PHIL 270

PHIL 270: Political Philosophy
Instructor: Marie-Eve Morin

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to political philosophy that is thematically oriented around liberalism. The liberal tradition is best understood as a plurality of traditions tenuously linked through a concern for liberty. In the first part of the course, we will look at four historically important versions of liberalism: social contract theory (Locke), classical liberalism (Mill and Harriet Taylor), political liberalism (Rawls), and libertarianism (Nozick). Questions to be discussed include: What is “liberty”? how do we defend or protect liberty? Who or what grants liberty and who is entitled to liberty? Does liberty entail freedom from state interference or access to, and protection of, certain rights Does the state play any role at all in defending, defining, or restricting liberty? In the second part of the course we will turn to challenges to the liberal project from Marxist, communitarian, feminist, and critical race theoretical perspectives and will ask how the liberal tradition might be complicit with and need to address issues of alienation, oppression, sexism, and racism. We will raise questions about the relationship between justice, freedom, and recognition in a way that I hope will shed light and potentially transform your understanding of the world we live in.

This course provides an introduction to political philosophy that is thematically oriented around liberalism. The liberal tradition is best understood as a plurality of traditions tenuously linked through a concern for liberty. In the first part of the course, we will look at four historically important versions of liberalism: social contract theory (Locke), classical liberalism (Mill and Harriet Taylor), political liberalism (Rawls), and libertarianism (Nozick). Questions to be discussed include: What is “liberty”? how do we defend or protect liberty? Who or what grants liberty and who is entitled to liberty? Does liberty entail freedom from state interference or access to, and protection of, certain rights Does the state play any role at all in defending, defining, or restricting liberty? In the second part of the course we will turn to challenges to the liberal project from Marxist, communitarian, feminist, and critical race theoretical perspectives and will ask how the liberal tradition might be complicit with and need to address issues of alienation, oppression, sexism, and racism. We will raise questions about the relationship between justice, freedom, and recognition in a way that I hope will shed light and potentially transform your understanding of the world we live in.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course students should be able to:

  1. Read and comprehend classical or contemporary philosophical texts in political philosophy.
  2. Present an argument found a philosophical text in a clear and logical way and raise critical questions about it.
  3. Define and explain key concepts in political philosophy, such as private property, the principle of justice, the harm principle, the unencumbered self, paternalism, alienation, oppression, recognition.
  4. Identify and explain key features of political theories such as liberalism, social contract theory, neoliberalism, Marxism, communitarianism, feminism, and critical race theory.
  5. Examine, compare, and critically evaluate classical and contemporary political theories, such as liberalism, social contract theory, neoliberalism, Marxism, communitarianism, feminism, and critical race theory.
  6. Write a well-organized and well-reasoned argumentative paper, which includes a clear thesis statement and an argument supporting the thesis statement.