.

We will start by looking at the (social contract) theories of
Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, and the ways in which their writings
have set the intellectual agenda for much of the modern period as
well as influenced/inspired such important political movements as
the American and French revolutions.  Next we will take a brief
interlude and focus on the issue of rights:  on what they are based,
to whom they extend, how far they extend, how they are to be
protected, and what consequences individual rights have on the
social whole.  We will next look at the political thought of Marx,
both as a humanist critique of modern society and as a critique of
capitalist economics.  Afterwards, we will re- examine revolutions
in light of Marx.  We will wrap up the course by focusing on two
specialized topics within modern political thought:  the state’s
role in maintaining the economy, and the Weberian conception of the
rational-legal society; the course will conclude with some general
thoughts about the limits and unintended consequences of modernity,
and how they re-emerge in contemporary political thought.

Upon completing this course, you should have a diverse understanding
of modern conceptions of the state and the individual, as well as an
awareness of the implications for contemporary political issues that
are generated by these
conceptions.