Niko Kolodny
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
University of California, Berkeley

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Phil 115: Political Philosophy

W, Th, F 10–12:30 in 109 Dwinelle

Office hours: W 1–3 in 144 Moses Hall, or by appointment

What is political philosophy?  How does it differ from political science?  In political science, one seeks to describe, explain, and predict political phenomena.  (Why did Italy and Germany unify when they did?  What impact will demographic shifts have on the presidential election?)  These questions must be settled empirically: by consulting history, observing differences between countries, taking polls, and so on. 

Political philosophy asks different questions, which it is less clear that we can settle empirically.  Some of these questions are conceptual.  What makes a particular form of human interaction political?  Other questions are normative.  What sort of government should we have?  How should we, as individuals, relate to it?

This course focuses on the political philosophy of John Rawls, 1921–2002.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

***** CHANGE IN OFFICE HOURS: W 1–3 *****

***** CHANGE IN DUE DATE OF THIRD PAPER: JUNE 26 ***

SYLLABUS -- Updated 5/21/07

Syllabus (PDF)

Syllabus (HTML)

HANDOUTS:

FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS

15. June 27, 2007

THIRD PAPER TOPIC -- Note that the due date has changed to June 26.

14. June 22, 2007 --- REVISED 6/20/07

13. June 21, 2007

12. June 20, 2007

11. June 15, 2007

10. June 14, 2007

9. June 13, 2007

SECOND PAPER TOPIC

8. June 8, 2007

7. June 7, 2007 --- and Bonus Handout on Gauthier

6. June 6, 2007

5. May 31 and June 1, 2007 --- and Bonus Handout on Nozick's argument for the minimal state

Bonus Handout on the family

4. May 30, 2007

3. May 25, 2007

Part of the reading for May 25, 2007: Justice as Fairness, sec. 6. Note that, because your instructor is not particularly handy with Xerox machines, this PDF has the pages in reverse order. The bookstore plans to get more copies of the book in stock by May 31.

2. May 24, 2007

FIRST PAPER TOPIC

1. May 23, 2007