PHIL 332: History of Modern Political Philosophy
Autumn 2026
Instructor: José J. Mendoza
Email: josejm@uw.edu
Office: Savery Hall 385
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 2:30-3:30pm
TA Info:
Teaching Assistant: Jesus Raya
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- Office Hours:
- Email: rjesus@uw.edu
Course Description
This course is designed as a broad introductory survey to some of the principal authors, ideas, concepts, and problems found in the history of modern political philosophy.
Meeting Time and Location:
Monday and Wednesday, 10:00am–11:20 am, HRC 155
Required Texts
Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts From Plato to Populism
edited by Mitchell Cohen. 2018; Princeton, New Jersey; Woodstock, Oxforshire: Princeton University Press
Note: You are NOT required to buy this book. It is freely available to UW students as an eBook from the UW library. You may access the book through the UW Libraries. If you have trouble accessing the book, make sure you are logged in with your UW NetID.
Assignments and Grades
1. Reading Quizzes (10% of course grade)
Each quiz will consist of about 5-20, mostly multiple-choice, questions. There is no time limit and the questions chronologically follow the reading. You are therefore strongly encouraged to take the quiz as you complete the readings. You will have a week to complete each quiz. After that there will be a 3.5% per day penalty on late quizzes.
2. Section Exercises (10% of course grade)
Students will be assigned exercises to be completed and turned in during quiz section. There is no way to make these up, but your two lowest scores for these exercises will be dropped.
3. Two In Class Exams (50% of course grade, 25% each)
There will be two in-class exams (one on October 26th and another on November 18th) consisting of multiple choice and short answer questions.
4. Final Exam (30% of course grade)
This will take place in our classroom (HRC 155) on December 14 (Monday of finals week) from 8:30-10:30am. It will be a comprehensive exam consisting of multiple choice and short answer questions.
Grading Scale
(roughly each 1% increment between grades is equivalent to 0.1)
A 95% = 4.0
B 85% = 3.0
C 75% = 2.0
D 65% = 1.0
At the end of the quarter I will convert your course grade from a percentage to the UW 4-point scale using this metric: 95% and up is 4.0; 94% is 3.9; 93% is 3.8; etc. Each 1% step is a 0.1 step on the UW 4-point scale. So an 86.1%, e.g., would give you a 3.1 on the UW scale. 85.5% rounds up to 86% (and thus 3.1), but 85.49% does not. At the bottom of the scale, however, 60% also rounds up to 0.7. See image below.
Reading/Viewing Schedule
WEEK ONE (Sept 30th)
Required Viewing
Plato - The Republic | Political Philosophy
Aristotle - Politics | Political Philosophy
St Augustine - City of God | Political Philosophy
Thomas Aquinas - Natural Law | Political Philosophy
WEEK TWO (Oct 5th and Oct 7th)
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince and Discourses on Livy (pp. 145-166)
WEEK THREE (Oct 12th and Oct 14th)
Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (pp. 176-207)
WEEK FOUR (Oct 19th and Oct 21st)
John Locke: Second Treatise of Government (pp. 213-243)
WEEK FIVE (Oct 26th and Oct 28th)
David Hume: "Of the Origins of Government" and "Of the Original Contract" (pp. 260-269)
WEEK SIX (Nov 2nd and Mov 4th)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men (pp. 280-297) and On the Social Contract (pp. 270-280)
WEEK SEVEN (Nov 9th and Nov 11th)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (pp.334-335)
Edmund Burke: "Reflections on the Revolution in France" (pp. 336-341)
WEEK EIGHT (Nov 16th and Nov 18th)
Marie-Olympes de Gouges: "Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens" (pp. 342-346)
Mary Wollstonecraft: "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (pp. 347-354)
WEEK NINE (Nov 23rd and Nov 25th)
Immanuel Kant: Part 2 of "On the Common Saying: 'This May be True in Theory, but it does not Apply in Practice'" (*this is a separate PDF that is not in our book)
WEEK TEN (Nov 30th and Dec 2nd)
Jeremy Bentham: "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation" (pp. 365–368)
John Stuart Mill: "On Liberty" (pp. 369–380)
John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill: "On the Subjection of Women" (pp. 380-387)
WEEK ELEVEN (Dec 7th and Dec 9th)
Karl Marx: Selections from various works (pp. 428–454)