Ideas, Economic Emergence, and Society

Ideas, Economic Emergence, and Society

Professor Michael Munger

Economics 99F-01 Fall 2005
WF 2:50-4:05 (Art 105)

Office:   Perkins Library, Room 408                        direct office phone: 966-4301
Office Hours:   TBA                                                        home phone: (919) 844-0154
                                                                                                        (not after 9 p.m.!)
Calendar                  Readings

Class Home Page: Go to instructor’s home page and click on “courses”

What does it mean to be free? What is the good society? How have ideas been used to organize societies and allocate resources? Two alternative approaches can be labeled the normative and the engineering, respectively.

The normative asks the question: What is the good society? How is that society organized? What ideas of the "good" are embodied in different institutions of government, and exchange? The engineering approach is quite different. It asks, Do ideas "matter" in any important sense, or are there evolutionary forces that drive societies in ways that are complex and independent of ideas. This course will allow students to confront a variety of ideas for "organizing" society, ranging from a variety of science fiction works back to Thomas More's Utopia and Augustine's City of God. A special emphasis will be placed on examining the conflicts between "spontaneous" order arising from markets and competitive democracy; "planned" order arising from socialism; and "ordained" order arising from religious law.

In this course we will read selectively some of the great works on both sides of this question. No definitive answers will be reached, but we will concentrate on three sets of questions in considering each reading.

Ethical foundation: What does this writer believe is the essence of the ideal place of the citizen in the society?

Dialogue with other work: In this scheme, are the most important restraints on liberty external and hierarchical, or internal results of spontaneous, voluntary actions? How does the writer answer potential counterarguments from other points of view?

Evaluation: Is the blueprint that this writer creates for society workable? What techniques of quantitative analysis, including study of data available from published sources, would allow us to evaluate this conception of society?

PAPERS:

Bi-weekly three page evaluations of arguments we have read, and talked about, in class. At first, this “two page” business may seem easy, but it is bad news, trust me. It is very difficult to make a useful, complete argument in just three pages (700 words). Specific topic “questions” will be suggested, but the particular point you choose to write on will be up to you.

GRADES:

Grades for this class will be derived from the students performance on a midterm exam, a final exam, and four two-page papers, as well as class participation. These will have the following weights:

ITEM: WEIGHT:

1. Final Exam: 40%

Essay format, in scheduled exam period (Monday, December 8, 9 am - noon).

2. 7 2-page papers 42%

These papers will be graded very aggressively, on both content and style. Must be typed.

3. Class participation: 18%

Ask or answer questions! Students are expected to have done the reading before class.

TOTAL: 100%

Textbooks (available at Bookstore in Bryan Center)

Isaac Asimov, Foundation Trilogy

Foundation

Foundation and Empire

Second Foundation)

Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
Michael Munger, Analyzing Policy
Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom
In addition, there are occasional handouts and other assignments that will be distributed as the semester progresses.
Whenever a reading is available on the WWWeb, the URL is given.

Calendar Return to Top

Readings and Schedule:

(August 31, September 7—NO CLASS ON SEPT 2!!!):

Nature of Humans: The Idea of Free Will

1. Paul’s “Letter to the Romans” http://ebible.org/bible/web/Romans.htm

2. Society of Natural Science: http://www.determinism.com/definition.shtml

3. John Calvin, “Free Will and Predestination,” from Institutes of the Christian Religion. (1537)
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/calvin.html

4. Ivar Ekelund, Mathematics and the Unexpected, Chapter 1 (e-reserves)

5. The Three Body Problem and Chaos http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CHAOS.html

6. St. Augustin of Hippo, City of God,

Book V (Fate and Free Will) http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120105.htm

Book VIII (Death is Penal) http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120113.htm

(September 9 and 14) :

The Power of Ideas

1) Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Prologue and Chapters 1-3

2) Thomas More, Utopia, Book I

(September 16 and 21) :

The Law and the Society: Survive or Be Just?

1) Isaac Asimov, Foundation (Book 1: Foundation)

2) Plato’s Apology, http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html

3) Plato’s Crito, http://plato.evansville.edu/texts/jowett/crito.htm

4) Plato’s Dialogues, “The Republic:” Sections 22-29 (stanza 471c to stanza 521b)
http://plato.evansville.edu/texts/jowett/republic.htm

5) Michael Munger, Analyzing Policy, Chapter 2

PAPER #1: Due Friday, September 23

Topic: Assume you are Crito. Take up at the end

of the Dialogue, and convince Socrates to leave with you

using logic and the law

(September 23 and 28):

The Purposes and Limits of Government

1) Isaac Asimov, Foundation (Book 2: Foundation & Empire)

2) Selections from The Federalist:

“About the Federalist” http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/fed/abt_fedpapers.html

Federalist #10 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/fed/fed_10.html

Federalist #51 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/fed/fed_51.html

3) Declaration of Independence: http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/declaration/decmain.html

4) US Constition: http://www.usconstitution.net/

(September 30, October 5 and 12) (NO CLASS on October 7—Fall Break):

Parchment Barriers: “Covenants, Without the Sword, Are But Words”

1. Aristotle’s Politics http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html

Book I

Books III-IV

2. Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, Parts I and II (Chapter 1 to Chapter 31, inclusive)
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-contents.html

3. Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Chapters 12-14

PAPER #2: Due Wednesday, October 5

Topic: What is the “good society”? How can a society balance the urge for justice and the need to survive? Is a society obliged to pursue strength through development of technology and new ideas?

(October 14 and 19):

Unit of Analysis: What is the “good”, and whose is it?

1) Isaac Asimov, Foundation (Book 3: Second Foundation)

2) Nicolò Machiavelli, The Prince, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm

3) Sun Tzu, Art of War,

http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

Chapter I, “Laying Plans”

Chapter II, “Waging War”

Chapter XII, “The Attack by Fire”

4) Thomas Aquinas, “Just War Theory,” Summa Theologica, Question 40

PAPER #3: Due Friday, October 19

Topic: What is the position of the nation at war? What are the duties of the prince, or leader, of a society involved in war? Is it possible for war to be “just“?

(October 21: NO CLASS! Field trip to DC)

(October 26 and 28):

The General Will: The Paradox of Liberty

1) Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s On Social Contract, Books I-IV

http://www.constitution.org/jjr/socon.htm

2) De Soto, Mystery of Capital, Chapters 1 and 2

3) Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Chapters 4-6

PAPER #4: Due Friday, October 28

Topic: What is the moral status of property? Is property always theft? Is it never theft? When can I legitimately and morally say that something is “mine,” and harm you if you try to take it or use it?

(November 2 and 4):

Markets and “Spontaneous Order”

1) Michael Munger, Analyzing Policy, Chapters 3-4

2) Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations,
http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html

Book I, Chapters 1-3, 10

Book III, Chapter 1

Book IV, Chapter 2

3) De Soto, Mystery of Capital, Chapters 3-7

4) F. A. Hayek, “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” American Economic Review, v. 35, 1945: 519-530.

(November 9 and 11):

Spontaneous Cooperation?

1). G. Mackie, “Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account.” American Sociological Review, 1996 (available on JSTOR).

2) R. A. Radford, “The Economic Organization of a POW Camp,” Economica, November 1945, 189-201. (Available on JSTOR)

3) Cycles in Decision Processes

4) Michael Munger, Analyzing Policy, Chapters 5-6, and Case 2

PAPER #5: Due Friday, November 16

Topic: When are individual goals and public good in conflict? When are they coincident? Can we predict which is which with any confidence?

(November 16):

Do You Find Freedom in a Ballot Box?

1) Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom

(November 18 and 23):

John Stuart Mill and Freedom of Speech

1) 1^st Amendment Resources

2) John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapters I and II

Speech Codes on the College Campus: Some Resources

http://halogen.note.amherst.edu/~astudent/2003-2004/issue06/news/01.html

http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/freedom/aaup.html

http://www.thefire.org/

http://users.rcn.com/kyp/schools/bennet2.html

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56294,00.html

http://studentsforacademicfreedom.org/archive/2003/WashTimes101703.htm

http://studentsforacademicfreedom.org/essays/abor.html

http://www.shadowuniv.com/waterbuffalo/wball.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200310/CUL20031006a.html
http://www.ultranet.com/~kyp/schools/bennet2.html
http://www.uark.edu/depts/comminfo/www/campus.speech.html
http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~tlockha/pcdebate.htm

http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/h/ha/hate_speech.html
http://www.aclu.org/library/aahate.html
http://www.CompleatHeretic.com/pubs/essays/pccodes.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-11-02-free-speech-cover_x.htm

http://www.integrity.duke.edu/geninfo/chronicle.html

http://www.integrity.duke.edu/ugrad/student.html

http://deanofstudents.studentaffairs.duke.edu/policies.html#integrity

PAPER #6: Due Wednesday, November 23

Topic: Write a speech code for Duke University. Defend your speech code as appropriate in a college setting, explicitly stating what the goals of a college should be

(November 30 and December 2):

Justice, Asset Ownership, and Income Distribution

Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party (1844, with Engels)

http://noesis.evansville.edu/Author_Index/M/Marx,_Karl/

Karl Marx, Capital, V. 1, Chapter 1 and Chapter 26

Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal” (1729)
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~benjamin/316kfall/316ktexts/swift.html

V.I. Lenin, “What Is To Be Done?” (1902)

http://gate.cruzio.com/~marx2mao/Lenin/WD02i.html

Chapter 2, part A
Chapter 3, parts C, D, and E

(December 7 and 9):

The Market, The Mind, and Hierarchy

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

PAPER #7: Due Wednesday, December 7

Topic: In “Snow Crash,” we hear of a specific form of organization of society, dictated by the market. Do you find this kind of system plausible? Are we tending toward this kind of purely privatized system? Is it good, or bad? If it is inevitable, does it matter? Could society be otherwise?

EXAM FOR THIS CLASS:
Wednesday, December 14
Exam time: 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

If you cannot make this exam,
you must tell Prof. Munger
IMMEDIATELY

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