Proposal for Independent Study
Professor Tomás Crowder-Taraborrelli
This course explores philosophical traditions that seek to explain the relationship between commerce and ethics. Economic theories often deal with the political organization of society, the distribution of wealth, and the rights of all individuals to lead a healthy and happy life. Thus, in most cases, economists and philosophers are both concerned with the welfare of their communities, and the strengths of judicial institutions that guarantee a certain living standard.
The goals of this course are to provide an introduction to the most important literature of political economy, including major thinkers such as Marx, Engels, Ricardo, Proudhon, and Keynes. We will explore the contributions of a few of the most important economic theories to current debates around the expansion of capitalism and the global economy. We will survey major ideas and arguments to try to envision how the current organization of financial markets leads to increasing inequality around the globe. By the end of the semester, the student should be able to identify the underlying arguments used by major economic theorists to support models of development that are more ethical and equitable. This is a 2-unit course.
Assignments
30 % Midterm essay (4-6 pages double spaced) due March 13th
40 % Final essay (8-10 pages double spaced) due May 9th Class
Meetings
Day: Monday
Time: 13:00-15:00
Schedule of readings
February 8
Introduction to the course
February 15
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Chap. I-IV, VIII, XI, XII)
February 22
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract (Book I & II)
February 29
Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the family, private property, and the state (Chap. II & IX)
March 7
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. What Is Property? (Chap. II.1, II.2, III.1-III.5, IV.1-IV.6, IV.10)
March 14
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Chap. I.1-I.3,)
March 21
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Chap. XVI, XXIII, XXIV)
March 28
Shatz, Marshall, ed. Bakunin: Statism and Anarchy (Chap. I, II, V – and selection of VI & VII)
April 4
Keynes, John M. The general theory of employment, interest, and money (Chap. I, II, VI, XII-XIV, XVII, XXIV)
April 11
John Stuart Mill. Principles of political economy : and, Chapters on socialism (Selection from chap. I, IV, VI & IX)
April 18
Ricardo, David. The principles of political economy and taxation (Chap. I, IV, VI, VII, VIII, XX, XXI, XXVI, XXVII & XXX)
April 25
Schumpeter, Joseph Alois. Capitalism, socialism, and democracy (Chap. V, VI, VI, XI, XIV, XV, XVI, XX.1, XX.2, XX.4, XXI.1, XX.4, XXII.1, XXII.2)
May 2
Piketty, Thomas, and Arthur Goldhammer. Capital in the twenty-first century (Introduction, selection from chap. I, V, XII, XIV, XV, XVI)
May 9
Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality (Selection from chap. I, III, IV, V, VI, IX)
May 16
Stiglitz, Joseph E. Globalization and Its Discontents (Selection from chap. I, II, VII, IX)
May 19
Final paper due
Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the family, private property, and the state. [electronic resource]. n.p.: London : Electric Book Co., c2001., 2001. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: with Hume’s Abstract of A Treatise of Human Nature and A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh. 2nd ed. N.p.: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1993.
Keynes, John M. The Essential Keynes. N.p.: Penguin Classics, 2015.
Keynes, John Maynard. The general theory of employment, interest, and money. n.p.: Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1997., 1997. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost(accessed February 6, 2016).
Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Vol. 1. N.p.: Penguin Classics, 1992.
Mill, John Stuart, Jonathan Riley, and John Stuart Mill. Principles of political economy : and, Chapters on socialism. n.p.: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1994., 1994. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Piketty, Thomas, and Arthur Goldhammer. Capital in the twenty-first century. n.p.: Cambridge Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014., 2014. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. What Is Property? : An Inquiry Into the Principle of Right and of Government. Auckland: The Floating Press, 1840. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Ricardo, David. The principles of political economy and taxation. n.p.: New York : Dutton, [1965], 1965. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract. N.p.: Penguin Classics, 1968.
Schumpeter, Joseph Alois. Capitalism, socialism, and democracy. n.p.: New York : Harper & Row, 1976., 1976. Ikeda Library Catalog, EBSCOhost (accessed February 6, 2016).
Shatz, Marshall, ed. Bakunin: Statism and Anarchy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. Globalization and Its Discontents (Norton Paperback). N.p.: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. N.p.: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013.
Tomás Crowder-Taraborrelli 