Earlham College, Fall Semester 2003-2004
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:00-11:50, Carpenter 321
Instructor: Ferit Güven
Office: Carpenter 328
Office Hours: Monday 1:00-2:00, Wednesday 2:30-3:30, and by appointment
Office Phone: 983-1399 (voice mail)
e-mail: guvenfe@earlham.edu
http://www.earlham.edu/~guvenfe/

Course Description: This seminar concentrates on questions of peace and justice from a philosophical perspective.  We will have two connected goals in this course:  First, we will try to understand the fundamental questions of philosophy and how they relate to politics, society, culture, and our everyday life in general.  Second, we will concentrate on the connection of philosophy to peace and justice.  What do we mean when we use the concepts "justice" and "peace"?  How do they differ from their opposites (injustice and war)?  What are the presuppositions of our desire to live in a peaceful and just society or world?  Does philosophy help us to achieve peace and justice?  In trying to answer these questions we will try to understand the difficulties as well as the philosophical problems associated with peace and justice issues.  Through philosophical reflection we will see how questions of peace and justice are not merely pragmatic problem-solving issues, but require extensive conceptual clarity and historical sensitivity.
    We will start with a text from Ancient Greek Philosophy. Plato's Republic is one of the most important texts of the history of philosophy, where he develops the argument that a person cannot be just unless she or he lives in a just society.  The relationship between the individual and society will be a question throughout the rest of the course, and  explain our desire for justice and peace.  Next, we will read Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, which is an example of the Enlightenment’s idea of morality based on individuality and human reason.  We will continue with Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace", in which Kant envisages a “perpetual peace” based on human reason, a fundamental assumption of modernity.  After Kant we will read The Communist Manifesto, where Marx presents a critique of modernity and predicates the possibility of peace upon justice formulated in terms of class struggle.  For Marx, the individual is not a free moral subject engaged in producing peace and justice, but a product of the class to which he or she belongs.  After Marx, we will read Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition.  Next we will read Frantz Fanon and raise the question whether it is possible to achieve justice without violence and if not what are the consequences of this impossibility.  Finally, we will focus on Michel Foucault's book The History of Sexuality to question the traditional understanding of the relationship between the society and the individual.
    This course will not discuss the ideas or opinions of philosophers in an abstract fashion. Since its inception philosophy has been much more than an academic discipline.  Philosophizing is mainly a way of living.  Thus, philosophy is not an "abstract" discourse; rather, it has important implications for our lives. This does not mean, however, that we will reduce philosophy to our own ideas and opinions. Instead, we will try to rethink our lives in terms of philosophical discourse.  This will require a close reading of and a thoughtful engagement with the texts.  

Required Texts: (available in the Earlham College bookstore)
Plato, Republic, trans. G.M.A Grube, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1992)
Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1981)
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, (New York: Signet Classic, 1998)
Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998)
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, (New York: Grove Press, 1963)
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: Introduction, (New York: Vintage Books, 1976)

In addition to these texts, there will be some reading material placed on reserve at the Lilly Library.

Reading Assignments:
The amount of reading you will be doing throughout the semester is not much. Therefore, I expect you to read every text assigned for the week very carefully at least twice. As you will see, some of the passages we will read are very difficult. An important aim of this class is to learn how to read and think about a text.

Course Requirement and Evaluation:
You are expected to write four 5-6 page papers: I will provide paper topics for each assignment. You are also allowed to decide on your own topic provided that you discuss your topic with me at least a week before the deadline. Along with the paper topics I will also provide specific guidelines for each topic. Besides this, for every paper (including papers on topics of your own choice) you are responsible for following the general guidelines that will be provided.

For each week, two students will work together in order to prepare a two paged (single-spaced) protocol of the material discussed during the previous week. A protocol is a carefully edited summary of the previous class sessions written in full sentences. Protocols will be photocopied by the student who wrote it and handed out to all students at the beginning of each Monday to be read aloud, and will serve as a cumulative record of the course. The students who prepare the protocol should come to class a couple of minutes early, so that the protocols will have been distributed at the beginning of the class (i.e., at 11:00). In addition to reviewing the material covered in the previous class, the protocol should include questions raised in class, and future questions for the material to come. The best protocols will be those that do not simply reproduce word for word everything that was said during class, but those that rearrange the material thematically, editing out what was unimportant, and emphasizing what was significant. The point of this is not only to get you to work together, but also to allow you to think during class, and not just take notes; because someone will be taking notes for you, you can concentrate on the ideas being presented, and participate without having to write frantically. Also you will have a summary of every class which will help you with writing papers and studying for quizzes.

There will be announced or unannounced quizzes either at the beginning or at the end of the sessions. There will be no make-ups for the quizzes.
There will be no final examination!
Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution:
Paper I: 20%,
Paper II: 20%,
Paper III: 20%,
Paper IV: 20%
Protocol: 10%,
Quizzes, Class Participation and Attendance: 10%.

Participation and Attendance:
Even though participation counts for only 10% of your grade, it may still mean a lot if you are between two grades, e.g., A and A-. However, I expect you to participate not simply for the sake of your grade, but hopefully because you will be interested in what will be discussed in class. The success of this course depends on your contribution. You need to come to class prepared (having read the assigned readings, and ready to answer questions) and ready to participate in the discussions.

If you miss more than six classes you will fail this course regardless of your grade.

Our sessions will start at 11:00 am. Students are expected to come on time. Walking in and out of the classroom while the session is in progress is extremely disruptive for everybody. I ask you not to do these. I will mark late students absent, and reduce their grade.

Office hours are for students to discuss ideas, assignments and questions. You are encouraged and welcome to come by my office or make appointments for times other than scheduled office hours. You should take advantage of office hours and appointments not simply to discuss your papers (you are obviously welcome to do that too) but also to understand ideas, and texts discussed in class.

Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and Disability Services Office (Academic Support Services) at the beginning of the semester. Accommodation arrangements must be made during the first-two weeks of the semester.

Calendar:
There may be some modifications to this calendar. It is your responsibility to be aware of these changes. These changes will be announced in class. If you miss a class you should make sure that you are informed about the assignments for the next session.

Week 1:
August 27: Introduction
August 29: Plato, Republic, Book 1

Week 2:
September 1: Plato, Republic, Book 2
September 3: Plato, Republic, Book 3
September 5: Plato, Republic, Book 4

Week 3:
September 8: Plato, Republic, Book 5
September 10: Plato, Republic, Book 6
September 12: Plato, Republic, Book 7

Week 4:
September 15: Plato, Republic, Book 8
September 17: Plato, Republic, Book 9
September 19: Plato, Republic, Book 10 and Review

Week 5:
September 22: Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Preface and First Section; 1st Paper due
September 24: Kant, Grounding, First Section
September 26: Kant, Grounding, First and Second Sections

Week 6:
September 29: Kant, Grounding, Second Section
October 1: Kant, Grounding, Second Section
October 3: Kant, Grounding, Second and Third Sections

Week 7:
October 6: Kant, Grounding, Third Section
October 8: Kant, Grounding, Third Section and Review
October 10: Midsemester Break

Week 8:
October 13: Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 49-65
October 15: Marx, The Communist Manifesto, pp. 65-91
October 17: Marx, The Communist Manifesto and Review

Week 9:
October 20: Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition; 2nd Paper due
October 22: Arendt, The Human Condition
October 24: Arendt, The Human Condition

Week 10:
October 27: Arendt, The Human Condition
October 29: Arendt, The Human Condition
October 31: Arendt, The Human Condition and Review

Week 11:
November 3: Fanon, “Concerning Violence,” pp. 35-95
November 5: Fanon, “Concerning Violence,” pp. 35-95 and “Violence in the International Context,” pp. 95-106
November 7: Fanon, “Violence in the International Context,” pp. 95-106, and Review

Week 12:
November 10: Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality
November 12: Foucault, The History of Sexuality
November 14: Foucault, The History of Sexuality

Week 13:
November 17: Foucault, The History of Sexuality; 3rd Paper due
November 19: Foucault, The History of Sexuality
November 21: Foucault, The History of Sexuality

November 24 -November 28: Thanksgiving Break

Week 14:
December 1: Review
December 3: Review
December 5: Review

Week 15:
December 8: Review and Evaluations
December 10: Review and Evaluations; 4th Paper due

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