Inequality in Western Political Thought

Catalog description

Study of egalitarian and inegalitarian theories in the history of Western Political Thought. Distinction between forms of inequality (political, economic, social, racial, gender, etc.). Analysis of what kind of equality should be achieved (resources, opportunities, rights, respect, etc.). Connection of equality with other political and moral issues (freedom, responsibility, class conflict, well-being, poverty, exclusion, solidarity, difference, etc.) Readings include Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Rousseau, Smith, Wollstonecraft, Tocqueville, Marx, Veblen, Du Bois, Friedman, Rawls, and Piketty.