Social and Political Philosophy

Catalog description

This course studies philosophical views about large-scale human relations: in groups, communities, populations, nations, and countries. By studying prominent philosophers and positions it investigates the following kinds of questions: Why might anarchy give way to government? How do political arrangements differ from domestic, friendship, or business obligations? Ought people organize to pursue a common good or goal? What does fundamental opposition about religion, morality, financial interest, and human sentiment mean for integration into a public realm? Is the personal always political, and what deserves to be kept private? Such questions have animated philosophy since its origins, is of vibrant contemporary interest, requires development of a view of human nature, and relates to ethics, psychology, sociology, law and criminology, economics, and political science. By the course's end, students should have a greater critical understanding of the nature of social and political organization, influences on human values, and the traditional philosophical problem concerning the good society.