Tim Syme

I have developed and taught three of my own classes as well as serving as a teaching assistant on a number of occasions. An account of my approach to teaching can be found here (pdf).

Political Theory, IE University, 2017-2018, Syllabus (pdf)

This course is designed to introduce students to the central authors and ideas of western political theory throughout history by means of a close reading of a selection of key texts.The course is structured around ideas which have shaped the political reality of the West from Antiquity to the
present day, attending to both their historical context and general evaluative relevance. Within each unit the analysis will be broadly chronological, thereby highlighting the particular circumstances in which these ideas were conceived and their evolution over time.

Political Theory II (18th Century to Present). IE University, 2015, Syllabus (pdf)

This course is the second half of the year-long series on Western Political Theory and continues the subject into the modern period, from the 18th Century to the present. It explores key themes in modern political theory by combining classic texts with the work of contemporary thinkers. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the central topics and controversies in modern political thought. This class emphasizes the normative perspective, which involves the interpretation, evaluation and critique of past and present social arrangements and the suggestion of more desirable arrangements that could and should be implemented instead.

Contemporary Moral Problems: Doing Social Theory. Brown University, Spring 2014, Syllabus (pdf)

Living together is a problem. Theories of social life describe at the highest level of generality, how to  think about and respond to this problem. Social theories of one kind or another underpin the work done by every humanities and social science discipline, from public policy to architecture, and encompass every aspect of social life, from politics and art to money and sex. This course provides a critical and historical overview of the shared problems and diverse interpretations of social theories from Plato to rational choice theory and Bruno Latour’s network approach. It aims to interrogate how and why different methods of social analysis complement or contradict each other and allow students to see the intellectual relationships and divisions between different scholarly disciplines. The concluding assignment for this class will require students to develop a methodological critique of one of their other classes or fields of study with the underlying aim of illuminating the extent to which philosophical arguments are relevant to all fields of human enquiry. In the first half of the class, key concepts and approaches are introduced by way of classic works by Plato, Hobbes, Karl Marx and John Rawls. The second half of the class applies these approaches to a range of classics of modern and contemporary social theory.

Democracy: Philosophy, Politics and Power. Brown University, Summers 2011-2013, Syllabus (pdf)

Most countries claim a commitment to democracy, America especially, but we must always ask how well they live up to its ideals. What is democracy? How does it work? How should it work? How can we all be good citizens despite the enormous differences between us? Must we all vote, campaign for and lobby elected officials, or would we be better off occupying public spaces in protest? Can we be good citizens if all we do is challenge sexist speech and attitudes in our everyday lives?  The course focuses on the relationship of democratic values of equality, liberty and self-rule to contemporary social practices, especially those that unavoidably escape the purview of coercive law and the traditional nation state. We will interrogate the ways in which the dominant democratic practices of modern societies both realize and undermine the equality of citizens, their freedom to live fulfilling lives and their capacity to exercise effective control over their own social environment. Students will be given the opportunity to (democratically) choose one or two key social issues around which to structure their work, such as immigration and citizenship rights, intellectual property and the internet, or climate change. Students will apply their theoretical and practical findings to the task of formulating their own utopian vision of how people could live together differently than they do today. They will be challenged to imagine possibilities for social life that reflect their interpretation and evaluation of democratic values. These utopian visions can be creative and even far-fetched or grounded very solidly in gritty reality. The key challenge for students is to use their imagined societies to ground a coherent critique, warning or example to contemporary citizens in light of their analysis of a pressing social problem.

Teaching Assistant:
Ethics and the Novel, Brown University, Fall 2013 (Felicia Nimue Ackerman)
Marxism; Brown University, Spring 2012 (Charles Larmore)
Early Modern Philosophy; Brown University, Spring 2011 (Justin Broakes)
Introduction to Political Philosophy; Brown University, Fall 2010 (David Estlund)
Existentialism; Brown University, Spring 2010 (Bernard Reginster)
Environmental Ethics; Brown University, Fall 2009 (Jason Brennan)