What is the purpose of government? Why should we have a State? What kind of State should we have? Even within a political community, there may be sharp disagreements about the role and purpose of government. Some want an active, involved government, seeing legal and political institutions as the means to solve our most pressing problems, and to help bring about peace, equality, justice, happiness, and to protect individual liberty. Others want a more minimal government, motivated, perhaps, by some of the disastrous political experiments of the 20th Century, and the thought that political power is often just a step away from tyranny. In many cases, these disagreements arise out of deep philosophical disagreements. All political and legal institutions are built on foundational ideas. In this course, we will explore those ideas, taking the political institutions and political systems around us not as fixed and unquestionable, but as things to evaluate and, if necessary, to change. We will consider the ideas and arguments of some of the world’s most celebrated philosophers, including historical thinkers such as Plato, Hugo Grotius, David Hume, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and more contemporary theorists such as Michelle Alexander, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Bryan Caplan, Angela Davis, Ronald Dworkin, Jon Elster, John Hart Ely, H.L.A. Hart, Michael Huemer, Andrew Rehfeld, and Jeremy Waldron. The aim of the course is not to convince you of the correctness of any particular view or political position, but to provide you with a deeper and more philosophically-informed basis for your own views, and, perhaps, to help you better understand the views of those with whom you disagree.
AB
where is my certificate ? I need my Certificate because i fortify myself to complete this difficult Leeson.Thanks
SD
Its a NYC course to learn about revolutionary ideas and border elections
Showing: 13 of 13
where is my certificate ?
I need my Certificate because i fortify myself to complete this difficult Leeson.
Thanks
Another very good course that made me look at things in a different way. A natural follow on to the first Revolutionary Ideas course. It's well worth following up on the suggested readings when you can find them online.
Its a NYC course to learn about revolutionary ideas and border elections
Je suis ravi de pouvoir finir ce programme.
Maintenant, j'ai besoin d'un certificat de fin de ma formation.
Merci
This exploration of revolutionary ideas challenges the deeply ingrained structures that define modern states. It forces us to question whether the institutions we take for granted—like national borders, electoral systems, constitutional frameworks, and prisons—are truly serving justice and freedom, or simply preserving the status quo. The discussion around borders invites us to rethink identity and belonging in a globalized world. Rather than markers of division, revolutionary thinking sees them as artificial barriers to human dignity and mobility. When it comes to elections, the critique is timely: with growing disillusionment in democratic systems, the search for more participatory, inclusive, and anti-elitist alternatives is both urgent and inspiring. Constitutions, often viewed as untouchable legal bedrocks, are reimagined here as dynamic instruments of the people—not static documents controlled by the few. This shift reflects a desire for ongoing, collective authorship of the social contract. Finally, the challenge to prisons is perhaps the most radical—and the most humane. Abolitionist ideas don’t merely critique incarceration; they imagine a world where harm is addressed through healing, not punishment. Overall, these revolutionary ideas do not destroy the concept of the state—they reframe it with justice, inclusion, and transformation at the center. It’s bold, uncomfortable, and deeply necessary.
It has been an excelent course,like the previous one.I cannot carry out an extensive project for my classmates,I do not espeak english.It is very difficult for me to translate a few lines,a long work is impossible.Professor,as I already told youin the previous course.it's a been a pleasure to heard it.It hope for more courses from you one day.Saludos Beatriz.
Thank you very much for this course
Πάρα πολύ καλό μάθημα.
war sehr good
Very good .
Excellent .
5
good