Freedom, Equality, Difference
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Syllabus
Freedom, Equality, Difference Syllabus, Fall 2008-2009
Text Selections
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Nella Larsen, Passing
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Selected Supreme Court cases
Course Description
"Freedom” and “equality” are commonly appealed to as the fundamental principles of Western liberal societies. Individuals are supposed to be treated as equals and have an equal right to freedom. Specifically, they are entitled to the freedom to carry on their everyday lives and pursue their ambitions without prejudice to race, ethnicity, religion or gender.
Yet the principles of freedom and equality are often contested as soon as we move from the realm of abstract ideals to concrete social practices. People who agree in principle find themselves differing (sometimes violently) about what kinds of freedom and equality are important and essential to a just society. Which freedoms will a just society promote and which must be curtailed for the sake of justice? What particular equalities properly concern government (such as equality of opportunity or well-being)? How can the achievement of equality be reconciled with respect for freedom? What action should social and political institutions take to guarantee freedom and equality?
These questions embody some of our most pressing national and global issues today. This course explores these and related questions through interdisciplinary inquiry that includes political philosophy, literature, education, history and law. We will repeatedly move between the realm of abstract ideas and actual case histories, using one to shed light on the other.