POLS 550: Basic Problems in Ancient
Political Philosophy: Thucydides and the Realist Tradition
Northern Illinois University
Department of Political Science
Spring 2007
Professor Radasanu
Office: Zulauf 408
Phone Number: 753-7052
Email Address: aradasanu@niu.edu
Office Hours: Mondays
12:30pm-1:30pm; Tuesdays 2pm-3pm; Wednesdays 12:30pm-1:30pm.
Class Time: Tuesday
3:30-6:10PM
Classroom: DU 464
Course Description:
In this seminar, we will endeavor to
understand Thucydides’ teaching on justice and necessity in politics, and
especially in international relations. We will keep in mind the tradition of
realism in international relations theory as we conduct a close analysis of the
text. While Thucydides has been appropriated by many modern day realists, it is
not clear that his realism is of the same order as theirs. In order to see if
this is so, we will have to ask deeper questions still: Is Thucydides a
political historian or a political philosopher? On what basis, if any, does he
condemn injustice in politics and war? How does Thucydides conceive of human excellence, and what is the relationship of
political life to human excellence?
Required Texts:
Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Use The
Landmark Thucydides, ed. Robert B. Strassler, New York: Simon and
Schuster/Touchstone Books, 1998.
Literal
translation of selected passages from above text (by Thomas Pangle). Photocopy available at the Village
Bookstore.
Forde, Steven. “International Realism and the Science of
Politics: Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Neorealism,” International Studies Quarterly 39:2 (June 1995), p. 141-160.
Johnson Bagby, Laurie. The Use and Abuse of Thucydides,” International Organization 48 (Winter
1994), pp. 131-153.
The two
articles cited above are found on JSTOR and are required for the first class of
term.
Recommended Readings/Select
Bibliography:
Ahrensdorf, Peter. “Thucydides’ Realistic
Critique of Realism.” Polity
30 (1997): 231-65.
--- “The Fear of Death and the
Longing for Immorality: Hobbes and Thucydides on Human Nature and the Problem
of Anarchy.” American Political Science Review 94 (2000): 579-93.
Bartlett, Robert C. The Idea
of Enlightenment: A Post-Mortem Study. Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 2001.* (On Thucydides: pp. 67-105).
Bruell, Christopher. “Thucydides’ View of
Athenian Imperialism.” American Political Science Review 68 (1974):
11-17.
---- “Thucydides and Perikles.” St. Johns Review
32:1 (1981): 24-29.
Connor, W.R. Thucydides.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Doyle, Michael, “Thucydidean Realism,” Review of International Studies 16 (July 1990), p. 223-238.
Edmunds, Lowell. Chance and Intelligence in Thucydides.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975.
Forde, Steven P. The Ambition to Rule. Alcibiades and Athens in Thucydides'
History. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1989.
__. "Varieties of Realism: Thucydides and
Machiavelli." Journal of
Politics 54 (1992) 372-93.
Garst, Daniel, “Thucydides and Neo-Realism,” International
Studies Quarterly 33 (March 1989), pp. 3-28.
Gustafson, Lowell S., ed. Thucydides'
Theory of International Relations. A Lasting Possession.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000.
Hobbes, Thomas. “Of the Life and History
of Thucydides” (The famous intro. to Hobbes’s translation.).
Johnson Bagby, Laurie M. Thucydides, Hobbes, and the Interpretation of Realism. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1993.
Kagan, Donald. The
Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War; The
Archidamian War; The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition;
The Fall of the Athenian Empire. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, 1969-1981.
Lebow, Richard Ned and Barry S.
Strauss, ed. Hegemonic Rivalry from Thucydides to
the Nuclear Age. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1991.
Orwin, Clifford. The Humanity of Thucydides. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2d. Ed., 1997.
Palmer, Michael. Love of Glory and the Common Good. Aspects of the Political Thought of
Thucydides. Lanhan,
MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1992.
Price, Jonathan. Thucydides and Internal War. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2001.
Romilly, Jacqueline de. Thucydides
and Athenian Imperialism. Translated by
Philip Thody. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1963.
Strauss, Leo. The
City and Man [1964]. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1978.
Formal Requirements and Basis of
Grading:
· Attendance and class
participation: 10%
· One page papers (300
words maximum length), due at the beginning of each class except the first and
last of each term, on question assigned previous class (13 papers; 30% of
grade; late papers not accepted).
· Term paper; topic
choices provided; 3000 words; due on the last class of term (60%).
Expectations of Students:
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Students are expected to show evidence at each class
meeting of having
read the text to be covered
that day. You should at least be able to
give an account, either
when called upon or by your own questions, of
the surface of what is
said. It is even better to show that you have seen
relationships among different parts
of the text and can raise intelligent
questions about what the text
seems to mean or whether what it seems
to mean makes sense,
either in itself or in relation to the text's
apparent meaning elsewhere.
Students should be prepared to be
interrogated and be able to answer
questions put by the professor in a
manner that is both
thoughtful and to the point. Students should also be prepared to present their
one-page papers to the class without advance warning.
GRADING
To earn an A in the course, both active and
thoughtful participation and excellent written work will be required. The
written assignments will be on assigned topics (unless the student secures
permission from the professor to do otherwise); A’s are earned when compelling
interpretations are provided (and expressed clearly) in response to the
assigned topics.
INCOMPLETES
Incompletes are given only for unforeseeable events
which make
impossible completion of the
course work by the end of the semester.
Students are responsible for informing the professor
of such events,
and for securing her
consent to an incomplete, as promptly as
possible.
CLASS SCHEDULE
The following is intended only as an approximate
schedule. Since one
cannot predict what parts of
the Thucydides we may wish to explore in
greater depth, it is uncertain
precisely how long we will spend on
each book. We will move
along in a timely fashion, but we may be detained at certain points longer than
at others. Students are responsible for knowing what material will be covered
in each class.
(TENTATIVE) CLASS SHEDULE:
|
January 16 |
Thucydides, Book One, chapter 1-23 |
|
January 23 |
Thucydides, Book One, Chapters 24-88 |
|
January 30 |
Thucydides, Book One, Chapters 89-146; Book Two, Chapters 1-33 |
|
February 6 |
Thucydides, Book Two, Chapters 34-103 |
|
February 13 |
Thucydides, Book Three, Chapters 1-50 |
|
February 20 |
Thucydides, Book Three, Chapters 51-114 |
|
February 27 |
Thucydides, Book Four, Chapters 1-64 |
|
March 6 |
Thucydides, Book Four, Chapters 65-135 |
|
March 13 |
Spring Break – No class |
|
March 20 |
Thucydides, Book Five |
|
March 27 |
Thucydides, Book Five |
|
April 3 |
Thucydides, Book Six |
|
April 10 |
Thucydides, Book Six |
|
April 17 |
Thucydides, Book Seven |
|
April 24 |
Thucydides, Book Seven |
|
May 1 |
Thucydides, Book Eight |