BMET 25A15 - Addressing Power. How to read Political Philosophy through Women's texts.

Is it possible to teach a class in political philosophy solely based on ideas and texts whose authors identified as women? Grounded in the writings of such thinkers, this class takes on the challenge ! This course is primarily focused on methodology: its aim is to develop and exercise the reflexes needed to read, understand, and engage with philosophical texts effectively. Step by step, students will acquire the tools necessary to analyze philosophical works while building their own arguments and interpretations. Challenging the grain of the Western tradition—where most theoretical texts have been authored by men—this course emphasizes the development of new interpretative skills by focusing on texts written by women. No prerequisites are required to take this course.
Yaël HIRSCH
Atelier
English
Spring 2024-2025
1 Text-based exercise (in groups of 2) 25% 1 Individual methodological form 25% 1 Text Commentary (Final Essay) 40% Class Participation 10%
Margaret Mead, Coming of age in Samoa (extracts)
Simone Weil, The need for roots (extracts)
Hannah Arendt: The crisis of culture (extracts)
Rosa Luxembourg, Social Reform or revolution (extracts)
Aynd Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness(extracts)
Arendt, Hannah. On Violence. Important Books, 2014
Benhabib, Seyla. The Claims of Culture. Princeton University Press, 2002.
Butler, Judith. The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection. Stanford University Press, 2013.
Duran, Jane. Women in Political Theory. Ashgate, 2013.
Follett, Mary Parker. Creative Experience. Martino Fine Books, 2013.
Luxemburg, Rosa. Reform or Revolution and Other Writings. Dover Books, 2006.
McKinnon, Catharine. Are Women Human? Harvard University Press, 2007.
Michel, Louise. Red Virgin: Memoirs. University of Alabama Press, 2003.
Nussbaum, Martha. Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge University Press, 2003
Rand, Ayn. The Virtue of Selfishness. Signet, 1964.
Rand, George. Story of My Life. State University of New York Press, 1991.
Scott, Joan. Only Paradoxes to Offer. Harvard University Press, 1997.
Shklar, Judith. Ordinary Vices. The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1984.
Springora, Vanessa. Consent. Grasset, 2020.
Staël, Germaine de. On Politics, Literature and National Character. Doubleday Anchor Book, 1964.
Tristan, Flora. Peregrinations of a Pariah. Virago/Beacon Travelers, 1987.
Weil, Simone. The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Towards Mankind. Routledge, 2001.