Justice by Means of Democracy

Harvard HGSE

For much of the 20th century John Rawls' Theory of Justice has provided a normative framework for much policy-making in the U.S. and elsewhere. In this course, students explore an alternative theory of justice that places greater emphasis on democracy, doing a deep dive on works that have laid the foundation for this alternative ranging from Amartya Sen to Philip Pettit to Elinor Ostrom to Elizabeth Anderson to Melvin Rogers. In addition, we will spend time on how political philosophy comes…