PHIL 170.002 – Liberty, Rights, and Responsibilities: Introduction to Social Ethics and Political Thought

Instructor: Paul Garofalo. This course meets MWF 1:25 – 2:15 p.m. in FH 104.

We find ourselves born into a society that we did not choose, surrounded by rules we did not make backed by coercive force to compel us to comply. How should we respond to this fact? In this course we will explore both historical and contemporary perspectives on this issue. This will involve addressing broad questions of political philosophy such as: What, if anything, makes the state’s authority legitimate? What is the limit of that authority over individuals? What does justice require? And is injustice compatible with legitimate authority? At the same time, we will apply the answers to these broad questions to contemporary political and social issues, such as the structure of property rights, free speech and protest, the right of a state to control its borders, the limits on the state’s ability to interfere in the “private” interactions of individuals, and other topics facing us today. This course will focus on developing the philosophical skills necessary to think about these kinds of questions so that we can critically assess different views on these topics, including our own.

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