Schedule

Last updated: Tue, Mar 3, 2026

Date Module Readings Due Dates
2026-01-21 Course overview Revolutionary ideas: Political philosophy between the past and the future
2026-01-26 The making of modern political philosophy Remote snow day (on Zoom)
  • In-class screening: My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021), directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, 91 min
 Please complete this “Getting to Know You” survey by 5pm the day before (or as soon as possible if you are joining late)
2026-01-28 The making of modern political philosophy The philosopher who would be king I
  • Plato, Republic, [translator’s] preface & 327a–354c [CourseWorks > Files]
2026-02-02 The making of modern political philosophy The philosopher who would be king II
  • Plato, Republic, 484a–489c [CourseWorks]
  • Plato, Statesman, 291d–303b [CourseWorks]
2026-02-04 The making of modern political philosophy Before the state there was nature I
  • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651), chaps. 11, 13, 14.1–9, 15.1–7, 17–18, 29.23 [anthology]
2026-02-09 The making of modern political philosophy Before the state there was nature II
  • John Locke, Second Treatise (1689), chaps. 1–5, 6 (only §§ 52–68), 7 (only §§ 77–82), 8 (only §§ 95-99, 119–22), 9–11 [anthology]
2026-02-11 The making of modern political philosophy Before the state there was nature IV
  • Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract (1988), preface and chap. 3 (skip pp. 43–44, 60–64, 67–73) [CourseWorks]
2026-02-16 The making of modern political philosophy Before the state there was nature V
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality (1755), pp. 287–94, 297–310, 314–15, 320–26 (skim) [anthology]
  • Rousseau, On the Social Contract (1762), 1.1, 1.3–4, 1.6–8, 2.1–3, 4.2–3 (skim) [anthology]
2026-02-18 The making of modern political philosophy Before the state there was nature VI
  • Charles Mills, The Racial Contract (1997), pp. 1–7 (skim), 17–19, 53–69, 73–81, 83–89
2026-02-23 The making of modern political philosophy Give me liberty or give me death I
  • Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (1748), 8.16 [CourseWorks] and 11.6 [anthology]
  • If you haven’t read them recently: Declaration of Independence (1776) [anthology] and the U.S. Constitution
  • The Federalist Papers, nos. 9–10, 51 [anthology]
  • Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), selections [CourseWorks]
  • Either of the following:
    • Victoria Woodhull, A New Constitution for the United States of the World (1870) [CourseWorks]
    • Sun Yet-Sen, Principle of Democracy (1924), lecture VI, pp. 116–120, 127–142 [CourseWorks]
2026-02-25 The making of modern political philosophy Class canceled
2026-02-27 The making of modern political philosophy BCRW 50th Scholar & Feminist Conference (Day 1)
2026-02-28 The making of modern political philosophy BCRW 50th Scholar & Feminist Conference (Day 2)
2026-03-02 The making of modern political philosophy Give me liberty or give me death II
  • John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), selections in the anthology
2026-03-04 The making of modern political philosophy Give me liberty or give me death III
  • Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844), pp. 670–76 [anthology] or pp. 85–95 [CourseWorks]
  • Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach” (1845) [anthology or CourseWorks]
  • Marx, “On the Jewish Question” (1844), pp. 666–69 (skim pp. 666–67) [anthology] or pp. 59–64 (skim pp. 59–62) [CourseWorks]
  • Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848), pp. 695, 701–5, 710 [anthology] or pp. 245–46, 255–62, 271 [CourseWorks]
2026-03-09 The making of modern political philosophy Give me liberty or give me death IV
  • Marx, Capital (1867), pp. 458–74 (skim pp. 472–74), 488–92, 496–508, 512–13 [CourseWorks]
2026-03-11 The making of modern political philosophy Give me liberty or give me death V
2026-03-13 The making of modern political philosophy Term paper Term paper proposal due to CourseWorks by midnight
2026-03-16 The making of modern political philosophy Spring recess (no class)
2026-03-18 The making of modern political philosophy Spring recess (no class)
2026-03-23 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Protest like it’s the 1960s I
  • The Reconstruction Amendments
  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), selections
  • Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)
  • Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)
  • National Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy, “We Are Facing a Danger Unlike Any Danger That Has Ever Existed” (1957)
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, “Statement of Purpose” (1960)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)
  • Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964)
  • Pauli Murray, “The Liberation of Black Women” (1970)
  • Sylvia Rivera, “Street Transvestites for Gay Power” (1970) and “Y’all Better Quiet Down” (1973)
2026-03-25 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Protest like it’s the 1960s II
  • Carol Hanisch and Elizabeth Sutherland, “Women of the World Unite—We Have Nothing to Lose But Our Men!” (1968), in Notes from the First Year (“Notes I”), pp. 12–16
  • Collected in Notes II (1970):
    • Barbara Susan, “An Abortion Testimonial,” p. 94
    • Kate Millet, “Sexual Politics: A Manifesto for Revolution,” pp. 111–12
    • “Politics of the Ego: A Manifesto For N. Y. Radical Feminists,” pp. 124–26
  • Radicalesbians, “The Woman-Identified Woman” (1970), in Notes III, pp. 81–84
  • Reed v. Reed (1971), selections
  • Roe v. Wade (1973), selections
2026-03-30 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy: Second time’s the charm? I
  • John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971), selections
  • Katrina Forrester, In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy (2019), selections
2026-04-01 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy: Second time’s the charm? II
  • Readings TBD—Olivia Newsome (Barnard Archives) visits class!
2026-04-03 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Term paper First draft of term paper due to CourseWorks by midnight
2026-04-06 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy: Second time’s the charm? III
  • Rawls, TJ, selections
2026-04-08 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy: Second time’s the charm? IV
  • Rawls, Political Liberalism (1993), selections
2026-04-13 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy has a porn problem I
  • In Monique Wittig, The Straight Mind and Other Essays [CourseWorks]:
    • Preface (1991), pp. xiii–xvii (skip pp. xiv–xv)
    • “The Category of Sex” (1976), pp. 1–8
    • “On the Social Contract” (1989), pp. 33–41
    • “One Is Not Born a Woman” (1981), pp. 9–20
    • “The Straight Mind” (1980) pp. 21–32 (skim pp. 23–24)
2026-04-15 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy has a porn problem II
  • Catharine Mackinnon, Feminism Unmodified (1987), chaps. 12, 14 [CourseWorks]
2026-04-17 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Term paper Second draft of term paper due to CourseWorks by midnight
2026-04-20 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy has a porn problem III
2026-04-22 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Political philosophy has a porn problem IV Lorna Bracewell and Margot Kotler visit?
2026-04-27 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Putting the political back into political philosophy I
  • Iris Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference (1990), selections
2026-04-29 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Putting the political back into political philosophy I
  • Iris Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference (1990), selections
2026-05-04 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Catch-up day
2026-05-06 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Reading day (no class)
2026-05-13 The fall and rise of contemporary political philosophy Term paper Final draft of term paper due to CourseWorks by midnight