Philosophy 476 Summer 1995
    (At the University of Waterloo; Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1)
                            June 19-July 26

         The Moral and Political Outlook of Classical Liberalism

Note:         This is a full-term course, taught at double intensity for a
              half-term.

Professor:    Jan Narveson, Department of Philosophy

Eligibility:  Any major or honours student in philosophy, political science,
              or economics; other students with good grade records and
              advanced standing (3rd year or greater. Graduate students
              welcome.) Inquiries from others welcome.

Meetings:     Monday & Wednesday, 9:30-12:30 (with break in middle)
              Discussion/Lecture classes.  Room: HH 150

  Readings Selections from Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Smith, Marx,
Spooner, von Mises, Nielsen, Sterba, other Egalitarians; Julian Simon,
Bruce Benson, Narveson; Gauthier, de Jasay, Schmidtz, Murray. Medium
reading load (50-100 pp./wk for the 6 weeks)

Written Work: A weekly quiz or short take-home assignment (10% each); a
              final take-home exam/essay (40%).

Extended Description:
=====================
  Philosophy, history, law, economics, and political science are integrated
in this intensive presentation of the social & political outlook of classic
liberalism. However, it is largely a conceptual exploration and only
secondarily historical. Individual rights, private property, and free
markets are the hallmarks of this extraordinarily important and
historically influential outlook on society. The background, foreground,
reasoning for, and interrelations among these notions will all be explored
in this high-density course.

  Individual Rights. The theory of rights for the individual goes back to
classical antiquity, but comes into its own in the writings of Hobbes and
Locke in the 17th Century, who in different ways developed the theory of
the Social Contract. These are carefully explored in the light of
contemporary philosophical and economic analysis, using modern decision and
probability theory. Recent writers, such as David Gauthier and Anthony de
Jasay,  have expounded this theory with sophistication and ingenuity.

  Free Market Economics. Closely associated with individual rights and
private property is the free market, whose theory was classically expounded
by Adam Smith in the 18th Century, and has been explored further by many
other famed economic thinkers, including John Stuart Mill and, in this
century, Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School, among many others.
Economics liberalism is basic to the social theory, and explored carefully
(if briefly). Of special importance is the theory of "Public goods", which
is intensively studied in the light of recent analysts such as Anthony de
Jasay and David Schmidtz. Examples such as that of pollution, and more
generally from the environmental area, are explored.

  Law. The legal theory associated with classical liberalism goes back to
Natural Rights and Natural Law ideas from the medieval and earlier eras; it
is explored with special reference to the possibility of applying free
market concepts to the law, in the light of recent explorations by writers
such as Catherine Valcke and Bruce Benson.

  Democracy. The other prominent contemporary institution of our age -
democracy - also has conceptual roots going back to classical antiquity,
and was expounded by Locke, by the American founding fathers, Madison,
Jefferson, and others, and by John Stuart Mill in the 19th Century. It was
also the subject of intensive empirical and critical study by Alexander de
Tocqueville in the 19th C., and by recent political analysts, notably the
Public Choice school, as represented by the Nobel Prize-winning economist
James Buchanan. Our course will discuss the many problems of democratic
theory and its bearing on individual rights and the problem of
constitutionalism.

  Socialism and Welfarism. Classical liberalism gave way, in the 20th
century, to Welfare Liberalism and assorted versions of Egalitarianism,
both of which have affinities with Socialism. We will look at the theory of
socialism as expounded by Marx, at sample current literature purporting to
support welfarism, and at the problems of the welfare state as discussed
both empirically and theoretically by important recent researchers such as
Charles Murray and Richard Wagner.

  In the process, a general view of liberalism and its underpinnings will
emerge. A clear definition of liberalism, a straightforward statement of
its leading principle, an argument for its general correctness for social
and political questions, and considerably exposition of its implications
for many such questions, will emerge in this course.
  The result offers an important and interesting challenge to the politics
of the present day, and should greatly help any student interested in
understanding the philosophical currents of today's public controversies.

  The course meets on the campus of the University of Waterloo, laid out on
a pleasant, well-treed rolling campus with a stream dividing it. Pleasant
rooms are available in the Church Colleges at the University, convenient to
classrooms and within walking distance of the dowtown area of Waterloo.
Opportunities for cultural entertainment, movies, and so on are extensive
in the medium-sized urban area (metropolitan population of about 300,000)
of Kitchener-Waterloo in south central Ontario. The major metropolis of
Toronto is just over an hour's drive, and Buffalo just under two hours
away. Niagara Falls is about an hour and a half, and lakes Ontario, Erie,
and Huron are all within ready driving distance.

__________________________________________________________________________
Jan Narveson (Professor)
Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo;
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1
(519) 888-4567-1-2780# (from touch-tone); or 885-1211, ext. 2780 (via
switchboard); FAX (519) 746-3097 Home: (519) 886-1673 (answering machine)
e-mail: jnarveso@watarts.UWaterloo.ca