Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality, Freedom

About this course: What is the purpose of government? Why should we have a State? What kind of State should we have? Even within a political community, there may be sharp disagreements about the role and purpose of government. Some want an active, involved government, seeing legal and political institutions as the means to solve our most pressing problems, and to help bring about peace, equality, justice, happiness, and to protect individual liberty. Others want a more minimal government, motivated, perhaps, by some of the disastrous political experiments of the 20th Century, and the thought that political power is often just a step away from tyranny. In many cases, these disagreements arise out of deep philosophical disagreements. All political and legal institutions are built on foundational ideas. In this course, we will explore those ideas, taking the political institutions and political systems around us not as fixed and unquestionable, but as things to evaluate and, if necessary, to change. We will consider the ideas and arguments of some of the world’s most celebrated philosophers, including historical thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, and John Stuart Mill; and more contemporary theorists such as Elizabeth Anderson, Isaiah Berlin, Thomas Christiano, Frantz Fanon, Amy Gutmann, Friedrich Hayek, Robert Nozick, Martha Nussbaum, Julius Nyerere, Ayn Rand, John Rawls, Peter Singer, and Kok-Chor Tan. The aim of the course is not to convince you of the correctness of any particular view or political position, but to provide you with a deeper and more philosophically-informed basis for your own views, and, perhaps, to help you better understand the views of those with whom you disagree.

Created by:  University of Pennsylvania

• Taught by:  Alexander Guerrero, Assistant Professor

  Philosophy and Medical Ethics and Health Policy

Commitment 20 hours of videos and quizzes Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (commonly referred to as Penn) is a private university, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. A member of the Ivy League, Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and considers itself to be the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Syllabus


WEEK 1


Unit 1: Introduction to Part I of the Course
An introduction to Part I of the course and to some of the fundamental problems in legal and political philosophy.


4 videos, 4 readings expand

1. Video: Introduction to Part 1
2. Reading: Syllabus
3. Reading: Networks
4. Reading: Grading
5. Reading: Argumentative Reflections
6. Video: Lecture 1.1: Political Institutions & Starting Positions
7. Video: Lecture 1.2: Peace & Problem Solving
8. Video: Lecture 1.3: Choice Points in Designing a State

Graded: Introduction

WEEK 2


Unit 2: Happiness and Welfare
Why should we have a State? This unit examines answers that focus on the role for legal and political institutions in promoting happiness, peace, stability, and human flourishing.


12 videos, 7 readings expand

1. Reading: Relevant Readings
2. Video: Lecture 2.0: Introduction to Happiness & Utility
3. Reading: Relevant Readings
4. Video: Lecture 2.1.0: Happiness, Thomas Hobbes & the State of Nature
5. Video: Lecture 2.1.1: Happiness, Thomas Hobbes & Escaping the State of Nature
6. Reading: Relevant Readings
7. Video: Lecture 2.2: Happiness, Welfare & the Scope of the State
8. Reading: Relevant Readings
9. Video: Lecture 2.3.0: Happiness, John Stuart Mill & the Harm Principle
10. Video: Lecture 2.3.1: Happiness & the Harm Principle
11. Video: Lecture 2.4: A Constructive Role for the State in Promoting Happiness
12. Reading: Relevant Readings
13. Video: Lecture 2.5: Promoting Happiness: Collective Action Problems, Public Goods, and Free Riding
14. Reading: Relevant Readings
15. Video: Lecture 2.6.0: Promoting Happiness: The Epistemic Power of the State
16. Video: Lecture 2.6.1: Promoting Happiness: The Epistemic Power of Deliberation
17. Video: Lecture 2.6.2: Promoting Happiness: The Epistemic Power of Large Numbers
18. Reading: Relevant Readings
19. Video: Lecture 2.7: Promoting Happiness: Law & Development

Graded: Happiness and Welfare
Graded: First Argumentative Reflection Assignment

WEEK 3


Unit 3: Justice
Why should we have a State? This unit examines answers that focus on the State’s role in bringing about justice, introducing and analyzing four different views of justice.


9 videos, 3 readings expand

1. Video: Lecture 3.0: Introduction
2. Reading: Relevant Readings
3. Video: Lecture 3.1.0: Distributive Justice & Utilitarianism
4. Video: Lecture 3.1.1: Distributive Justice: Problems with Utilitarianism
5. Reading: Relevant Readings
6. Video: Lecture 3.2.0: Justice: The Capabilities Approach
7. Video: Lecture 3.2.1: Justice: The Ten Central Human Capabilities
8. Video: Lecture 3.3: Justice: Nozick's Entitlement Theory
9. Reading: Relevant Readings
10. Video: Lecture 3.4.0: Justice: Rawls's Theory of Justice
11. Video: Lecture 3.4.1: Justice: Rawls & The Original Position
12. Video: Lecture 3.4.2: Justice: Rawls & The Two Principles of Justice

Graded: Justice
Graded: Second Argumentative Reflection Assignment

WEEK 4


Unit 4: Equality
Why should we have a State? This unit examines answers that focus on the importance of equality. It introduces and analyzes views of equality as a constraint, and views of equality as a societal or political objective.


5 videos, 3 readings expand

1. Video: Lecture 4.0: Equality: An Introduction
2. Reading: Relevant Readings
3. Video: Lecture 4.1.0: Equality as a Constraint: Legal & Political Equality
4. Video: Lecture 4.1.1: Equality as a Constraint: Re-Examining Political Equality
5. Reading: Relevant Readings
6. Video: Lecture 4.2: Equality as an Objective: Introduction to Egalitarianism
7. Reading: Relevant Readings
8. Video: Lecture 4.3: Equality: Connections Between Material & Political Equality

Graded: Equality

WEEK 5


Unit 5: Freedom
Why should we have a State? This unit examines answers that focus on the importance of freedom, including discussion of the way in which the State can be a threat to freedom, and the way in which the State can promote or protect our freedom.


10 videos, 3 readings expand

1. Reading: Relevant Readings
2. Video: Lecture 5.0: Freedom & Autonomy: An Introduction
3. Reading: Relevant Readings
4. Video: Lecture 5.1.0: Freedom & Autonomy: Positive & Negative Freedom
5. Video: Lecture 5.1.1: Positive & Negative Freedom & The Role of the State
6. Reading: Relevant Readings
7. Video: Lecture 5.2: Freedom & Autonomy: Individual & Community Freedom
8. Video: Concluding Part I, Introducing Part II
9. Video: Roundtable Discussion: Question 1
10. Video: Roundtable Discussion: Question 2
11. Video: Roundtable Discussion: Question 3
12. Video: Roundtable Discussion: Question 4
13. Video: Reflections on Revolutionary Ideas: A Question & Answer Session with Prof. Guerrero

Graded: Freedom
Graded: Third Argumentative Reflection Assignment