Spring 2025 seminars

For Berkeley students:  I will be offering two seminars in Spring 25.  For graduate students, the History of Political Thought seminar will be focusing on the theme of 'Social Contracts.'  In addition to the classic texts of the Social Contract Tradition by Grotius, Hobbes, Pufendorf, Locke, and Rousseau, we will look at some recent literature on the early modern history of contract law in Romano-canon law and Scholastic moral theology (what's the difference between a 'pact' and a 'pollicitation'?  What's the difference between 'onerous' and 'gratuitous' contracts?  What is the Assumpsit?).  Knowing a little bit of this background will provide students with the fundamentals to navigate around the more technical details of contractual obligations in the Social Contract literature.  If time permits, we will also look at some criticisms of this tradition - Marx, Carole Pateman, Charles Mills.  

Rousseau, The Social Contract

For undergraduates, my Junior Seminar in Political Theory will focus on the theme of Separations of Powers.  We will explore the intellectual history of the doctrine; its interpretation and application by Federal courts; and a critical look at the doctrine from the perspective of Comparative Constitutionalism.  Is it, as some political scientists have suggested, one of America's most dangerous exports to countries reforming their constitutions?

(I have received numerous inquiries from prospective students about enrollment.  There is, unfortunately, not much I can do at this early stage.  Because this is a Junior Seminar, an equal number of seats have been reserved for undergraduate Juniors and Seniors.)

Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws - the principal early modern source of the Separation of Powers doctrine.