Political Philosophy
1. Pre-requisites
Basics of philosophy, basics of logic, basics of the history of political thought.
2. Abstract
The course focuses on the contemporary analytical political philosophy. This type of political
theory is preeminently practised and flourishes in the world-leading British and American
universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton etc. Rather than taking it as a
particular way of thinking about politics, based on local realities, the courses treats this
intellectual movement as the modern-day realization of Platonic ideal of philosophical power.
The course discusses foundations, frameworks and methods of the analytical political philosophy,
as well as the common topics and issues, like negative liberty, distributive justice, democracy,
welfare, human rights and so on.
3. Recommended Reference Texts
Goodin, Robert, Pettit, Philip (ed.). A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy
(Blackwell, 2007). [Cited below as Goodin 2007]
Kymlicka, Will, Contemporary Political Philosophy, 2nd edn. (Oxford University Press, 2002).
Miller, David. Political Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction. 2003
Shapiro Ian. The Moral Foundations of Politics. 2003
Shapiro, Ian (et al.). Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics. 2004
Skinner, Quentin. The Foundations of Modern Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1978).
Swift, Adam, Political Philosophy: A Beginners’ Guide for Students and Politicians (Polity Press,
2001).
Calendar
SES #
TOPICS
1
Introduction. Philosophy and Politics in 20th c.
2
Foundations 1. Consciousness. Intentionality. Mental Causation.
3
Foundations 2. Personal Identity. Language. Representation
4
Foundations 3. Rational agency. Free Will.
SES #
TOPICS
5
Foundations 4. Normativity and Rule-following.
6
Foundations 5. Individualism vs. Collectivism. Holism vs. Atomism
7
Foundations 6. Moral Community. Freedom and Responsibility.
8
Foundations 7. Conventions. Coordination. Prisoners’ Dilemma. Nash
Equilibria.
9
Frameworks 1. Social Contract. Cooperation
10
Frameworks 2. The Rule of Law. Philosophy of Law. Constitutional Theory
11
Frameworks 3. Utilitarianism and Moral Consequentialism. Trolley Problem.
12
Liberty 1. Principles of non-frustration (Mill, Hobbes) and of non-interference
(Berlin)
13
Liberty 2. Principle of non-domination (Pettit, Skinner)
14
Justice 1. Liberalism (Rawls)
15
Justice 2. Republicanism (Pettit, Skinner).
16
Issues 1. Democracy. Equality. Welfare.
17
Issues 2. Human Rights
18
Issues 3. Moral Obligation. Blame. Deserts.
SES #
TOPICS
19
Issues 4. Groups and Corporate Agents.
20
Issues 5. International Relations and the Global Order
Reading Materials
1. Introduction. Philosophy and Politics in 20th c.
 Pettit, Philip. Why and How Philosophy Matters to Politics
2. Foundations 1. Consciousness. Intentionality. Mental Causation.
 Ludlow, Peter; Nagasawa, Yujin; Stoljar, Daniel, eds. (2004). There's Something about
Mary: essays on phenomenal consciousness and Frank Jackson's knowledge argument.
Cambridge: MIT Press
 Pettit. Philip. Intentionality. Thought in: The Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology,
Society, and Politics
 Searle, John. Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind (1983)
3. Foundations 2. Personal Identity. Language. Representation
 Mulgan, Timothy. Personhood in [Goodin 2007]
 Parfit, Derek. Reasons and Persons.
 Pitkin, H.: The Concept of Representation (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1967).
4. Foundations 3. Rational agency. Free Will.
 Davidson, Donald. Essays on Actions and Events, 2nd ed. Oxford. 2001
 John Searle, Freedom and Neurobiology: Reflections on Free Will, Language, and
Political Power, Columbia University Press, 2007
 Pettit, Philip. A Theory of Freedom: From the Psychology to the Politics of Agency,
Polity Press, 2001
5. Foundations 4. Normativity and Rule-following.
 Kripke. Saul, Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, Blackwells, Oxford, 1982.
 Pettit, Philip. The Reality of Rule-Following. Mind, New Series, Vol. 99, No. 393. (Jan.,
1990), pp. 1-21
 Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations.
6. Foundations 5. Individualism vs. Collectivism. Holism vs. Atomism
 Pettit, Philip. Part II. The Common Mind.
7. Foundations 6. Moral Community. Freedom and Responsibility.
 Strawson, Peter. Freedom and Resentment.
 Pettit, Philip. Ch. 1-4. A Theory of Freedom: From the Psychology to the Politics of
Agency, Polity Press, 2001
8. Foundations 7. Conventions. Coordination. Prisoners’ Dilemma. Nash Equilibria.
 Lewis, David. (1969). Convention: A Philosophical Study.
 Rescorla, Michael, "Convention", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer
2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/convention/
9. Frameworks 1. Social Contract. Cooperation.
 Dworkin, R.: ‘The original position’, in Reading Rawls, ed. N. Daniels (New York: Basic
Books, 1976).
 Hampton, Jean. Contract and Consent in [Goodin 2007]
 Scanlon, Thomas. What We Owe to Each Other, Harvard University Press (1998)
10. Frameworks 2. The Rule of Law. Philosophy of Law. Constitutional Theory




Campbell, Tom. Legal Studies in [Goodin 2007]
Dworkin, R.: Taking Rights Seriously (London: Duckworth, 1984).
Hart, H. L. A.: The Concept of Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961).
Ten, C. L. Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law in [Goodin 2007]
11. Frameworks 3. Utilitarianism and Moral Consequentialism. Trolley Problem.
 Pettit, Philip. ‘The Inescapability of Consequentialism’ in Ulrike Heuer and Gerald Lang,
eds, Luck, Value and Commitment: Themes from the Ethics of Bernard Williams, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 2012, 41-70.
 Sen, Amartya and Williams, Bernard, eds., Utilitarianism and Beyond, Cambridge
University Press, 1982
12. Liberty 1. Principles of non-frustration (Mill, Hobbes) and of non-interference (Berlin)
 Berlin, I. (1967) Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
 Pelczyinski. Z. and J. Gray, eds. (1984) Conceptions of Liberty in Political Philosophy
(London: Athbone Press).
13. Liberty 2. Principle of non-domination (Pettit, Skinner)
 Pettit, Philip. ‘The Instability of Freedom as Non-interference: The Case of Isaiah Berlin’,
Ethics, Vol 121, 2011, 693-716.
 Pettit, Philip. A Theory of Freedom: From the Psychology to the Politics of Agency,
Polity Press, 2001
 Pettit, Philip. Republican Freedom: Three Axioms, Four Theorems.
 Skinner, Q. Liberty before Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
14. Justice 1. Liberalism (Rawls)
 Rawls, J.: ‘Justice as fairness: political not metaphysical’, Philosophy and Public Affairs,
14 (1985), 223–51.
 Rawls, J.: A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971).
 Sandel, M.: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1982).
15. Justice 2. Republicanism (Pettit, Skinner).
 Haakonssen, Knud. Republicanism in [Goodin 2007]
 Pettit, Philip. Just Freedom: A Moral Compass for a Complex World (W.W.Norton 2014)
 Pocock, J. G. A.: The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the
Atlantic Republican Tradition (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975).
 Skinner, Quentin. Liberty before Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998).
16. Issues 1. Democracy. Equality. Welfare.





Gutmann, Amy. Democracy in [Goodin 2007]
Hamlin, Alan. Welfare in [Goodin 2007]
Richard J. Arneson. Equality in [Goodin 2007]
Scanlon, Thomas. When does equality matter? (Video, Youtube)
Shapiro, Ian. The State of Democratic Theory (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
2003).
17. Issues 2. Human Rights
 Beitz, Charles R. The Idea of Human Rights. Oxford. Oxford University Press, 2009
 Beitz, Charles R.. Human Rights in [Goodin 2007]
 Nickel, J.: Making Sense of Human Rights, 2nd edn (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
2006).
 Pettit, Philip. ‘The Basic Liberties’ in Matthew Kramer et al, eds, The Legacy of
H.L.A.Hart: Legal, Political and Moral Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2008, 20124.
 Sen, A.: ‘Elements of a theory of human rights’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 32 (2004),
315–56.
18. Issues 3. Moral Obligation. Blame. Deserts.
 McLeod, Owen, "Desert", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013
Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/desert/
 Scanlon, Thomas. Moral Dimensions: Permissibility, Meaning, Blame, Harvard
University Press (2008)
 Tognazzini, Neal and Coates, D. Justin, "Blame", The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/blame/
19. Issues 4. Groups and Corporate Agents.
 List, Christian and Pettit, Philip. Group Agency: The Possibility, Design and Status of
Corporate Agents (OUP 2011)
 Wellman, Christopher. Responsibility: Personal, Collective, Corporate in [Goodin 2007]
20. Issues 5. International Relations and the Global Order
 Doyle, Michael. Sovereignty and Humanitarian Military Intervention in [Goodin 2007]
 Mcmahan, Jeff. Just War in [Goodin 2007]
 Pettit, Philip. ‘Republican Law of Peoples’, European Journal of Political Theory, Special
issue on ‘Republicanism and International Relations’, 2010
 Rawls, J.: The Law of Peoples (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999).
 Van Parijs, Philippe. International Distributive Justice in [Goodin 2007]