This course introduces students to the disciplined study of philosophy through sustained reflection upon the nature of justice and the grounding and authority of claims invoking justice. The central theme of the course is that conceptions of justice and authority cannot be understood on their own. The meaning and authority of claims about justice and injustice can only be established through inferential relations to other philosophical issues, for example, concerning reason, knowledge, reality, agency, and identity. These issues will be explored through reflective engagement with classic treatments of these issues by Plato, Hobbes, Kant, and more contemporary philosophical work. The contemporary readings include discussions of distributive justice (concerning access to resources and opportunities), the interplay between gender and conceptions of justice, relations between justice and conceptions of identity, and whether justice and injustice can be assessed comparatively without reference to a comprehensive ideal social order. |