Justice and the Economy

Undergraduate / Graduate

This seminar will explore how contemporary political philosophy conceptualizes the economy, frames the question of economic justice and injustice, and provides a normative case for and against ways of organizing economic institutions. By focusing on a set of specific issues including the justification of property rights, the moral and institutional demands of economic justice, freedom and domination within the labor market, the normative status of corporations, capitalism as a form of structural injustice, and the possibility (or lack thereof) of just financial markets, the seminar will offer a chance to read both classical authors in contemporary political philosophy, including John Rawls, Iris Young, Elizabeth Anderson, and Robert Nozick, as well as more recent and less known literature on the subject. A focus on economic justice will also provide an opportunity to discuss how contemporary political philosophy is either indebted or oblivious to a series of theoretical frameworks traditionally used to approach questions of economic justice, including classical liberalism, republicanism, utilitarianism, Marxism, critical theory, and utopian thought.