A comparative reading of Hegel's Philosophy of Right in relation to Marx's 1843 critique (first published in 1927), with both set against the background of social contract theory as developed by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

These theories are important in their own right as central chapters in the history of modern philosophy in general and political philosophy in particular. But the multidimensional debate and dialogue they represent when taken together is of lively relevance to contemporary conversations about the meaning, the legitimacy, and the viability of the liberal, capitalist state.

Close attention will be given to methodological issues relating to the nature of dialectic, holism, and idealism/materialism. Substantive issues will include the contractual basis of the liberal state, the relation of civil society to the state, and the nature of human freedom.

Required texts:

Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Hackett
Rousseau, Basic Political Writings, Hackett
Hegel, Philosophy of Right, Oxford (Knox translation)
Marx, Early Writings, Random House
Westphal, Hegel, Freedom, and Modernity, SUNY