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Instructor: Christine Sypnowich

This course initiates students to the ideas of political philosophy. Political philosophy is concerned with how individuals can live in common. The relation between citizen and state is thus a problem central to political philosophy, and it underpins the many questions political philosophers ask, such as: What is the rationale for government? Is there a right to private property which the state is obligated to protect? Does the individual have an obligation to obey the law? Should government promote equality? Some of the more lively contemporary debates in political theory concern whether the idea of citizenship is viable at all. For example, some feminists detect a sexist bias in the very idea of the citizen, whilst other critics note the difficulty of reconciling citizenship with cultural diversity within society. Still others claim that citizenship doesn’t take sufficient account of our obligations to nature and the environment. This course considers a variety of philosophies and ideas to consider some of the principal trends in political argument. Lectures will set out the arguments and issues of the readings, providing context and fielding questions, with some opportunity for class discussion.