PHIL 436H (01) - Honors/Social and Political Philosophy

Honors/Social & Political Phil

Durham Liberal Arts :: Philosophy

Credits: 4.0
Term: Fall 2022 - Full Term (08/29/2022 - 12/12/2022)
Grade Mode: Letter Grading

Class Size: 20
CRN: 16527

Examines social and political thought that may include texts from ancient through contemporary times, addressing topics such as natural rights, revolution, law, freedom, justice, power. Questions may include: What is a community, and how are individuals related to communities? Can any particular form of government be morally justified, and if so, what kind of government? Can anarchism work? Is there something wrong with a society in which there is private ownership of property? What is oppressive? What is freedom, and are we free? What roles should different forms of power play in a society? Could and should there be a genderless society? Is ethnic diversity valuable? Writing intensive.

Registration Approval Required. Contact Instructor or Academic Department for permission then register through Webcat.

Equivalent(s): PHIL 436, PHIL 436W, PHIL 437

Only the following students: Honors Program

Attributes: Writing Intensive Course, Inquiry (Discovery), Humanities(Disc), Honors course

Instructors: STAFF

Times & Locations

Start Date	End Date	Days	Time	Location
8/29/2022	12/12/2022	MWF	1:10pm - 2:00pm	HS 202

Additional Course Details:

THE MEANING OF FREEDOM

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Since freedom is evidently something worth killing and dying for; since freedom is the foundation for our political, social, and economic systems; since freedom is a requirement for living morally with others and perhaps under God; in fine, since freedom has to do with the most important things, there seems to be no more valuable enterprise than an inquiry into the nature and meaning of human freedom.

To understand the meaning of freedom in its social and political ramifications, we will look historically and thematically at the role of freedom as it regards politics, God, work, property, other people, and nature. At all times we will be looking to evaluate our own understanding of the meaning of freedom. We would like to bring to bear any presuppositions we have about human freedom that determine what we expect from ourselves, and from our community. Our goal will be to understand what these authors have to say about freedom. We will also ask ourselves how these texts speak to us, or how they do not. Do these texts show us things about ourselves? Ultimately, we will critically examine the presuppositions of both our authors and ourselves as regards Freedom, The Social, and The Political. (WI, HUMA, INQ, Honors)