Politics, Society, and Values

Politics, Society and Values

Diversity in the form of societal groups has always pre-occupied philosophers, whether in the form of thoughts about what it takes to be a citizen in the ancient Greek city-state, or in the form of contemporary debates about community and multiculturalism. This course focuses on theories of the significance of groups and diversity in politics, both in the history of philosophy and in contemporary philosophy.

The course is divided into three modules.

The first part of the course, on the history of philosophy, begins with a reading of Aristotle’s Politics I.1-2, where the genesis and structure of societal groups in the Greek city-state are mapped. We then move on to book III in his Politics, which deals with a series of interrelated questions: What is a citizen? Which groups of inhabitants in a city-state qualify as citizens? Which groups do not? Which constitutional form is best with respect to the common good? Which role can and should the multitude play in political decision processes?

The second part of the course, on theoretical philosophy, focuses on the concept of community, which has played an important role in different philosophical traditions and debates. In particular, it figures centrally in phenomenological theorizing about the foundations of sociality (Scheler, Stein, Walther). Although everyone would agree that communities bind their members in some way, how should one think of the relationship between self and community? Moreover, what distinguishes communities from other kinds of social groups? And what value do communities have, if at all? The aim of the module is to analyse the concept of community as it plays out in different debates and philosophical traditions. 

The third and final part of the course, on practical philosophy, takes up recent debates about immigration and multiculturalism. Immigration is a source of diversity and political philosophers disagree about whether, and if so how, it should be restricted (David Miller, Joseph Carens). In part, these debates reflect concerns about the impact of immigration on community, or social cohesion. So, are states justified in restricting immigration, or should they have more or less open borders? Furthermore, how should states respond to the diversity that exists in them? For example, should they aim to promote a national identity in the citizenry, or should they accommodate diversity by introducing minority group rights (or both)?