Drafts by Joshua I Miller
Reflections on 9/11 on a student led panel
Teaching Documents by Joshua I Miller
This seminar uses the tools and vocabulary of political theory to analyze several literary works ... more This seminar uses the tools and vocabulary of political theory to analyze several literary works as if they were texts in political theory. We will spend little time on theories of the relationship between political theory and literature. We will treat the authors as theorists who express their ideas through plays and fiction. This is a reading rather than a research seminar. By the end of the course students will be able to recognize political themes in literature and will be able to write theoretical essays analyzing texts which are not explicitly theoretical.
"This is an advanced course in political theory that will explore the intersection of fashion wit... more "This is an advanced course in political theory that will explore the intersection of fashion with power, gender, sexuality, feminist theory, race, inequality, political action, cultural appropriation, Islamic dress, the condition of clothing workers in the fast fashion system, and environmental sustainability. Much of our reading is historical. Our job is to understand the texts in as great a depth as possible using class discussion, papers, quote responses, group chat posts, and student presentations. Upon completion of the course students will demonstrate knowledge of several crucial texts in fashion theory and political thinking about contemporary issues and they will be able to analyze those texts. Students will become sophisticated interpreters of theoretical texts and will be proficient writers of theoretical papers."
The theme of the course is really direct democracy and its critics. Students find Thomas Hobbes q... more The theme of the course is really direct democracy and its critics. Students find Thomas Hobbes quite difficult so I'm trying some Federalist papers to address the theme of human nature and the need for a strong sovereign power.
This is my syllabus for African American Political Thought. It's based on classic texts, although... more This is my syllabus for African American Political Thought. It's based on classic texts, although students don't know David Walker, Harriet Jacobs, Martin Delany, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, Pauli Murray, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, the Combahee River Collective, or Bayard Rustin. They've heard of Malcolm X, but have not read his Autobiography. By the end of the course, even the middle of the course, they realize that they are learning something important.
Syllabus for introductory course.
This is for an advanced undergraduate course.
John H. Schaar, Draft Lectures from 1970s by Joshua I Miller
John H. Schaar APT Syllabus, 1993
The work will follow a rough chronological order, beginning with the Puritans and running to the ... more The work will follow a rough chronological order, beginning with the Puritans and running to the Civil War. 104B will pick up the story at that point and bring it to the present. This historical approach should help you develop an appreciation both of the continuities of the tradition and of the strains and changes within it.
American Political Thought, 2021
John Schaar argues that America had two foundings: the communitarian experiment of the New Englan... more John Schaar argues that America had two foundings: the communitarian experiment of the New England Puritans and that of the American Revolution and Constitution of 1789, which were rooted in liberal political theory. While the first founding has been forgotten, even reviled, the second founding led to corruption, violence, individualism, and privatism. Schaar calls for the restoration of participatory community while recognizing the formidable obstacles to accomplishing that. Joshua Miller is professor of government and law, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042 (millerj@lafayette .edu).
This is a reconstruction of a Schaar lecture given several times at University of California, Ber... more This is a reconstruction of a Schaar lecture given several times at University of California, Berkeley, and University of California Santa Cruz. It's based on Schaar's notes typed in 1978 and my notes taken in 1973 and 1974. Schaar was the author and I am the editor.
The third of three introductory lectures in Schaar's undergraduate course on American Political T... more The third of three introductory lectures in Schaar's undergraduate course on American Political Thought in the 1970s. Schaar engages possible criticisms of APT, making the case that an historically rooted study of American political ideas would be a stronger basis for radical political thought and action than those of other Left radicals in the early seventies. He discusses the transmission of tradition and Nietzsche's "Use and Abuse of History" and Plato's "Republic." He issues a call to political engagement and ends with a meditation on the appropriateness of professors' advocacy of political views in their teaching.
Schaar describes the "New England Puritans" as an ideal type which offers a contrast to liberal i... more Schaar describes the "New England Puritans" as an ideal type which offers a contrast to liberal individualism found in subsequent American political thinking. Drawing on Michael Walzer, Perry Miller, and Georges Sorel, Schaar depicts the Puritans as making an epic effort to create radical religious, moral, and political communities based on impossibly high standards. Their central values were community, authority, and the belief that they could do something new.
In this lecture Schaar discusses the general orientations of Puritan founder John Winthrop's poli... more In this lecture Schaar discusses the general orientations of Puritan founder John Winthrop's political and social thought. He emphasizes Winthrop's ideas about community, equality, and authority. He discusses legalism in relationship to political leadership. According to Schaar, setting legal limits on leadership usually results from people not wanting to directly engage in community life. He finds Winthrop's ideas superior to "the false teachings of our time."
Schaar describes the main themes of pre-Revolutionary political thought as distrust of power, the... more Schaar describes the main themes of pre-Revolutionary political thought as distrust of power, the creation of mixed government as the best solution to hem in power and preserve liberty. Early thinkers saw natural rights as being created by nature. A good government trades away only as much liberty as necessary as to create governments which will protect our rights. Schaar observes that although early thinkers believed rights to be “natural” we can today say that nature provides no rights; rights are human creations.
Schaar discusses the nature of the American Revolution. Was it really a revolution? Schaar claims... more Schaar discusses the nature of the American Revolution. Was it really a revolution? Schaar claims that "causality" is the wrong way to approach this question or any other political question. Instead, one should use the model of "storytelling." In thinking about political action one should not think only about goals and barriers to them, but the value of action itself. At the end of the lecture Schaar asserts that the theorists of the American Revolution changed the definition of "republic" from one based on action to one based on privacy and representation.
Schaar treats James Wilson and John Adams on the theory of consent. They reject the British conce... more Schaar treats James Wilson and John Adams on the theory of consent. They reject the British concept of virtual or constructive consent. In basing consent on equality and happiness, James Wilson develops a theory that only physical comfort and overcoming scarcity will merit consent. Schaar sees this as a disastrous turn. He goes on describe recent American attitudes toward consent which erode democratic community.
In this lecture, John Schaar describes Henry Adams's attempt to attain an education that would gi... more In this lecture, John Schaar describes Henry Adams's attempt to attain an education that would give him and fellow citizens an accurate understanding of American history, past and future, to help his readers find a positive form of political action. Adams called this search making a "leap to a new social mind."
Papers by Joshua I Miller
from Legitimacy in the Modern State, 1981
Political theorist John H. Schaar argues that patriotism can be distinguished from nationalism. I... more Political theorist John H. Schaar argues that patriotism can be distinguished from nationalism. If the Left would embrace patriotism, a love of the country and its founding principles, they would be more likely to make common cause with more Americans.
Political Theory, 1991
This is a published essay by John Schaar about Winthrop which develops the ideas presented in lec... more This is a published essay by John Schaar about Winthrop which develops the ideas presented in lecture in the 1970s. I did no editing or revision of this article.
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Drafts by Joshua I Miller
Teaching Documents by Joshua I Miller
John H. Schaar, Draft Lectures from 1970s by Joshua I Miller
Papers by Joshua I Miller