THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

POLI 240: Currents of Political Thought

Winter Term I, 2023.

Instructor: Joshua Santeusanio

Email: j.santeusanio@ubc.ca
Location and Time: BUCH-A101, Monday & Wednesday, 2-3:30.
NB: Lectures are IN-PERSON ONLY and will NOT be posted to Canvas.
Office Hours: Wednesday, 12-1:30, Buchanan C311.

TAs:
Erik Severson: eseverso@student.ubc.ca
Sabine Gaind: sgaind@mail.ubc.ca
Amara Pottinger: amarapot@student.ubc.ca
Nicholas Phin: m.phin@hotmail.com (email via Canvas)

Course Description:
This course surveys the history of western political philosophy. We will explore four
historical moments: (1) Ancient Greek thought and the invention of the polis; (2) the social
contract and birth of the modern state; (3) the Enlightenment and its critics; and (4)
modernity and the fate of politics. Through close readings of key texts in the western canon,
our class sessions will construct a narrative of canonical debates over the meaning and
purpose of politics, human nature, and the good life. Readings will include excerpts from
works by Plato, Aristotle, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant,
Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Weber, and Hannah Arendt.

*Enrollment is restricted to students with 2nd year standing and above. POLI 100 is prerequisite for
this course. The format of the course will be 2 lectures a week and 1 discussion group.

NB: This is a no-laptop, no-tablet, no-phone lecture (excepting students with a concession
from Access & Diversity). Students are expected to take handwritten notes and bring paper
copies of the texts to lecture and tutorial. Cell phones, smartphones, and internet use are
strictly forbidden in lecture and tutorial.

Required Texts:
The following books are required. Please purchase the exact editions listed below. All are
available at the UBC bookstore and through local booksellers.

1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (trans. and ed. Curley: Hackett Publishing)

2. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (trans. and ed. Skinner: Cambridge University Press)
3. Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (trans. and ed. Kaufmann: Vintage)
4. Hannah Arendt, On Revolution (Penguin Books)
We will also read the following texts. You will find these sources in your course packet
available for purchase at the UBC bookstore (fear not: we make $0.00 off your purchase) or
on Canvas. You do not need to purchase individual copies of each. You are, however, expected
to bring a physical copy of the text to lectures and tutorials.

 Plato, “Apology” and “Crito” in A Plato Reader (ed. C.D.C. Reeve: Hackett Publishing).
 Aristotle, Politics (trans. C.D.C. Reeve: Hackett Publishing).
 John Locke, “Second Treatise of Government” in Two Treatises of Government […]
(ed. Ian Shapiro: Yale University Press).
 Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?” and “Theory and Practice” in Kant:
Political Writings (ed. H.S. Reiss: Cambridge University Press).
 Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto and “On the Jewish Question” in The Marx-
Engels Reader, Second Edition (ed. R.C. Tucker: W.W. Norton); excerpts from
Grundrisse (trans. Martin Nicolaus: Penguin Books) and Capital, Vol. I (trans. Ben
Fowkes: Penguin Books).
 Max Weber, “Science as a Vocation” in The Vocation Lectures (eds. D. Owen & T.
Strong: Hackett Publishing).
 Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism (trans. Parsons:
Routledge).

Class Sessions, Readings, and Assignments:

Here you will find a week by week, day by day breakdown of the course. You are expected to
have completed all the REQUIRED reading by the last day devoted to a thinker.
ADDITIONAL and SUPPLEMENTARY readings are not required, although they can help
clarify key propositions and offer grounds for further exploration. M = Monday; W =
Wednesday.

Week 1 & 2 – Plato: Between Politics and Philosophy (W. Sept. 6, M. Sept. 11, W. Sept. 13)
 Required reading:
o Plato, Apology and Crito.
 Additional & Supplementary reading:
o Plato, Meno.
o Leo Strauss, “What is Political Philosophy?” 356-368.

Week 3 & 4 – Aristotle: The Ancient Polis (M. Sept. 18*, W. Sept. 20**, M. Sept. 25)
 Required:
o Aristotle, Politics, Book One, pp. 2-10 & 18-21 (Parts I-VII, XII-XIII); Book
Three, pp. 55-60 (Parts IV- V); Book Six pp. 144-146 (Parts I-II); Book
Four pp. 83-100 (Parts I-XI).
 Supplementary:
o C.D.C. Reeve, “Introduction,” xx-xxxvi in Politics.

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 *Monday September 18th: Add/Drop Deadline
**Wednesday September 20th: textual analysis assignment distributed

Week 4 & 5 – Hobbes: Invention of Political Modernity (W. Sept 27, W. Oct 4*, W. Oct 11)
 Required:
o Hobbes, Leviathan, “Introduction” [Hobbes’s]; Chapters I-II; V-VI; X
sections [1]-[18]; XI sections [1]-[5]; XIII; XIV all sections except [15]-
[17]; XV sections [1]-[3], [21], [34], [38]-[40]; XVII-XVIII, XXI, XXVI
sections [1]-[8]; XXIX.
 Supplementary:
o Seyla Benhabib, “Thomas Hobbes on My Mind.”

*Friday October 6th: Essay 1 assignment distributed.

Friday September 29th, 8pm, TEXTUAL ANALYIS DUE via TurnItIn.

Monday October 2nd: No class – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Monday October 9th: No class – Thanksgiving.

Week 6 – Machiavelli: Toward a Rejection of the Ancients (Thurs. Oct 12*, Mon. Oct 16)
 Required:
o Machiavelli, The Prince:
o Dedication, Chapters I-III, V-IX, XII-XVIII, XXV-XXVI.
 Supplementary:
o Machiavelli, “Letter to Vettori.”
o Quentin Skinner, “Introduction,” x-xxvi in The Prince.

*Thursday October 12th: “Make-up Monday”

Week 7 & 8 – Locke: Forging the Social Contract (Wed. Oct 18, Mon. Oct 23, Wed. Oct 25)
 Required:
o Locke, Second Treatise of Government: I-V, VIII (par. 95-99 only), XVIII.
 Additional & Supplementary:
o Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, 212-220.
o Barbara Arneil, “Trade, Plantations, and Property: John Locke and the
Economic Defense of Colonialism.”
o James Tully, “Locke,” 616-652 in The Cambridge History of Political
Thought 1450–1700.

Friday October 22nd, 8pm, FIRST ESSAY DUE via TurnItIn.

Week 9 – Kant: What is Enlightenment? (Mon. Oct 30)

 Required:

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 o Kant, “What is Enlightenment?”
o Kant, “Theory and Practice,” pp. 74-78.
 Additional & Supplementary
o Kant, Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim.
o Charles Taylor, “Kant’s Theory of Freedom,” 318-337 in Philosophy and the
Human Sciences.
o Hans Reiss, “Introduction,” 1-40 in Kant: Political Writings.

Week 9 & 10 – Marx’s Critique of the Enlightenment (Wed. Nov 1, Mon. Nov 6, Wed. Nov 8*)
 Required:
o Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 469-491, 499-500.
o Marx, “On the Jewish Question,” pp. 42-45.
 Additional & Supplementary:
o Marx, Grundrisse, 83-85.
o Marx, Capital: Volume I, 873-876
o David Harvey, “Introduction to The Communist Manifesto”

*Wednesday November 8: Essay 2 assignment distributed

Monday November 13 & Wednesday November 15 NO CLASS: MIDTERM BREAK

Week 11 & 12 – Nietzsche: A Total Critique of Progress (Mon. Nov. 20, Wed. Nov. 22)
 Required:
o Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Preface (title page, sections 2-3, 6);
First Essay (sections 1-4, 7-8, 10-14, 16); Second Essay (sections 1-7, 9,
12, 16, 24-25).
 Supplementary:
o Mark Warren, “Nietzsche and Political Philosophy,” 187-189.

Friday November 25th, 8pm, SECOND ESSAY DUE via TurnItIn.

Week 13 – Weber and the Fate of Modernity (Mon. Nov. 27)

 Required:
o Weber, The Protestant Ethic, pp. 120-121.
o Weber, “Science as a Vocation,” pp. 16-31.
 Supplementary:
o David Owen and Tracy Strong, “Introduction” in The Vocation Lectures.
Read: ix-xii; xix-xxi; xxx-xxxiv.
o Wendy Brown, Nihilistic Times: Thinking with Max Weber, 1-20.

Week 13 & 14 – Arendt: Reviving Modernity’s Promise (W. Nov. 29, M. Dec. 4, W. Dec. 6)

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  Required reading:
o Arendt, On Revolution, Chapter 4 (pp. 132-170), Chapter 5 (pp. 171-206).
 Additional & Supplementary:
o Arendt, The Human Condition, 236-247.
o Richard Bernstein, Why Read Hannah Arendt Now?

Final Exam: TBD

Political Theory, Political Philosophy, and Political Science:

A quick word is in order on just what political “theory” is all about. Why, you might ask, are
we reading “philosophical” texts in a course in the political “science” department? What can
this Nietzsche character tell me about Proportional Representation? One answer is that
“science” – the methodical investigation of empirical phenomena – and “philosophy” are
not two distinct enterprises. “Scientific” observations are built on all sorts of philosophical
propositions about how science ought to be conducted, and “philosophical” questions
presuppose certain scientific axioms about how the world works. Therefore, political
theorists tend to think that treating something like, say, climate change as either a strictly
scientific or a strictly philosophical problem will not get us very far. The same holds true,
theorists contend, for a whole host of questions about how politics is (and should be!)
conducted. So, instead of producing hypotheses of the sort: “If X then Y,” a political theorist
might ask: “who and what is left out when we frame a problem in terms of X changes and Y
outcomes?”
Political theory, then, entails the historical, empirical, critical, and interpretive
examination of political phenomena at every level of social life. Political theorists ask
questions about how we should live, how we should make decisions, and about what forms
of political life are conducive to certain normatively desirable political outcomes. Political
theorists insist on defining what, exactly, is considered “political” and who (or what) is
considered a member of a political community. In this class, we will examine different
answers to these sorts of questions, and our goal will be to evaluate the moments of
divergence and continuity between competing accounts of how politics ought to be
conducted.
Remember: the title of the course is “Currents of Political Thought.” Over the next 14
weeks we will trace what types of ideas about politics were current in an historically
specific place and time. In doing so, you might find that what was current in the 17 th
century, for example, holds important insights into our current moment and vice versa.
Political theory, then, is not about telling the story of how the “best of all possible worlds”
came to be. Instead, political theorists want to know about what was, what could have been,
and what can be done differently. It is an historical, critical, and interpretive activity
centered on the concrete actions of definite, self-determining actors.

Course Learning Objectives:

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In this course, we encounter texts primarily through close reading and interpretation. By
the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Take handwritten lecture notes and synthesize information without the use of
electronic devices.
2. Develop close reading skills with difficult philosophical texts.
3. Memorize and define key concepts of political thought.
4. Memorize and rehearse central arguments and themes in the texts and provide their
basic historical context.
5. Synthesize political arguments by comparing and contrasting them with other
arguments discussed in the course.
6. Analyze passages of text and bring this analysis together into a coherent argument
in the form of an essay.
7. Evaluate, critique, and apply political arguments in essays and discussion.
8. Articulate a thoughtful and interesting response to the large questions about
politics.
9. Develop an elementary understanding of the relationship between political “theory”
and political “science.”

Assignments, Due Dates, and Grades:

Students are responsible for material covered in lectures and class discussions as well as in
the assigned readings. Consistent attendance in class is required.

Grades will be determined in accordance with the following:

1. Textual Analysis: 10%
2. Essay 1: 25%
3. Essay 2: 25%
4. Final Exam: 30%
5. Weekly participation in discussion group: 10%

Due Dates:
1. Textual Analysis: September 29th, 8 PM.
2. Essay 1: October 22nd, 8 PM.
3. Essay 2: November 25th, 8 PM.
4. Final Exam: TBD.

Assignment Descriptions and Expectations:

Textual Analysis: A short (1-2 page) textual analysis of a key passage from one of the works
will be assigned in the first half of the course. This assignment is meant to familiarize
students with close reading and writing about difficult philosophical texts. Students will be
asked to explain the meaning of an important passage and articulate an insight about it.
Students will be graded on whether they demonstrate a clear understanding of the text and
whether they develop an articulate and nuanced insight about the passage.

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Essays: Two 4-6 (1500-1800 words) page essays will be assigned. The essay must be
submitted to TurnItIn AND a PHYSICAL COPY must be submitted to your TA. The essay will
take the form of an argument that compares and contrasts different texts from the course in
response to one of three possible prompts. You will be evaluated on your ability to
construct a coherent and convincing argument. The coherence of the argument will depend
on your ability to craft a clear and arguable thesis, and to structure a paper in a way that
allows you to present convincing textual evidence in support of your thesis. You will also be
evaluated on your grammar and style and consistent citation format. No outside sources
beyond the course texts will be permissible as resources for writing the paper: you must
rely on your personal class and reading notes alone. “Additional” readings may, however, be
used, but only with the approval from your TA or the instructor. The use of AI software to
assist in writing papers is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. See plagiarism policy below.

Final exam: The final exam will cover all course readings and lectures. Students will be
given a choice of essay prompts, from which they will choose 2, that synthesize big themes
across authors in the course.

Participation: Teaching assistants will evaluate discussion group attendance and

participation. You may miss two tutorials, no questions asked, no concession needed. After
this absence, points will be deducted for subsequent absences. For unforeseen
circumstances, see extensions, absences, and concessions policy.

Extensions, Absences, and Concessions Policy:

Please see the “Extensions, Absences, and Concessions” document on canvas for the full
policy. If you are seeking an extension, excused absence, or an academic concession, you
must read this document in its entirety before you approach us. If you fail to read the policy
or follow its guidelines, we reserve the right to ignore your request.

Acknowledgement:
UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of
the Musqueam people. The land it is situated on has always been a place of learning for the
Musqueam people, who for millennia have passed on in their culture, history, and traditions
from one generation to the next on this site.

General Academic Policies:

Laptops and electronic devices: The use of laptops and electronic devices for note-taking is
not permitted in this course, with the exception of students who have a written letter from
the Access and Diversity office. Students are expected to take handwritten notes and bring
paper copies of the texts to lecture and tutorial. Cell phone, smartphone, and internet use
are forbidden in lecture.

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Late Essays: Late assignments are subjected to light penalties. For more information, please
see the “Extensions, Concessions, and Absences Complete Policy Guide.” The policies for
late papers, where the student has not received an extension or concession, are the
following:
 Up to three (3) days late: .5 points deducted per day (.5% of your final grade)
 Four (4) or more days late: each day beyond the 3rd day, 1 point (1% of your
final grade) will be deduced per day.
 Maximum late penalty: for the two essays, the maximum penalty is 15 points
(15% of your final grade). The maximum penalty for the textual analysis is 10
points (10% of your grade, this is the full value of the assignment, but it is a small
one). If you turn in an essay really late, the penalty is capped. It is always worth it
to try to complete the essays for the course, as the possible grade will never go
down to zero for being late.
 Late assignments must be handed in by the start of the final exam. No work will
be accepted after the final exam unless a student has SD standing.

Grade appeals: Students who wish to appeal a grade must wait until 48 hours after
receiving your graded assignment to submit an appeal, and the appeal must be made in
writing. The initial appeal should be made to the TA. If the student is unsatisfied with this
process, they should proceed to the professor. Bear in mind that if you appeal your grade, it
can go either up or down according to a fair regrade.

Attendance: Regular attendance in lectures and tutorials is expected. Success in this course
requires that you be present and engaged at almost every lecture. Many professors say this,
but you will see that I really mean it. I do not provide slides with lecture information, and I
do not provide lecture recordings. Participation in tutorials is expected. Tutorial attendance
factors into your participation grade. Unexcused absences from tutorial will result in a 1
point (1% of your total grade) deduction for any absences after 2 missed sessions. You may
miss up to 2 tutorial sessions with no questions asked. For these first two, you do not need
to alert your TA and you will not be penalized. Please note that lecture attendance is not
strictly mandatory, but it is difficult to succeed if you do not attend. For more information
on attendance requirements and absences, see the “Extensions, Concessions, and Absences
Complete Policy Guide.”

Religious holidays: UBC permits students who are scheduled to attend classes or write
examinations on holy days of their religions to notify their instructor in advance of these
days and their wish to observe them by absenting themselves from class or examination.
Instructors will provide an opportunity for students to make up work or examinations
without penalty (Policy #65).

Disabilities: UBC is committed to the academic success of students with disabilities.

Students with a disability should meet with a Disability Resource Centre (DRC) advisor to

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determine what accommodations/services you are eligible for. If you are registered with
Access and Diversity, you should notify your instructor at least two weeks before
examination dates. It is your responsibility to schedule an examination at Access and
Diversity within the correct time-period.

Mask Policy: TBD.

Rules on Respect and Harassment: Respectful debate and disagreement are encouraged in
class. Disrespectful behavior, including interrupting, rudeness, bullying and harassment,
will not be tolerated. The instructor will display respect toward students, and students will
exercise respect with each other and with the instructor. If you have any concerns about the
class environment, please raise them immediately with the instructor. The full UBC
Statement on Respectful Environment for Students, Faculty and Staff can be found at
http://www.hr.ubc.ca/respectful-environment/files/UBC-Statement-on-Respectful Environ
ment-2014.pdf. Students can also review the Student Code of Conduct at: http://www.cale
ndar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,750,0.

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity:

Academic communities depend on their members’ honesty and integrity in representing
the sources of reasoning, claims, and wordings that appear in their work. Like any other
member of the academic community, you will be held responsible for the accurate
representation of your sources: the means by which you produced the work you are
submitting. If you are found to have misrepresented your sources and to have submitted
others’ work as your own, penalties will follow. Your case may be forwarded to the Head of
the department, who may decide that you should receive zero for the assignment. The Head
will report your case to the Dean’s Office, where the report will remain on file. The Head
may decide, in consultation with your instructor, that a greater penalty is called for, and will
forward your case to the Dean’s Office. After an interview in the Dean’s Office, your case
may be forwarded to the President’s Advisory Committee on Academic Misconduct.
Following a hearing in which you will be asked to account for your actions, the President
may apply penalties including zero for the assignment; zero for the course; suspension
from the university for a period ranging from 4 to 24 months; a notation on your
permanent record. The penalty may be a combination of these.
Like any academic author submitting work for review and evaluation, you are
guaranteeing that the work you submit for this course has not already been submitted for
credit in another course Your submitting work from another course, without your
instructor’s prior agreement, may result in penalties such as those applied to the
misrepresentation of sources. If an outside tutor or other person helps you, show this
policy to your tutor or helper: make sure you both understand the limits of this person’s
permissible contribution. If you are uncertain, consult your instructor. The use of AI
software to assist in writing papers is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

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Still a little uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism? For a quick refresher visit:
http://www.indiana.edu/%7Ewts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtmland/or:
http://sja.ucdavis.e du/files/plagiarism.pdf

TurnItIn: In accordance with departmental policy, in this course you will be required to
submit your research paper in electronic form to a service called TurnItIn. UBC subscribes
to this service that checks written material for originality by searching for matching text.
Students will submit their research papers to the TurnItIn website, where software scans
the paper against a database which includes public websites, paper writing services, essays
submitted to TurnItIn, and journal articles. The service then produces a report on the
paper’s originality. The instructor will review the reports, and where necessary, the papers
themselves. Assignments are not accessible to the public once submitted to TurnItIn, and
you, as the author, retain ownership of your original material. Your work will be added to
TurnItIn’s archive for comparison against subsequently submitted material, thus ensuring
that your work is not plagiarized. For more information on TurnItIn, reasons for its use, and
general policies, see the UBC Vice President Academic and Provost web site, at:
http://www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/integrity/turnitin/index.htm
Once added to a course, you will be able to submit your paper to the class file. You
will be asked to provide your name and student number, as well as some details about your
assignment. This information will be used only to identify your submission to your
instructor. Your paper will be stored in the TurnItIn database, and you may choose to leave
out identifying information from the text of your paper for the sake of your privacy.
To submit your paper to TurnItIn, log on to www.turnitin.com. You will be asked to
create a unique “user profile,” consisting of an ID (e-mail address) and password. To add
this course, you will also need the course ID and enrollment key, which are:

Master Course ID: 40745278

Erik’s Course ID: 40748105

Enrollment Key: Erik

Sabine’s Course ID: 40827331

Enrollment Key: Sabine

Amara’s Course ID: 40827347

Enrollment Key: Amara

Nick’s Course ID: 40762867

Enrollment Key: Nick

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