Contemporary Political Philosophy

 

PHM 4340-002;  Time – 2.00-3.15pm    Monday & Wednesday

Instructor - Sudarsan Padmanabhan [Sudha]

Office – FAO 212 [Dept of Philosophy]

Phone: 974-5946

Email – padmanab@helios.acomp.usf.edu

Office hours – Tuesday & Thursday – 11.00 am – 12.00 pm

 

Required Texts

 

Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger, Ed., Liberalism at the Crossroads, London: Rowman & Littlefield publishers, 1994.

 

Stephen Turner, Liberal Democracy 3.0, London: Sage publications, 2003.

 

Day of class                                                    Reading Assignment

 

August 25                                                         General Introduction

 

August 27                                                         John Rawls

 

Sept 1                                                              Labor Day Holiday

 

Sept 3                                                              Robert Nozick

 

Sept 8                                                              Alasdair Macintyre

 

Sept 10                                                            Joseph Raz

 

Sept 15                                                            William Galston

 

Sept 17                                                            Richard Rorty

 

Sept 22                                                            Liberal Democracy Chapter 1

 

Sept 24                                                            Chap 2 [pp. 18-32]

 

Sept 29                                                            pp. 33-45

 

Oct 1                                                               Chap 3 [pp. 46-60]

 

Oct 3                                                               pp. 61-70

 

Oct 8                                                               Chap 4 [pp. 71-85]

 

Oct 10                                                             pp. 85 – 96

 

Oct 15                                                             Chap 5 [pp. 97 – 108]

 

Oct 17                                                             pp. 108 – 117

 

Oct 22                                                             pp. 117 – 127

 

Oct 24                                                             Chap 6 [pp. 129 – 143]

 

Oct 29                                                             Electronic reserves TBA

 

Oct 31                                                             TBA

 

Nov 2                                                              Gandhi

 

Nov 7                                                              TBA

 

Nov 9                                                              TBA

 

Nov 14                                                                        TBA

 

Nov 16                                                                        TBA

 

Nov 21                                                                        Presentations

 

Nov 23                                                                        Presentations

 

Nov 28                                                                        Presentations

 

Nov 30                                                                        Presentations

 

Dec 2                                                                           Presentations

 

Grading

 

Attendance – 20%

Final Paper - 50% [8 – 10 pages with notes and references]

Presentation – 10%

Quiz             - 20%

 

The presentation will be on the topic of final paper. You can choose the topic relevant to the subject matter discussed in class. There will be a quiz per month. The quiz is open book in-class quiz.