Social and Political Philosophy II (PHIL 244)

Contact details

sandy.berkovski@gmail.com

Office hours

H147, Fri 1030-1230, and by appointment

Readings

These texts are all required, and you will need your own copy of them. Their electronic versions are combined in one PDF file available on Moodle (joint course).

[Hob92]

T. Hobbes. The Leviathan. Penguin, 1992.

[Hum83]

D. Hume. An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. Hackett, Indianapolis, IN, 1983. Edited, and with an Introduction, by J. B. Schneewind.

[Kan93]

I. Kant. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. Hackett, Indianapolis, IN, third edition, 1993. Translated by J. W. Ellington.

[Mil15a]

J. S. Mill. On liberty. In Philp and Rosen [PR15].

[Mil15b]

J. S. Mill. Utilitarianism. In Philp and Rosen [PR15].

[Nie89]

F. Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo. Vintage Books, New York, 1989. Translated by W. Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale. Edited, with Commentary, by W. Kaufmann.

[PR15]

M. Philp and F. Rosen, editors. J. S. Mill: On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Other Essays. Oxford University Press, New York, 2015.

Preliminary term schedule

Week 1

Introduction: Secular foundations of the state, Epistle to the Romans; [Hob92], chs. 1-4

Week 2

[Hob92], chs. 6, 10-13

Week 3

[Hob92], chs. 14-16

Week 4

[Hob92], chs. 17, 18, 20

Week 5

[Hob92], chs. 21, 24-26

Week 6

[Hob92], chs. 28, 30, 31, 32

Week 7

[Hob92], chs. 33, 35, 41, 43, 45, 46

Week 8

[Hum83], 13-16, [Kan93], 49-50; Midterm essay I

Week 9-10

[Mil15b], ch. II

Week 11-12

[Mil15b], ch. V

Week 13

[Mil15a], ch. II

Week 14

[Mil15a], ch. IV, [Nie89], 24-27; Midterm essay II

Exam week

Final exam

Requirements

Midterm essay I and II

Students will write two in-class essays (open book).

Final exam

Students will sit an in-class final exam (open book).

Participation

Students are strongly encouraged to take part in the in-class discussions. This includes asking meaningful questions, however trivial they might seem. Random quizzes may be administered. Their grades will contribute to the participation grade.

Etiquette

Please make sure to join the class on time. Note that latecomers will not be allowed into class, including those that are late from the break. This rule will be strictly enforced throughout the semester. No electronic devices are allowed in class without an explicit leave by the lecturer.

Grading

The grades will have the following weight:

Midterm essay I		26%
Midterm essay II		26%
Final exam		32%
Class participation		16%

Your essay, final exam, and participation grades will take the following values: 100, 99, 90, 84, 70, 59, 10, 0. These values roughly correspond to the Bilkent percentage scale:

Numerical scale (%)		Letter scale
95 - 100		A
90 - 94		A-
86 - 89		B+
82 - 85		B
78 - 81		B-
74 - 77		C+
70 - 73		C
67 - 69		C-
63 - 66		D+
59 - 62		D
00 - 58		F

Your final letter grade for the whole course will be the arithmetical average of the final grades received for the Philosophy and English parts of the course (according to the conversion table above).

---

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 4.16.