Courses

This course is subtitled "Political Philosophy and Public Policy." In making public policy, value judgements are unavoidable. Consider smoking regulations. Some countries, such as the UK, are implementing policies to ban tobacco sales. But is this policy justifiable? On the one hand, if the goal is to promote public health, the government should ban smoking. On the other hand, this policy will deprive "smoke lovers" of their freedom to smoke. If so, which should take priority: public health or freedom? Furthermore, smoking not only harms smoker's health, but also harms others. In that case, how should smoking be regulated? Addressing these policy issues requires not merely looking at scientific data (e.g., the correlation between smoking and cancer), but examining arguments based on value judgements. This course introduces students to both the methods and views of Western political philosophy by exploring how they intersect with a range of policy debates currently prominent in many states, such as drug use, affirmative action, immigration, animal welfare, international aid, and environmental taxes.