Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

Philosophy 201

Introduction to Political Philosophy

Winter 2020

 

Course Description:  Any attempt at a definition for the field of political philosophy demands great care. How we frame what we are here to study can very easily contain assumptions that are controversial and whose inclusion leaves out other perspectives that desire to make a case for themselves. For example, if we restricted the study of political philosophy to questions about the institutional state or of governments, then we would be prejudging against those perspectives that hold that the ideal political situation entails the absence of a government. Even considering political philosophy to be most essentially a subspecies of the field of moral philosophy and ethics generally has its opponents. There are many views that seem to clearly be a part of this discussion, and yet it is difficult to frame how they all join in the same conversation in a way that isn’t either prejudiced or empty. This danger might motivate despair that we should attempt any such universal definition at all.

                On the other hand, however, avoiding such a definition would be unwise since we will have a conception of how to frame the debate regardless of whether we articulate it or not. By articulating it, we render it available for critical analysis, and so I humbly submit my own attempt to frame the field as fairly as possible, offering it as a sort of philosophical “confession”.

                Political philosophy is concerned with the understanding, evaluation, and envisioning of the models for how persons ought to exist and act in a society with others. This makes it a normative field of study, where the main goal is to produce prescriptive guidelines that, when applied, will translate into recommendations for particular actions by individuals and conventional rules for institutions. Thus, the tl;dr version of this definition is that political philosophy is the study of social justice (given a suitably broad definition of social justice). In this class we will not be focusing as closely to the debates around particular policy proposals or restricting our imaginations to the existing form of domestic and international civics. Rather we will be aiming to engage with the controversies that concern the most fundamental principles and values that would justify any stance on those more particular debates. We will certainly not refrain from allowing the specificity and particularness of circumstance and history to inform this inquiry however!

                Given that this definition places the spotlight on social relationships, there is a way in which it is true to say everything is political. Every aspect of our lives is available to be thought of in terms of how it is a part of the way we affect or are affected by others. Whether we should build such minutia into something like the apparatus of a legal institution is a subject for dystopian novels, but setting those scenarios to the side it can still be instructive to recognize that this opportunity, this affordance for political significance, is part of why the field produces such a range of perspectives. At the same time however, it is worth remembering that to reduce the meaning and significance of things to their political dimension would be a highly controversial reduction that few political philosophies actually attempt. The territory this class aims at is (merely!) the attempt to understand the nature of this unavoidable facet of our existence.

 

Instructor:                           Tim Linnemann

timbcphilosophy@gmail.com

tim.linnemann@bellevuecollege.edu

206-919-6934

Office Hours: M/T/W/Th/F 11:30-12:25

 

These office hours are only the most protected times I am available. Most of the time you can meet with me with no warning or appointment in advance. Just call or text me anytime and if I’m free, I’d love to talk with you! Evenings and weekends are ok too.

 

 

Text:                                      All readings will be available electronically. I will be emailing attachments with the reading selections which you can then print at your discretion.

 

Objectives & Outcomes: This class is setting some very high ambitions in terms of providing a deep and detailed introduction to political philosophy. Yet it will be still acknowledging that it is a mere introduction. We will explore many of the ideas, questions, concerns, and proposals that populate this world in the hope and with the goal that you will leave the class more empowered and equipped to continue your exploration of politics (whether that is as a formal student of the field or just in your life as a member of society). A main component of this project is to increase your “conceptual vocabulary” so that you can listen with understanding to the views of others and to empower you to formulate and articulate your own perspectives with others, especially those you disagree with. As aforementioned, a sensitivity to the diversity of views and an ability to understand what is behind the disagreements present between them will also be a point of emphasis. In short, we will be diving into the deep end of the pool and attempting to absorb as much as is possible in a three-month introduction.

 

Grading:                              Class Participation/Attendance  25% (see note below!)

                                                Journal Entries                                  15%

                                                Writing Assignments (2)                40% (30/10% respectively)

                                                Reading Comments                         20%

 

 

Reading Comments: These assignments will be composed of at least 3 questions or comments you have prepared for class discussion. There will be one reading comment assignment linked to every individual reading we’ll cover (with the occasional extra assignment for our very long readings that cover more days). Consider them as possible contributions you’d make in class – so about as much as you’d say if you raised your hand in class to ask a question or respond to an idea being presented. Another analogy to help you think about what I’m looking for here would be to just transcribe the kinds of things you might write in the margins as notes to yourself as you’re working through the reading. Comments on a reading will be due on the day we are planning to begin covering that reading. I want these in hardcopy (typed or handwritten), turned in at the beginning of the class. These do not need to be extensively explained, but they should be pursued thoughtfully. Nor is it required that you actually share these contributions in class discussion, but the hope is that in doing these short assignments as you work through the reading, you may find it easier to make contributions in our class discussions since you already know what you’d want to say.

 

Journal Entries:                 Each week (with exceptions for the paper assignments) you will be asked to write a short (min 500 word) response paper on a topic being discussed during class the previous week. (Exception: for the first week’s journal I have a special prompt!) The journals are intended to be a forum for you to explore your ideas regarding the issues under consideration and have some practice in articulating them in an argumentative style. You will also be expected to include a short summary of the ideas you are responding to, so the journals will also help you get practice at quickly and accurately explaining the ideas of others. These are less formal then the writing assignments and will be graded only on a simple pass/fail/half system. I am willing to comment on journal entries if students are interested – let me know if you don’t want them! Journals are due on the Friday of each week (with some TBA exceptions I will indicate). Your journals can be submitted on our Canvas website.

There are three important instructions for these journals. First, just pick one thing to talk about – a claim, argument, position, etc. You don’t need to try to cover the entire week – don’t try! I prefer a deeper treatment of a smaller scope over a superficial treatment of a broad area. Second, the first half of your journal should be spent explaining the idea you want to discuss. Describe it as though you were presenting it to someone not in the class as much as possible. In other words, don’t write it for me! Be sure to not spend more than half the journal doing this. Lastly, the second half of the journal should see you responding to and evaluating the idea you presented. Tell us what you think of this idea – it is useful? Misguided? Needs fixing? Be sure to not just register your opinion, but to argue for it. Defend your stance as much as possible. This is the work of the philosopher and I’d like to see you getting into the game!

 

Papers:  You will have two papers assigned in the course of the quarter. The first will be a 2000 word minimum paper where you will discuss some issue or question in the world of political philosophy. It is crucial that your topic have room for legitimate rational disagreement (given our curriculum, there are no shortage of options here). The paper will require you to frame the debate, take a stance, and defend it (perhaps using sources). If you use them, I will expect that these sources will not be exclusively used to indicate the facts of the incident you are writing about, but that you will also be engaging with sources that argue for specific ethical evaluations of the issue you are discussing. In other words, you’ll need to be in conversation with voices who are doing exactly what you are doing – defending a position. Moreover, I’ll want to make sure you’re not only restricting yourself to sources that agree with you! And if you don’t use sources and instead rely on your own intellectual imagination, you’ll need to do the exact same sorts of things anyway in order to robustly represent your opponents in your discussion of your topic. I’ll be providing much more guidance in and out of class as we gear up for this assignment.

                The second paper will see you giving a critical response to the paper written by one of your classmates for the first assignment. This paper has only an 800-word min and is a response paper, so it won’t be worth as much of your final grade. The exchanges will be anonymous.

 

Class Participation:         I am making participation part of your final grade to emphasize the importance of philosophic engagement in its social dimension. I will be striving to create a classroom atmosphere where these debates can be pursued productively and comfortably, but I will need your help in realizing this project. Three things will be of particular advantage: mutual respect as a standard for discussion, careful listening, and critical engagement.

For our purposes, respect must not be a conclusion, but rather a premise. Disrespectful engagement is unprofessional and unphilosophical regardless of whether it is offensive. As an example, to consider a certain line of thinking as indicative of a lack of intelligence does nothing to provide a reasonable argument for why we should consider such reasoning philosophically problematic. The disrespectful attitude does nothing to add to the debate (whatever else it does contribute).

                Careful listening and critical engagement are very closely connected. To properly respond to an idea, one must first understand it as thoroughly as possible. But just understanding the point of someone’s idea is also not enough – we must analyze its virtues and deficiencies. Our discussions will always be oriented toward gauging the strength of proposed ideas, and in as much as we will contribute ideas of our own, we will be assessing how well our attempts fare as well. When engaging in this way with one another an open audience is as crucial as a critically invested audience – respect helps prepare us for both.

                Finally, back by popular demand, if you have 10 or more unexcused absences you will automatically fail the course! A lot of this course happens in the classroom, and you’ve got to show up!

 

Final Exam: Our final is scheduled for Wednesday, 3/18 from 9:30-11:30. We will use this time for an extra credit session.

 

 

 

BC Policies

 

Accessibility: The online elements of this course are designed to be welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including students who are English-language learners, have a variety of learning styles, have disabilities, or are new to online learning. Be sure to let me know immediately if you encounter a required element or resource in the course that is not accessible to you. Also, let me know of changes I can make to the course so that it is more welcoming to, accessible to, or usable by students who take this course in the future.

 

Student academic conduct: The principle of academic honesty underlies all that we do and applies to all courses at Bellevue College.  One kind of academic dishonesty is plagiarism, which may take many forms, including, but not limited to, using a paper written by someone else, using printed sources word-for-word without proper documentation, and paraphrasing or summarizing the ideas of others without acknowledging the source.  Plagiarism can also occur when non-written ideas are taken without documentation--using someone else's design or performance idea, for example.  In short, plagiarism is passing off someone else's ideas, words, or images as your own; it amounts to intellectual theft--whether or not it was your intention to steal.  Bellevue College instructors have access to commercial plagiarism detection software, so please be advised that any work you submit may be tested for plagiarism.

Participating in academic dishonesty in any way, including writing a paper or taking a test for someone else, may result in severe penalties.  Dishonestly produced papers automatically receive a grade of "F" without the possibility of make-up.  The Dean of Student Services will also be notified of such conduct, and repetition of the behavior will result in progressively more serious disciplinary action (for example, an instructor may recommend that the student fail the course for a second offense or even that a student be expelled for a serious offense, such as stealing an exam).

Grades lowered for plagiarism or other forms of dishonesty may be appealed through the regular channels, and any further disciplinary action taken by the Dean may also be appealed through existing processes.

Information about Bellevue College's copyright guidelines can be found at: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/id-3600 Links to an external site. and at: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/id-2050 Links to an external site.

 

BC’s Affirmation of Inclusion: Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination. We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect.

 

Values Conflicts: A liberal arts education requires that students be willing to engage with ideas and forms of expression that might conflict with their personal values. Students do not have to endorse or adopt ideas that conflict with their values, but they are expected to engage with them as part of the learning process. Some instructors may require that you read or view required texts (books, films, music videos, art work, etc.) that may offend you. If you decline to engage with material you consider offensive, that could affect your course grade, and the instructor is not required to give you an alternative assignment. If you have questions about this, please talk to your instructor (me!).

 

Disability Resource Center: The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible. 

If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.

If you are a student with a documented autism spectrum disorder, there is an additional access program available to you. Contact asn@bellevuecollege.edu or 425.564.2764. ASN is located in the Library Media Center in D125.  www.bellevuecollege.edu/autismspectrumnavigators/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Links to an external site.

 

The DRC office is located in B132 or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498. Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110. Please visit our website for application information into our program and other helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Links to an external site.

 

Religious Holidays: Students who expect to miss classes, examinations, or any other assignments because of their religious observance should be provided with a reasonable alternative opportunity to complete such academic responsibilities. It is the obligation of students to provide faculty with reasonable notice of the dates of religious holidays on which they will be absent, preferably at the beginning of the term. The Request for Accommodations for Reasons of Faith or Conscience Form Links to an external site. provides more information about and the steps to request this accommodation.

Students who are absent on days of examinations or class assignments should be offered an opportunity to make up the work without penalty (if they have previously arranged to be absent), unless it can be demonstrated that a makeup opportunity would constitute an unreasonable burden on a member of the faculty. Should disagreement arise over what constitutes an unreasonable burden or any element of this policy, parties involved should consult the department chair, or Dean.

Policy 2950 Accommodations for Reasons of Faith or Conscience Links to an external site. (http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/id-2950p-2/).

 

 

Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting: As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. It is my goal that you feel able to share information related to your life experiences in classroom discussions, in your written work, and in our one-on-one meetings. I will seek to keep information you share private to the greatest extent possible. However, I am required to share information regarding sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct (e.g. dating violence, domestic violence, stalking) that may have occurred on campus or that may impact someone on campus with the Title IX Coordinator. Students may speak to someone confidentially by contacting the BC Counseling Center at (425) 564-2212. The Title IX Office can be contacted at 425-564-2441 and more information can be found at www.bellevuecollege.edu/titleix/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Links to an external site..

 

 

Public Safety: Public Safety is located in the K building and can be reached at 425-564-2400 (easy to remember because it’s the only office on campus open 24 hours a day—2400).  Among other things, Public Safety serves as our Parking Permits, Lost and Found, and Emergency Notification center.  Please ensure you are signed up to receive alerts through our campus alerting system by registering at http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/alerts/?ref=footer (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Links to an external site.

If you work late and are uneasy about going to your car, Public Safety will escort you to your vehicle. To coordinate this, please phone ahead and let Public Safety know when and where you will need an escort.

Please familiarize yourself with the emergency postings by the door of every classroom and know where to go in the event of an evacuation.  Your instructor will be asked if anyone might still be in the building, so check in before you do anything else.  Emergency responders will search for anyone unaccounted for.

If a major emergency occurs, please follow these two rules:

1) Take directions from those in charge of the response - We all need to be working together.

2) Do not get in your car and leave campus (unless directed to) - Doing so will clog streets and prevent emergency vehicles from entering the scene.  Instead, follow directions from those in charge.

Please do not hesitate to call Public Safety if you feel safety questions or concerns at any time.

 

Annual Notice Non-Discrimination: Bellevue College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, language, ethnicity, religion, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, including gender identity or expression, disability, or age in its programs and activities. Please see policy 4150 at www.bellevuecollege.edu/policies/ Links to an external site.. The following people have been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator, 425-564-2641, Office C227, and EEOC/504 Compliance Officer, 425-564-2178, Office R130.

Equal Opportunity (http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/equal/ Links to an external site.)

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I reserve the right to make any changes to the course (content, grading, etc.). Further, I reserve the right to establish procedures for grading of students in exceptional cases. All and any modifications to this syllabus will be in accordance with the rules and regulations of Bellevue College. This syllabus does not constitute a contract between any combination of the student, the professor, or Bellevue College.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arts and Humanities Commitment to Student Growth and Development

 

This community is about learning and citizenship, responsibility and accountability, engagement with the world, and the maturing development of the self. Bellevue College is dedicated solely to the education of our students. In every aspect of their experience, we seek to provide students the opportunities, challenges, and support to prepare themselves for a life of personal success, engaged citizenship, and enjoyment of the world.

The community of a campus establishes a context for learning. It allows us to provide students a total liberal arts education that will help them develop the creative and critical thinking skills needed to be become resilient, independent, and self-sufficient adults.

Problem solving is a key feature of any meaningful educational experience. When allowed to work through the problems, students have opportunities to learn important skills of communication (e.g. how to voice a view and actively hear a different view), team work (e.g. working with others to identify problems, creatively develop solutions, and locate resources to implement ideas), and working across difference in a local and global context (how to work with those who are different than themselves, how to turn difference into a creative plus).

This means we allow students to struggle with problems and grope for answers. We strive not to "fix" things for students, thus depriving them of the valuable learning that comes of adversity. Instead, we will help them learn to use the extensive network of people and resources to solve problems for themselves. We think about this as "coaching" students.

We invite you, the student, to take an active role in this process and become adept at problem solving during your study at BC. We encourage you to partner with us in the following ways:

• Ask questions when you don’t understand or need assistance. Don’t assume instructors, staff or administrators know or will give the answers to unasked questions.
• Identify and use available resources (e.g. faculty, advisors, library), avoid requesting or allowing someone else to contact these resources for you.
• Understand that process is crucial in an educational environment. The quick fix often blunts the learning. Most often students benefit from developing strategies for accomplishing goals while outside of comfort zones. Learn to negotiate difference and to manage conflict.

 

Here’s what we will do to assist you in this process:

• We will make every college resource available to you to see that you meet the challenges of higher education and succeed to the best of your ability.
• We will address any question you might have about your work at BC with the intention of providing you the best response that the circumstances permit.
• We will discourage third parties (parents, spouses, friends) from slowing your growth and progress by responding only to direct inquiries from you, the student. We do this because we are committed to student self-advocacy and independence. We also do it because federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) mandates that we protect the privacy of student education records, and BC policy mandates that we keep academic performance as a matter between the institution and the student. Requests by students to include third parties in any instructor-student discussion of academic performance will be considered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the instructor.
• We will work together with you and the Office of the Disability Resource Center (DRC), where appropriate, to make your college experience successful.

As you begin this exciting time, we encourage you to think about the type of educational experience you hope takes places over the next few years. We hope you share our vision of the possibilities: that each of our graduates will be well-prepared to be active, engaged, and capable of making a difference in the world. That goal is best achieved when students make this education their own. It is also best achieved when we are comfortable allowing students to make mistakes, to struggle through issues, and to have the range of experiences needed to develop the skills, values, and habits of resilient, independent, and self-sufficient adults.