Readings

All readings will be from the textbooks or made available online in a link in the Reading Schedule (below).


Course Texts

  • Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Ed. Edwin Curley. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1994. ISBN 9780872201774
  • Kant, Immanuel. Perpetual Peace and Other Essays. Trans. Ted Humphrey. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1982. ISBN 9780915145478
  • Locke, John. Political Writings. Ed. David Wootton. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2003. ISBN 9780872206762
  • Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780801484636
  • Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings. Ed. Victor Gourevitch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780521424462

How to Use the Reading Schedule

The date on the lefthand side is the date the reading is due; we will discuss it in class. On the righthand side you'll find the Author, "Article Name" or Book Title, and chapter or pages to read.

Below the reading, I have indicated what pages to read carefully. You may skim the other pages. Sometimes skimming helps you put the part you're reading closely in context; other times it helps define key terms you'll need to understand the main passages. "Skim" doesn't mean "don't read"-- it means skim!

Finally, I have listed a goal or goals for each reading. This indicates what you should expect to learn from the reading. If you don't feel like you've achieved the goal once you read the assigned text, I suggest reading again or meeting with me in office hours to go over specific issues or help you answer questions.

Political Philosophy II s19 Reading Schedule

More Tips

Reading philosophy can be hard, especially if you aren't used to the style of writing philosophers use or if the author is writing centuries ago! Here are some suggestions to help you read effectively.

1. Make use of the resources in the course text.

Many of these will have an editor's introduction, which summarizes key ideas and central arguments in contemporary English. Some texts have endnotes or footnotes where technical terms are explained. Others have notes at the end included by the author, summarizing or clarifying their ideas and reasoning.

2. Go slow and repeat.

It takes much more time to read one page of philosophy than a page of a news article or novel. Philosophers often take pride in not beating it around the bush. Instead of taking a chapter to make a point, philosophers often tell you their point in a paragraph. This often results in dense sentences or paragraphs that take a long time to process.

I read (and write) philosophy for a living, and it usually takes me 30 minutes to an hour to read 10 pages. So go easy on yourself and budget the appropriate time. Try to skim to get an idea of where the author is going and what themes will be, then reread carefully. Reading a third time helps you pick up on important things you may have missed.

3. Take notes or annotate.

This will help you to keep track of the argument(s) the author is making and to actively engage with the reading. Philosophy is not the sort of stuff you can zone out for a few minutes or go on autopilot and come back to easily. If you start to forget what you just read, you can refer to your notes to connect the passage to the whole text.

4. Get help from others.

I am very happy to help you adjust to reading philosophy or early modern philosophy in office hours. You can also get into reading groups with fellow students to help each other before class.

There are good resources on reading philosophy available to you as well: Jim Pryor's Guidelines on Reading Philosophy, for instance. I link to some trustworthy and excellent resources on our Resources page. (Generally, I don't suggest relying on internet sources unless they are recommended by someone who knows what they're talking about. Wikipedia is not going to be helpful in reading at the level you're expected to read in this class!)