Course Summary
Explore the role of morality in politics and learn how to analyze and evaluate different moral and ethical views with this thought-provoking course.Key Learning Points
- Understand the relationship between morality and politics
- Learn how to analyze moral and ethical views
- Gain insight into the complexities of political morality
- Explore how different political ideologies approach morality
Related Topics for further study
Learning Outcomes
- Gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between morality and politics
- Learn how to analyze and evaluate different moral and ethical views
- Develop critical thinking skills to navigate complex political issues
Prerequisites or good to have knowledge before taking this course
- Basic understanding of political science
- Interest in moral and ethical issues
Course Difficulty Level
IntermediateCourse Format
- Online
- Self-paced
- Video lectures
- Assignments
- Quizzes
Similar Courses
- Introduction to Political Science
- Moral Foundations of Politics
Related Education Paths
Related Books
Description
When do governments deserve our allegiance, and when should they be denied it?
Outline
- Welcome to Moral Foundations of Politics
- Welcome to Moral Foundations of Politics!
- The Shape of the Course
- Expectations
- Course Overview
- Meet Your Instructor
- Pre-Course Survey
- Readings
- Enlightenment Political Theory
- The Eichmann Case and Problem of Illegal but Legitimate Acts
- The Paradox of Discomfort and the Organization of the Course
- Politics in the Enlightenment
- Early vs. Mature Enlightenments
- The Workmanship Ideal
- Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, pg. 21-55, 135-149
- Locke, First Treatise
- Locke, Second Treatise
- Hobbes Lessons for the Professors of Mathematics
- Mini Quiz - Enlightenment Political Theory
- Utilitarianism: Classical and Neoclassical
- Elements of Utilitarianism
- The Theory of Classical Utilitarianism
- The Utility Monster and the Principle of Diminishing Marginal Utility
- The Panopticon and Bentham on Government
- Distribution and Diminishing Marginal Utility
- Bentham on Equality and Rights
- Neoclassical Utilitarianism: The Philosophical Context Beginning
- Neoclassical Utilitarianism: The Economic Context
- Ideological Stakes of the Transition from Classical to Neoclassical Utilitarianism
- Introduction and the Harm Principle
- Bentham, Mill, and The Rights-Utility Synthesis
- The Harm Principle in Practice
- The Harm Principle and the Spectrum of Harm
- Harm Examples
- Is the Harm Principle Conservative?
- Office Hours 1
- Bentham, Intro to Morals and Legislation
- Bentham in W. Stark, Jeremy Bentham's Economic Writings, 442
- Mill, On Liberty, Chs. 1-2
- Mill, On Liberty Ch. 5
- Utilitarianism: Classical and Neoclassical
- Marxism, Its Failures and Its Legacy
- Marx Introduction
- Marx as an Enlightenment Thinker
- Marx's Challenge to Classical Political Economy
- The Working Class
- Exploitation - The Micro Story
- Exploitation - The Macro Story and the Theory of Crisis
- Marx's Overall Failures
- Failures in the Macro Theory
- Rethinking the Labor Theory of Value
- Office Hours 2
- Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
- Marx, Capital (Vol. I), Prefaces, Chs. I, IV, VI, XII, XVI (excerpts)
- Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program
- Marx, Theories of Surplus Value, Ch. XVII (Sections 8-11, 14)
- Roemer, "Should Marxists be interested in exploitation?" Analytical Marxism
- Marxism, Its Failures and Its Legacy
- The Social Contract Tradition I
- Consent and Thomas Hobbes
- John Locke and the Workmanship Ideal
- Locke on Consent
- Immanuel Kant's Ethics
- John Rawls Introduction
- John Rawls's Enduring Innovations
- The Veil of Ignorance
- Principles of Justice
- The Difference Principle
- Problems with Rawls
- Political Not Metaphysical
- Political Disagreement
- The Overlapping Consensus
- Hobbes, Leviathan, Introduction, Chs. 13-17, 21
- Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chs. 2-5
- Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals
- Rawls, A Theory of Justices, pg. 3-19, 52-56 (Sections 1-4, 11)
- Rawls, "Social Unity and Primary Goods," sect. IV, V in John Rawls: Collected Papers
- Rawls, A Theory of Justice, pg. 102-109, 118-123, 153-160, 221-227 (Sections 20, 21, 24, 29, 40)
- Rawls, "Justice as fairness: political not metaphysical." Philosophy & Public Affairs 14 (1985): 226-48 (Sections 2-6)
- Shapiro, "Resources, Capacities, and Ownership." Political Theory 19.1 (February 1991), 47-72
- The Social Contract Tradition I
- The Social Contract Tradition II
- Introduction to Nozick
- Features of Nozick's Account
- The Invisible Hand Evolution of the State
- Necessity and Obligation
- Incorporating Independents
- Compensation
- Liberty Upsets Patterns
- Markets and Power
- It is Unjust for Chamberlain to Make So Much Money
- Office Hours 3
- Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, pp. 3-17, 26-35 (Chs. 1-3)
- Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, pp. 54-63, 78-84, 88-90, 108-119 (Excerpts from Ch. 4, 5)
- Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, pp. 149-164, 174-182 (Excerpts from Ch. 7)
- The Social Contract Tradition
- Anti-Enlightenment Politics
- Burke's Conservatism
- Devlin's Conservatism
- Introduction to MacIntyre
- Emotivist Culture
- Practices
- Failure of the Enlightenment Project
- Concluding Anti-Enlightenment Thought
- Office Hours 4
- Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (excerpts
- Patrick Devlin, "Morals and the Criminal Law"
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, Chs. 1-3
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, Chs. 5
- Anti-Enlightenment Politics
- Democracy
- Democracy and its Critics
- The Federalist Papers
- The Republican Tradition
- Discovering the General Will
- Habermas' Deliberative Ideal
- Deliberation in the Real World
- The Westminster System in Practice
- The Majority Rule
- Competition and Democracy
- Electoral Systems
- Reviewing the Enlightenment
- Democracy and Human Freedom
- Office Hours 5
- Hamilton, Jay, and Madison, The Federalist Papers, Paper No. 1, 9, 10, 14, 39, 48, 51, 62, 70, 78
- Jean-Jaques Rousseau, The Social Contract and the First and Second Discourses, Book I Ch. 6-7, Book II Ch. 3
- William H. Riker, Ch. 5, "The Meaning of Social Choice" in Liberalism against Populism, pp. 115-23
- Jürgen Habermas, "Three Normative Models of Democracy"
- James Fishkin, "Deliberative Polling: Toward a Better-Informed Democracy"
- Locke, Second Treatise of Government, Chs. 17-19
- Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Ch. XXI and XXII
- Buchanan and Tullock, The Calculus of Consent, excerpt from Ch. 6
- Shapiro, "John Locke's Democratic Theory," in Locke's Two Treatises of Government, pp. 309-332
- Douglas Rae, "The Limits of Consensual Decision"
- Shapiro, "Elements of Democractic Justice." Political Theory
- Post-Course Survey
- Professor Shapiro's Letter to Students
- Democracy
Summary of User Reviews
Discover the intersection of morality and politics with this highly-rated course. Users found the instructor engaging and appreciated the thought-provoking content.Key Aspect Users Liked About This Course
engaging instructorPros from User Reviews
- Thought-provoking content
- Engaging instructor
- Well-organized material
- Useful for understanding political polarization
- Great for sparking discussions with peers
Cons from User Reviews
- Some users found the pacing slow
- Not as in-depth as some users had hoped
- Lacks diversity in perspectives
- Some users found the content overly biased
- Not for those looking for a strictly objective analysis
Ian Shapiro
4.9 Raiting
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