American Political Philosophy (PHIL 473.001)

The course is an introduction to the history and basic traditions in American political thought starting with the American Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson’s letters and Notes on the State of Virginia, through the Federalist and anti-Federalist papers, John C. Calhoun’s theory of concurrent majority, Lincoln’s views on the Union, slavery, and race, and on to the contemporary works of John Rawls and Robert Nozick. Some main themes: the Lockean legacy and the ambiguous challenges to it; Natural rights; the justification of Revolution; republicanism; liberalism; Federalism; American nationalism; Black Nationalism; Racism; Multiculturalism; and the disputes between left and right leaning liberalisms.

Bernie Boxill’s webpage