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2019　Philosophy A

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Academic unit or major
Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s)
Kokubun Koichiro 
Class Format
Lecture     
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
Mon5-6(S011)  
Group
-
Course number
LAH.H101
Credits
1
Academic year
2019
Offered quarter
4Q
Syllabus updated
2019/3/18
Lecture notes updated
2019/11/12
Language used
Japanese
Access Index

Course description and aims

What is most important in leaning philosophy is to know what specific problem a philosopher in question was faced with and what concept he created to overcome the problem. Philosophers are enthusiastic about explaining their own concepts. But as for their problems, it is not always the case with them. Just as we cannot fully explain the motive for our own conducts, philosophers cannot fully explain what problem forces them to think. Therefore we, readers, in place of them, have to reconstruct the philosophers’ problems to understand what they say. In this course, we will do this work in learning early modern political thoughts. Philosopher of this period will be dealt with such as Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume and Immanuel Kant.
The course’s main subject is State. It is quite difficult to define what State is in general. But it is feasible to give an adequate definition of the state as is known to us very well: the modern state. The course particularly focuses on the notions of “Nature”, “Executive powers” and “Sovereignty” as its components. These notions contain so many ideas and opinions that modern political philosophy has formed and that should be carefully explained. You should not forget that to think about the modern state is to think about the very political regime where you live now, which means that, through this course, you will be able to have an essential knowledge to understand today’s politics or political economy. You will also acquire a basic knowledge about modern philosophy.

Student learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to understand major ideas of modern political philosophy and look at today's society with a critical eye.

Keywords

Political philosophy, social contract, sovereignty, modern state, natural right, executive powers.

Competencies that will be developed

✔ Specialist skills ✔ Intercultural skills Communication skills ✔ Critical thinking skills Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

The class will be conducted in a lecture format. At every session, handout will be provided.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Introduction: difference bewteen modern state and its predecessor. Understand the difference between feudal state and modern sovereign state.
Class 2 Hobbes: logical explanation of the genesis of war. Understand the concept of state of nature.
Class 3 Spinoza: notion of radicalized natural right. Understand the cocept of natural right.
Class 4 Locke: fiction of modern sovereignty theory. Understand the potential dangerous character of executive powers.
Class 5 Rousseau: completion of modern political philosophy. Understand the main points of the theory of modern democracy.
Class 6 Midterm review of the course and exam. Revise the first half of the course.
Class 7 Hume: criticism of modern natural right theory. Understand problems of modern natural right theory and institutionalist theory.
Class 8 Kant: history and pacifism. Understand the reason why the notion of history was put into political philosophy.

Textbook(s)

Koichiro KOKUBUN, Modern Political Philosophy: Nature, Sovereignty, Executive Powers, Chikuma Shinsho, 2015.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

At every session, printed handout will be provided.

Assessment criteria and methods

Students' course scores are based on midterm (50%) and final exam (50%).

Related courses

  • LAH.H201 ： Philosophy B
  • LAH.H301 ： Philosophy C

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Curiosity!

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