Political Theory

Catalog description

Three hours lecture/discussion per week Political Theory is devoted to assessing the authority, legitimacy, and justification of various kinds of political arrangements. How should people live together in society? Is democracy really the best form of government? Can a society legislate morality? What do individuals owe their government? What does their government owe them? This course will consider these and related questions through an introductory survey of works by major political philosophers such as Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Mill, and Marx. Ramifications for issues such as freedom of speech, religious liberty, affirmative action, women’s rights, economic inequality, criminal punishment, civil disobedience, and revolution will also be explored.