Philosophy 290-4

John Rawls radically altered the ways in which philosophers think about the question ‘How should we live together?’ when he published A Theory of Justice in 1971. Few philosophers would question that this work is the most ambitious and influential work on political philosophy produced during the twentieth century. The aim of this seminar is to engage with this work which has become a classic of philosophical and social thought.

Course readings: A Theory of Justice (revised edition), by John Rawls (Harvard). Justice as Fairness: a Restatement, by John Rawls (Harvard). Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy, by John Rawls, Samuel Freeman ed., (Harvard). The Cambridge Companion to Rawls, Samuel Freeman, ed., (Cambridge).

This course is intended for graduate students in philosophy, but advanced undergraduates may enroll with permission.