Syllabus for Past & Future of Capitalist Democracy

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The Past and Future of Capitalist Democracy

Fall 2014

Duke University

Professor Jedediah Purdy

Office hours will be announced weekly

            CB indicates materials available through our electronic coursebook, i.e., our Sakai site.  Other assignments are from books that have been ordered and are also widely available used.  Please buy the correct edition so that we are all working from the same page in discussion.  A list of assigned books appears at the end of the syllabus.  

            Most weeks we will spend both sessions working through the full assignment, so you should plan to have read the assignment by Monday.  In the first, preliminary week, we have a divided assignment.

            Sixty percent (60%) of the grade will be based on a final paper of 35-45 pages.  The remainder will be based on class discussion.

Week 1: Introductory Themes

            First session:

*Francis Fukuyama, Introduction to The End of History and the Last Man Introduction (xi-xxiii, 39-51, 71-81, 131-36, 199-208) (CB)

            Second session:

*Thomas Piketty, Capital in the 21^st Century (CB) 291-96, 333-35, 347-58, 407-09, 416-18, 422 (first paragraph only)

            *Wolfgang Streeck, Buying Time, 3-10, 15-20 (CB)

            *Streeck, “How Will Capitalism End?” 50-64 (note this is only part of the posted essay)

            *Mark Lilla, “The Truth about Our Libertarian Age”

            *Will Steffen, et al., “The Anthropocene”

Week 2: The State and the Problem of Order

            *Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan Introduction, Chs.6, 8, 10-21, 29-31, 46-7, Conclusion

            *Hobbes, Elements of Law, Book II, Ch.10, §8 (CB)

             *Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Book One, Chs. I-III (CB)

           

Week 3: Sociability and Sovereignty

            *Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Basic Political Writings (Hackett)

“Discourse on the Origin of Inequality,” pp. 27-92

“On the Social Contract,” pp. 155-252

Week 4: Adam Smith and the Theory of Sympathy

*David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (Oxford Philosophical Texts) Section 1 – Section 5 (pp. 73-118), Conclusion – Appendix 3 (pp. 145-175)

*Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Liberty Classics)

            Part I, pp. 9-26, 50-66

Part II, pp. 67-71, 82-92

Part III, pp. 109-113, 126-131, 149-150, 171-178

Part IV, pp. 179-193

Part VI, pp. 212-217, 227-237

Part VII, pp. 265-266

Week 5: The Theory of Commercial Society

*Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations (Liberty Classics)

Book I: Ch. 1-2 (all); Ch. 3: §1-2; Ch. 4: §1-4, 13-18; Ch. 5: §1-10; Ch. 6: §1-9; Ch. 7: all; Ch. 8: §1-28, 36-48; Ch. 9: §10-11, 13, 20, 24; Ch. 10: §1-3; Part I (page 116): §1-2, 5-9, 11-12, 17-30; Part II (page 135): §1-7, 12-13, 16-25, 27-33, 36-38, 40-43, 45-46, 48, 51-54, 58-61; Ch. 11: Conclusion (pages 264-7).

Book II: Intro; Ch. 1 (all); Ch. 3: §1-20, 25-32, 42.

Book III: Ch. 1 (all); Ch. 2: §1-4, 7, 9-21; Ch. 3: §1-12; Ch. 4: 1-7, 10-13, 15-19, 24.

Book IV: Ch. 1: §1-10, 35-45; Ch. 2: §1-31, 37, 40-45; Ch. 3: Part II (page 488): §1-3, 8-13; Ch. 8: §1-2, skim §3-14, 25-32, 47-51, 54.

Book V:  Ch. 1: Part I: §1 (p.688), §15-19, 39-44; pages 708-728 (incl. §14); §1-61 (pages 758-788); §1-19 (pp. 788-799) ; Conclusion (on p. 814-6) ; Ch. 2: §1-7 (817-9), 13, 18-21; Part II, §1-7, §12-18 (on pp. 831-3), §1-3 (on pp. 864-5); §1-9 (869-73), 19-20, 31-34, 43-44, 66 (on p. 899), 69, 73-4, 76, 78

Week 6: Democracy in America (and generally)

*Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. Mayer, trans.

George Lawrence (Harper and Row)

Vol. I

Introduction

Part 1, Chs. 3, 4; Ch. 5, pp. 61-70, 86-99

Part 2, Chs. 4; Ch. 5, pp. 196-202, 218-231; Ch. 6-9; Ch. 10, pp. 327-332; 340-63

Week 7: Tocqueville, continued:

Vol. II

Preface

Part I, Chs. 1-3; 5

Part II, Chs. 1-9; 13; 17; 20

Part III, Chs. 1; 8-12; 19; 21

Part IV, entire

Week 8: John Stuart Mill, Progress, and Liberty

            *On Liberty, 1-128

Week 9: Progress and Nature, cont’d

            *Mill, The Subjection of Women, 471-582

            *Mill, ”Nature” (CB)

 Week 10: Liberal Modernity and Political Economy

*Mill, from On Liberty and Other Essays, Principles of Political Economy (CB) and Chapters on Socialism (CB)

Weeks 11: Marx, alienation, materialism, and politics

            *Marx, “Theses on Feuerbach,” 143-45 in Tucker, Marx-Engels Reader

            *Marx, excerpts from “On the Jewish Question” (CB)

            *Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (CB)

            *Marx, “The German Ideology” (146-200)

            *Marx, “Manifesto of the Communist Party” (473-99)

            *Marx, “Inaugural Address to the Working Men’s Association” (512-19)

           

Week 12: Marx and the dynamics of capitalism

            *Marx, Capital: Volume I & Volume III (294-442)

Week 13: Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Richard Tuck, ed., Cambridge University Press)

ISBN: 9780521567978

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Basic Political Writings (Hackett, 2d. ed.)

ISBN-13: 978-1603846738

David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (Oxford Philosophical Texts)

ISBN-13: 978-0198751847

Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Liberty Fund)

ASIN: B009CN605K

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (Liberty Fund, two volumes)

ISBN-13: 978-0865970069 (Vol. I)

ISBN-13: 978-0865970076 (Vol. II)

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (J.P. Mayer, ed., Harper Perennial)

ISBN-13: 978-0061127922

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty and Other Essays (Oxford World’s Classics)

ISBN-13: 978-0199535736

The Marx-Engels Reader (Robert C. Tucker, ed., 2d. ed.) (Norton)

ISBN-13: 978-0393090406

Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals (Oxford World’s Classics)

ISBN-13: 978-0199537082