The Moral Foundations of Politics

This course explores main answers to the question, "When do governments deserve our allegiance?" It starts with a survey of major political theories of the Enlightenment—Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social contract tradition—through classical formulations, historical context, and contemporary debates relating to politics today. It then turns to the rejection of Enlightenment political thinking. Lastly, it deals with the nature of, and justifications for, democratic politics, and their relations to Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment political thinking. Practical implications of these arguments are covered through discussion of a variety of concrete problems.

About Professor Ian Shapiro

Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Henry R. Luce Director of the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. A native of South Africa, he received his J.D. and Ph.D. from Yale, where he has taught since 1984. His most recent books are The Flight From Reality in the Human Sciences; Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight Over Taxing Inherited Wealth (with Michael Graetz); and Containment: Rebuilding a Strategy against Global Terror. His current research concerns the relations between democracy and the distribution of income and wealth.

Sessions
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Lecture 1 Information and Housekeeping
Lecture 2 Introductory Lecture
Lecture 3 Natural Law Roots of the Social Contract Tradition
Lecture 4 Origins of Classical Utilitarianism
Lecture 5 Classical Utilitarianism and Distributive Justice
Lecture 6 From Classical to Neoclassical Utilitarianism
Lecture 7 The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility
Lecture 8 Limits of the Neoclassical Synthesis
Lecture 9 The Marxian Challenge
Lecture 10 Marx's Theory of Capitalism
Lecture 11 Marxian Exploitation and Distributive Justice
Lecture 12 The Marxian Failure and Legacy
Lecture 13 Appropriating Locke Today
Lecture 14 Rights as Side Constraints and the Minimal State
Lecture 15 Compensation versus Redistribution

Exam 1 Midterm

Lecture 16 The Rawlsian Social Contract
Lecture 17 Distributive Justice and the Welfare State
Lecture 18 The "Political-not-Metaphysical" Legacy
Lecture 19 The Burkean Outlook
Lecture 20 Contemporary Communitarianism (I)
Lecture 21 Contemporary Communitarianism (II)
Lecture 22 Democracy and Majority Rule (I)
Lecture 23 Democracy and Majority Rule (II)
Lecture 24 Democratic Justice: Theory
Lecture 25 Democratic Justice: Applications

Exam 2 Final Exam