| SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | ||
| 1 | Nuts and Bolts (What this Course is about) | |
| 2 | Some Contemporary Libertarian Controversies | |
| Part One: Ideals of Freedom, Autonomy, and Civil Society | ||
| 3 | Roots of Modern Freedom (I): The Ancient and Medieval Periods | |
| 4 | Roots of Modern Freedom (II): The Early Modern Period | |
| 5 | Revolutionary Liberty (I) | |
| 6 | Revolutionary Liberty (II) | |
| 7 | Modern Valuations of Liberty as the Ultimate Political and Economic Good (I) | |
| 8 | Modern Valuations of Liberty as the Ultimate Political and Social Good (II) | |
| 9 | Complementary or Contradictory Ideals (I): Property | First Reading Response due |
| 10 |
Complementary or Contradictory Ideals (II): Equality and Distributive Justice Class Debate: John Rawls v. Robert Nozick | |
| 11 | Complementary or Contradictory Ideals (III): Communitarianism and Civic Republicanism | |
| Part Two: Case Studies in the Rise of Modern Liberty / Libertarianism | ||
| Slavery and Abolition (Paradoxes of Property and Personal Freedom) | ||
| 12 | Chattel Slavery and the "Freedom Principle" | Paper 1 due |
| 13 | Antislavery and Liberty (I) | |
| 14 | Antislavery and Liberty (II) | Second Reading Response due |
| Freedom of the Spirit: Belief, Conduct, and the First Amendment | ||
| 15 |
The First Amendment Religion Clauses and "Freedom of Conscience" Guest Discussant: Jack N. Rakove, Stanford University | |
| 16 | The Rise of Free Exercise in Modern America | |
| 17 | Religious Accommodation and Civil Rights Today | |
| From Civil Liberties to Civil Libertarianism | ||
| 18 | The Creation of the Modern American Civil Liberties Movement | |
| 19 |
The First Amendment and Free Speech Guest Discussant: Harvey A. Silverglate | |
| Part Three: Liberty and the Contemporary Administrative-regulatory State | ||
| Counter-terrorism and Health Care | ||
| 20 | The National Security Agency's Phone Surveillance Program | Paper 2 Outline due (Optional) |
| 21 |
Obamacare Class Debate: Obamacare | |
| The Financial Markets | ||
| 22 | The Origins of the 2008 Financial Crisis | |
| 23 | Efficient Markets and the Derivatives Debate | |
| Internet Freedom | ||
| 24 | The Power of Private Regulation | |
| 25 | Boundaries of the Internet | Third Reading Response due |
| 26 | The Case of Aaron Swartz | Paper 2 due |