Week 4 — Readings & Resources

Introduction to Political Science Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 4 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 73–84 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more depth, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–22 min total)

① What is each person due?

Chapter 4, Section “Name justice: what is each person due?” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Justice: what each person is due” · Remember: everyone agrees that justice gives each person their due, and the real argument is over what is due.

Justice and Fairness — Markkula Center for Applied Ethics — an applied-ethics center's short article on justice as giving people what they are owed, with the reasons, such as need, effort, and contribution, that people offer for treating cases differently. This builds on Week 3's work comparing the ideologies by what each values, fears, and argues. (reading, 6–9 min)

② Which freedom are we arguing about?

Chapter 4, Section “Split liberty: negative versus positive” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Negative and positive liberty” · Remember: negative liberty asks who is stopping you, and positive liberty asks whether you can act.

Positive and Negative Liberty (Isaiah Berlin - Two Concepts of Liberty) — Tom Richey — a classroom-style lecture that walks through Berlin's two senses of freedom with everyday examples; pause after each example and say which sense it shows. (video, 10 min) (captions: automatic)
Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts: Negative vs. Positive Liberty — Christian Gennari — a second, slower walk through the same distinction, useful if the first explainer moved too fast; listen for why Berlin worried about each sense being stretched too far. (video, 9 min) (captions: automatic)

③ When may a government limit you?

Chapter 4, Section “Apply Mill's harm principle: harm, not offense” · Session 2, Segment 4, “Mill's harm principle” · Remember: power over an unwilling adult is rightful only to prevent harm to others, never for that adult's own good.

The Harm Principle Explained (John Stuart Mill) — Philosophy Vibe — a three-minute animated explainer of Mill's principle and the classic objections to it; afterward, check its wording against the two sentences the chapter quotes. (video, 3 min) (captions: automatic)
Harm Principle — Ethics Unwrapped — a business-ethics explainer series' short entry on the harm principle, including why being offended is not enough to limit someone's freedom; use it while working through the Week-4 module overview. (reading, 2–3 min)

④ Pattern or history? Rawls and Nozick

Chapter 4, Section “Compare Rawls and Nozick: two theories of justice” · Session 2, Segment 5, “Rawls and Nozick” · Remember: Rawls draws the veil and judges the pattern of outcomes, while Nozick keeps the state minimal and judges the history of holdings.

Rawls: Original Position and Veil of Ignorance Explained — Philosophy Vibe — an animated walk through choosing rules behind the veil of ignorance and the two principles Rawls says you would pick. (video, 6 min) (captions: automatic)
Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State, & Utopia — Then & Now — a longer explainer of Nozick's case for the minimal state and his reply to Rawls; watch for the three principles of acquisition, transfer, and rectification. (video, 15 min) (captions: automatic)
Justice: Rawls and Nozick — Political Thought Experiments — the two theories set side by side, with the thought experiments each side uses; try stating each view so its defenders would sign it before the video moves on. (video, 12 min) (captions: automatic)
John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ — 1000-Word Philosophy — a short introductory essay on Rawls's original position, veil of ignorance, and difference principle, with the main objections to his view listed at the end; pair it with the Nozick video above so you hear both sides at full strength. Stop here before democracy and regime types; next week takes up the forms government takes. (reading, 5–7 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill — Project Gutenberg — the free online edition of Mill's essay that this course quotes; choose "Read online now" and search for the words rightfully exercised to find the first of the two sentences quoted this week, with the second right after it, then stop unless you want more. (reading, 5–10 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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