- Introduction to Theorizing About Political Life: Normative Issues Common to Democratic Systems

Catalog description

An introduction to the art and science of political philosophy. This class teaches the skills of making normative arguments in the context of understanding politics as purposive behavior. What should be the means and ends of government? What kind of government should we create, and how will power be distributed? How should we prioritize our commitments to ideas like order, justice, liberty, and equality? What role do our material realities, our economies and our culture play in the formation of our identities and our commitments? This course will link normative arguments to contemporary political and policy debates about the state and governing, rights, obligations, diversity and multiculturalism.