Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to BA students Philosophy, enrolled in the Global and Comparative Perspectives track.
Description
This course offers an introduction to contemporary political philosophy, focusing on key questions about how political and social life should be organized. We begin by exploring the nature and legitimacy of political authority: Can governments be justified? Do individuals have a moral obligation to obey the law? Next, we turn to questions about the nature of rule and decision-making within government: Who should rule—the elite few or the democratic many? We will pay special attention to the foundations, challenges, and limits of democratic authority. Third, we will critically examine three important moral and political ideals underlying political life – namely, the ideals of liberty, equality and justice. We will explore the most influential theories of distributive justice. We then broaden our lens to more applied political question, such as the ethics of war and global poverty. What are the ethical constraints on warfare? Do we have stronger obligations to fellow citizens than to distant strangers? Students will be encouraged to think analytically about the material, to evaluate different interpretations of core concepts, and to consider their application to concrete contexts of political action in the modern world.
Course objectives
The course aims to give students a basic grounding in contemporary political philosophy.
Students who successfully complete the course will have a good understanding of:
some fundamental concepts in political philosophy;
some of the critical problems that they raise in theory, as well as in political practice;
selections from works by some of the most influential twentieth and twenty-first century political theorists.
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
- discuss questions of understanding and application knowledgeably and with a grasp of the complex relation between theory and practice.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Lecture
Assessment method
Assessment
- Final exam (3 hours, digital, on campus) - 100%
The final exam consists of closed and short open questions.
Weighing
To pass the course, the grade must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
The resit consists of a 3-hour exam covering the entire content of the course.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The full reading list will be posted on Brightspace prior to the start of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable.