Political Philosophy

This document is a reading guide for Scanlon "The Diversity of Objections to Inequality". You will find answers to 8 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Williams' approach. The questions are : a. What is the difference between a humanitarian concern as opposed to an egalitarian one? If they are different, then how could a humanitarian concern become a reason in favor of substantive equality? b. What is the problem, from an egalitarian perspective, with...

This document is a reading guide for John Rawls "A theory of Justice". You will find answers to 8 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Williams' approach. The questions are: a. What does it mean for members of a well-ordered society to view themselves and each other as “free and equal moral persons”? b. What is the role and the primary subject of justice? c. How does Rawls propose to make the original position “fair” among theindividual contr...

This document is a reading guide for Cohen "On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice, and Other Essays in Political Philosophy". You will find answers to 6 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Feinberg's approach. The questions are: a. According to Feinberg, why not all duties entail other people's rights? b. What is the difference between "having a right to something" and "deserving something"? What analogies does Feinberg use to illustrate the d...

This document is a reading guide for Elizabeth Anderson, “Democracy: Instrumental vs. Non-instrumental Value". You will find answers to 8 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Anderson's approach. The questions are : a. Why, if a dictator could give what people wanted, would many citizens still prefer to govern themselves? b. Why is the democratic way of life morally right? c. What are the three different understandings of democracy? d. Why is the ...

This document is a reading guide for Williams "Toleration, a Political or Moral Question?". You will find answers to 7 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Williams' approach. The questions are : a. What is toleration as a personal attitude? Why, according to Williams, do the practices of toleration not necessarily reflect an attitude of toleration? b. In what sense is the concept of toleration a relational one? c. What are the conditions under wh...

This document is a reading guide for Cohen "On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice, and Other Essays in Political Philosophy". You will find answers to 6 questions that will help you understand the main thesis and subtleties of Cohen's approach. The questions are : a. What is Cohen’s principal contention in “Freedom and Money”? b. Why does the Left think that poor people are only formally free? What is the Right’s response to that view? c. How does Cohen’s view on f...