Political Philosophy

PHIL

211

Political Philosophy

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the major topics in political theory. Political theory is concerned with the fundamental questions of public life. It explores the philosophical traditions that have formed questions such as: What is the nature of political authority? What should be the relationship between individuals and states? What are the obligations and responsibility that citizens owe to one another? What are the limits of freedom? When may government act against the will of a citizen? What characterizes a good government? What is the purpose of government? And so on. In answering these questions, political philosophers have tried to establish basic principles that will, for instance, justify a particular form of state, show that individuals have basic inalienable rights, or tell us how a society?s basic material resources should be shared by its members. This constitutes analyzing and interpreting a few basic concepts ? ?authority?, ?liberty?, ?freedom? and ?justice.? Theories on these basic concepts are with a remarkable diversity, and there are two reasons for this. First, methods and approached used by political philosophers ref

Fall, Spring

Undergraduate

Yes

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