No classes on Wednesday (November 30, 2011)

We will not meet on Wednesday since it is a regular holiday, to commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio.We'll meet on Friday, December 2. Thanks!

The Republic: Guardians

Ruth Denise Z. Mariano
2010-79008
WFY


focusing on "The Republic" by Plato who suggested that the Guardians must not own a private property and they shouldn't possess gold and silver so that they may not become tyrants. Was this ever applied in Athens or anywhere in Greece? If yes, what were its effects? If it was never applied, why is that?


Source:

Curtis M. (1981). The Republic: The Great Political Theories. Published by Avon Books, New York.

Rebuplic vs. Democracy

To what I understand about the difference of the Republic kind of government from democracy during the first meeting, a person is chosen as a leader because he possesses the trait that the citizens think what a leader should have. These two types of government have differences in its voting procedure but how does their governing differ from one another? To the Greeks who were democratic and to the Romans who were Republics, which one do you think had a better government?

Class Syllabus

Social Science II                                                                      Dr. Francisco Nemenzo

2^nd Semester, 2011-2012                                                         Professor Emeritus

Syllabus

          Social Science II is a survey course of the most important ideas of the political philosophers listed in the departmental syllabus. You will learn more that. Knowing what these great thinkers said is not enough. We cannot fully appreciate the power of their ideas if taken out of historical context. A good dictionary supplies simple definitions of the terms they popularized; but even the best dictionary does not reconstruct the circumstances that gave rise to them and the nuances ascribed by later commentators, politicians and activists who appropriated their philosophers.

          Political philosophies are considered “great” which influenced the thinking of a significant number of people and triggered some momentous events. In this class we shall study also their ideological and practical consequences. To grasp their continuing relevance, we shall, furthermore, reflect upon their use in contemporary political discourse.

Since it was included in the UP General Education Program, Social Science II discussed selected political thinkers one-by-one, in chronological order. In this class we shall focus, instead, on key issues in the history of political thought and see how they have been formulated, disputed, revised, and enriched.

          Below is the list of issues we shall discuss and the political thinkers who contributed in the debates. Attached is a bibliography of the major works of these political philosophers. Since these works are acclaimed “classics”, they have been published in various editions and translations. For this reason, the bibliography only mentions the authors and titles (omitting their publishers, places of publication and dates of publication).

          I do not prescribe a textbook. I will try to convince you to read the originals. If that is too much to ask in a one semester course, I recommend Michael Curtis’ compilations of excerpts from the original works: The Great Political Theories, volumes 1 and 2, and The Nature of Politics.

Issues in Political Theory

1.    Democracy

a.    Plato

b.    Aristotle

c.    Marx

d.    Locke

2.    Equality

a.    Plato

b.    Aristotle

c.    Rousseau

d.    Marx

3.    The community

a.    Aristotle

b.    Rousseau

c.    Engels

4.    The nation-state

a.    Bodin

b.    Machiavelli

5.    The empire

a.    Cicero

b.    Marx

c.    Lenin

6.    Church and state

a.    Augustine

b.    Aquinas

c.    Bodin

d.    Hobbes

e.    Locke

7.    Morality and raison détat

a.    Augustine

b.    Machiavelli

8.    Authoritarianism

a.    Hobbes

b.    Lee Kuan Yew

c.    Marcos

9.    Political liberalism

a.    Mill

b.    Locke

10. Anarchism

a.    Bakunin

b.    Proudhon

c.    Marx

11. Economic liberalism (laissez faire)

a.    Smith

b.    Friedman

12. The socialist challenge

a.    Marx and Engels

b.    Lenin

c.    Stalin

d.    Mao

e.    Guevara

13. The Keynesian compromise

a.    Keynes

b.    Crossland

14. Globalization: the current debate between neo-liberals, Keynesians, and socialists