Introduction to Political Philosophy

(4 Credits)

Crosslisted from Law School. Critical discussion of classic issues and texts in political philosophy from the 5th century BCE to the present. Questions include: What are the conditions that a system of government must satisfy before its use of coercive power can be considered legitimate? What are the conditions that a society must satisfy before it can be considered just? What role do the ideas of consent, contract, democracy, individual rights, social welfare, liberty, and equality (including racial, sexual, and economic equality), play in our answers to these questions? Readings include works by Plato, Aristotle, Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Wollstonecraft, Marx, Mill, Anscombe, Rawls, Nozick, Nagel, Simmons, Williams, and Stilz.