PHIL 4470 - Topics in Social and Political Philosophy

An investigation of leading questions about the values underlying democracy and their implications for current politics. What arguments might justify the consensus that democracy is the best form of government? To what extent is equality of political influence fundamentally important? What are the implications of democratic values for economic justice? For international justice? Are there countries in which non-democratic forms of government ought to be preferred? To what extent do politics and policies in the United States depart from democratic values? What are the prospects for improvement? Six sessions of the seminar will be led by leading figures in political science, economics and history visiting in the Ethics and Public Life series, “After the American Century: Hopes and Fears for America’s Future.”