Political Philosophy

(4 Credits)

The state has authority over its citizens: if you fail to comply with its dictates, you can be punished. What justifies the state's exercise of such authority? Could it be justified because we have at least implicitly given our consent to it? This is only one central question in political philosophy. Others include: What form of government best serves the people? Who are the people, anyway? What is justice? Do we have fundamental rights to property or to free expression? If so, what is the source of these rights? What is freedom, and are there different kinds? What is the proper relation between freedom and equality? Is equality desirable? Can we live in a genuine community that is not a community of equals? Students will grapple with such questions and draw on writings from both classical and contemporary philosophers.