Intro to Political Philosophy

4.0 credits

Political philosophy asks questions about the meaning, stakes, and practices of political life and action. How do we organize our lives together as humans, and why? Could we live differently, and should we? What does a good society look like, and how can we build it? The course considers these and other questions as expressed through debates about freedom. Freedom is often thought of as one value among many, sometimes counterposed to other political virtues, like equality or justice. But freedom itself has meant different things to different authors, whom we will read. To some, freedom is a right of individuals to be defended against encroachment by the state; to others, freedom is something which can only be realized collectively, in relationships to other people. Freedom opens up crucial questions: how we, as individuals, live and act in community, and towards what ends; what coercion consists of and when (if ever) it is justified; and how conflicts between free persons might be resolved. Written requirements for this lecture course include a midterm and a final exam.