| DATES | TOPICS | READINGS* & ASSIGNMENTS |
| Week 1 (1/27-1/29) |
-Introduction to course -Arguments and evaluative strategies -Plato's Republic video |
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| Week 2 (2/3-2/5) |
-The Challenge to Socrates -Building the state |
Plato, The Republic, Book II (6-17) (Reading Response #1 due) |
| Week 3 (2/10-2/12) |
-Finding justice -Guardians, women, and philosopher kings |
Republic, Books IV-V (17-33) (RR#2 due) (Recommended: Lynda Lange, "The Function of Equal Education in Plato's Republic, 34-41) |
| Week 4 (2/17-2/19) |
-Hobbes's background, the state of nature, and the argument against anarchy | Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Chapter 13 (125-127) (RR#3 due) |
| Week 5 (2/24-2/26) |
-Getting out of the state of nature into the Leviathan PAPER #1 DUE, 2/26 |
Hobbes, Leviathan, Chapters 14, 15 (first three paragraphs only), 17, and 18 (127-133, 141-148; you may skim pretty quickly through Chapter 18) (RR#4 due) |
| Week 6 (3/3-3/5) |
-Locke's state of nature and limited government | John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, Chapters II, III, V, VII, VIII, and the first two paragraphs of IX (172-187) (RR#5 due) |
| Week 7 (3/10-3/12) |
-Rawls's Justice as Fairness | John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (404-416 -- note: this is not the entire article) (RR#6 due) |
| Week 8 (3/17-3/19) |
-The Two Principles of Justice -Maximin Reasoning |
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| Week 9 (3/24-3/26) |
-Libertarianism | John Hospers, "The Libertarian Manifesto" (434-444) (RR#7 due) |
| Week 10 (4/2) No class on 3/31 (Cesar Chavez Day) |
EXAM #1 -- Due at the beginning of class 4/2 -Liberty-limiting principles: The Harm Principle |
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty" (324-329) |
| Week 11 (4/7-4/9) |
-The Offense Principle (and others) -Pornography and harm to women -Social construction of gender |
Joel Feinberg, "The Offense Principle" (in Coursepack) (RR#8 due) Catherine MacKinnon, "Pornography, Civil Rights, and Speech" (in Coursepack) (RR#9 due) |
| Week 12 (4/14-4/18) |
SPRING BREAK!! | |
| Week 13 (4/23) No class on 4/21 |
-Pornography videos (don't get excited) -A blistering ad hominem attack |
Camille Paglia, "The Return of Carry Nation: Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin" (in Coursepack) |
| Week 14 (4/28-4/30) |
-Feminist objections to MacKinnon | Duggan, Hunter, and Vance, "Feminist Antipornography Legislation: A Critical Analysis" (in Coursepack) (RR#10 due) |
| Week 15 (5/5-5/7) |
-In favor of limited speech codes and the regulation of hate speech PAPER #2 DUE, 5/7 |
Charles R. Lawrence III, "If He Hollers Let Him Go: Regulating Racist Speech on Campus" (in Coursepack) (RR#11 due) |
| Week 16 (5/12-5/14) |
-A Millian argument against speech codes -Campus Culture Wars video |
Jonathan Rauch, "In Defense of Prejudice: Why Incendiary Speech Must Be Protected" (in Coursepack) (RR#12 due) |
| EXAM #2 -- Due in my office no later than 2:30 p.m. on Friday, 5/16 |