Week 13 — Political Philosophy: The State, Justice, and Liberty

Why this matters

A public-health or nursing student explaining why a rule limits someone's freedom and a business or engineering major helping a team share out a budget fairly both meet this week's question: what makes authority rightful?

In plain language

This week asks two old questions: what gives a government the right to rule, and what do we owe one another? A right to rule is called legitimacy (rightful authority, as opposed to mere power). One family of answers, social contract theory (the view that fair rules come from what free, reasonable people would agree to), says the right to rule comes from us. You meet four versions of that idea and two thinkers who set limits on what any government may do. Your goal is to state each account as its best defenders would and to weigh the objections fairly, not to pick a winner or to settle any question in today's politics.

• Already covered: Week 2 gave you standard form and validity, and Weeks 11 and 12 met three ethical theories.
• This week: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Rawls, and Nozick.
• How they connect: social contract theory turns ethics toward the state.
• Where we're going next: Week 14 turns to philosophy beyond Europe.

Focus

What gives a government the right to rule, and how far may its power reach?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• [ ] compare Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls on the social contract
• [ ] quote Hobbes and Mill exactly
• [ ] apply the harm principle to a new rule
• [ ] run the veil of ignorance on a case
• [ ] state the Rawls–Nozick debate fairly

To-do

Plan your week

1. Read Chapter 13 (~45–55 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
2. Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes).
3. Do the practice exercises (15–25 minutes).
4. Do the Philosophy Workshop (about 90 minutes), discussion, and assignment.
5. Take the quiz.

This week's checkpoint: explain why the harm principle permits some limits on liberty.

You've got this

Take it in order, and ask your instructor early if stuck.

Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com