[Machiavelli] = Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. 2nd ed. Translated by Harvey C. Mansfield. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780226500447.
[Hobbes] = Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan: with Selected Variants from the Latin Edition of 1668. Edited by Edwin Curley. Hackett Publishing Company, 1994. ISBN: 9780872201774. [Preview with Google Books]
[Locke] = Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government. Edited by C. B. Macpherson. Hackett Publishing Company, 1980. ISBN: 9780915144860. [Preview with Google Books]
[Tocqueville] = Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. Translated, Edited, and with an Introduction by Harvey C. Mansfield, and Delba Winthrop. University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780226805368.
[Rousseau] = Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The First and Second Discourses. Edited by Roger D. Masters. Bedford / St. Martin’s Press, 1969. ISBN: 9780312694401.
[Nietzsche] = Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life. Translated by Peter Preuss. Hackett Publishing Company, 1980. ISBN: 9780915144945. [Preview with Google Books]
| WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| THE ENLIGHTENMENT | ||
| Machiavelli | ||
| 1 and 2 | The New Understanding of Human Nature and Politics |
[Machiavelli] Chapters 1–26. See the Study Questions section |
| Hobbes | ||
| 3 | On Man |
[Hobbes] Chapter I: “Of Sense.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter II: “Of Imagination.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter III: “Of the Consequence or Train of Imaginations.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter IV: “Of Speech.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter V: “Of Reason, and Science.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter VI: “Of the Interiour Beginnings of Voluntary Motions, Commonly Called the Passions, and the Speeches by Which They Are Expressed.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter X: “Of Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour, and Worthiness.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter XIII: “Of the Natural Condition of Mankind, As Concerning Their Felicity, and Misery.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter XIV: “Of the First and Second Natural Laws and of Contracts.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter XV: “Of Other Laws of Nature.” in Part I: Of Man. See the Study Questions section |
| 4 | On Commonwealth |
[Hobbes] Chapter XVI: “Of Persons, Authors, and Things Personated.” in Part I: Of Man. [Hobbes] Chapter XVII: “Of the Causes, Generation, and Definition of a Commonwealth.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XVIII: “Of the Rights of Sovereigns by Institution.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XIX: “Of the Several Kinds of Commonwealth by Institution and of Succession to the Sovereign Power.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XX: “Of Dominion Paternal and Despotical.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXI: “Of the Liberty of Subjects.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXVI: “Of Civil Laws.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXVII: “Of Crimes, Excuses, and Extenuations.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXVIII: “Of Punishments and Rewards.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXIX: “Of those Things that Weaken or tend to the Dissolution of a Commonwealth.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. [Hobbes] Chapter XXX: “Of the Office of the Sovereign Representative.” in Part II: Of Commonwealth. See the Study Questions section |
| Locke | ||
| 5 | Contract |
[Locke] Chapter I: “7.” [Locke] Chapter II: “Of the State of Nature.” [Locke] Chapter III: “Of the State of War.” [Locke] Chapter IV: “Of Slavery.” [Locke] Chapter V: “Of Property.” [Locke] Chapter VI: “Of Paternal Power.” [Locke] Chapter VII: “Of Political or Civil Society.” [Locke] Chapter VIII: “Of the Beginning of Political Societies.” [Locke] Chapter IX: “Of the Ends of Political Society and Government.” See the Study Questions section |
| 6 | Legitimate Government |
[Locke] Chapter X: “Of the Forms of a Common-wealth.” [Locke] Chapter XI: “Of the Extent of the Legislative Power.” [Locke] Chapter XII: “Of the Legislative, Executive, and Federative Power of the Common-wealth.” [Locke] Chapter XIII: “Of the Subordination of the Powers of the Common-wealth.” [Locke] Chapter XIV: “Of Prerogative.” [Locke] Chapter XV: “Of Paternal, Political, and Despotical Power. [Locke] Chapter XVI: “Of Conquest.” [Locke] Chapter XVII: “Of Usurpation.” [Locke] Chapter XVIII: “Of Tyranny.” [Locke] Chapter XIX: “Of the Dissolution of Government.” See the Study Questions section |
| 7 | Freedom of Thought |
Locke, John. A Letter Concerning Toleration. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. ISBN: 9781453846414. [Preview with Google Books] Declaration of Independence, archives.gov. See the Study Questions section |
| LIBERTY AND AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM | ||
| 8 | The American Founding |
The Articles of Confederation, ourdocuments.gov. Constitution of the United States, archives.gov. Madison, James. “The Federalist, No. 10: The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection.” ———. “The Federalist, No. 63: The Senate (continued).” Hamilton, Alexander. “The Federalist, No. 69: The Real Character of the Executive.” See the Study Questions section |
| 9 | Liberty and Equality in America |
[Tocqueville] “Author’s Introduction.” [Tocqueville] Chapter 7: “On The Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and its Effects.” Vol. One: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 8: “On What Tempers the Tyranny of the Majority in the United States.” Vol. One: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 1: “On The Philosophic Method of the Americans.” Vol. Two: Part One. [Tocqueville] Chapter 2: “On the Principal Source of Beliefs Among Democratic Peoples.” Vol. Two: Part One. [Tocqueville] Chapter 3: “Why the Americans Show More Aptitude and Taste for General Ideas Than Their English Fathers.” Vol. Two: Part One. [Tocqueville] Chapter 1: “Why Democratic Peoples Show a More Ardent and More Lasting Love for Equality Than for Freedom.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 2: “On Individualism in Democratic Countries.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 3: “How Individualism Is Greater at the End of a Democratic Revolution Than in Any Other Period.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 4: “How the Americans Combat Individualism with Free Institutions.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 5: “On the Use That the Americans Make of Association in Civil Life.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 6: “On the Relation Between Associations and Newspapers.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 7: “Relations Between Civil Associations and Political Associations.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 8: “How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Doctrine of Self-Interest Well Understood.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 9: “How the Americans Apply the Doctrine of Self-Interest Well Understood in the Matter of Religion.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 10: “On the Taste for Material Well-Being in America.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 11: “On the Particular Effects That the Love of Material Enjoyments Produces in Democratic Centuries.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 12: “Why Certain Americans Display Such an Exalted Spiritualism.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 13: “Why the Americans Show Themselves So Restive in the Midst of Their Well-Being.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 14: “How the Taste for Material Enjoyments among Americans Is United with Love of Freedom and with Care for Public Affairs.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 15: “How Religious Beliefs at Times Turns the Souls of the Americans toward Immaterial Enjoyments.” Vol. Two: Part Two. [Tocqueville] Chapter 6: “What Kind of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear.” Vol. Two: Part Four. [Tocqueville] Chapter 7: “Continuation of the Preceding Chapters.” Vol. Two: Part Four. [Tocqueville] Chapter 8: “General View of the Subject.” Vol. Two: Part Four. See the Study Questions section |
| STATESMANSHIP AND THE AMERICAN REGIME | ||
| 10 | Lincoln: A New Birth of Freedom? |
The Lincoln / Douglas Debates of 1858, lincoln.lib.niu.ebu. See the Study Questions section |
| A CRITIQUE OF ENLIGHTENMENT | ||
| Rousseau | ||
| 11 | Human Nature and Inequality |
[Rousseau] “Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality (Second Discourse), First and Second Parts.” [Rousseau] “Rousseau’s Notes: Footnote (i).” [Rousseau] “Rousseau’s Notes: Footnote (l).” See the Study Questions section |
| 12 | The Freedom of the Citizen |
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. “Book III.” In The Social Contract. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. ISBN: 9781453754207. ———. “Book IV.” In The Social Contract. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. ISBN: 9781453754207. See the Study Questions section |
| THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY | ||
| Nietzsche | ||
| 13 | A New Vision |
[Nietzsche] See the Study Questions section |
