Optional Theme 1 (SL & HL): Political philosophy

          Political philosophy is the study of people in societies, focusing on the claims they have on each other in the form of rights and obligations, and their demands for justice, equality and liberty. Political philosophy is also concerned with the analysis of the state and its institutions.

          This theme deals with issues about sovereignty and political obligation, allowing students to explore philosophically such questions as:

·    Under which conditions can political obligation arise and what is its extent?

·    Are freedom and equality compatible?

·    Can justice be an ideal as well as a process?

·    How are laws justified and are there aspects of human life that laws should not attempt to regulate?

·    Can it be assumed that democracy is the best form of government?

·    What is the relationship between international institutions and national sovereignty?

 

Possible topics for study

Civil society, the state and government

•        Distinctions between state, nation, government and civil society: authority, sovereignty, power and corruption

•        Social-contract theories of civil society and government: consent; revolution

•        Forms of government: one-party democracy, multi-party democracy, oligarchy, monarchy, authoritarian and totalitarian rule, tribalism, theocracy

•        Ideologies of government: liberalism, conservatism, Marxism and socialism

•        Civil duties

•        Anarchism

•        “Just war” theory, the concept of jihad

•        Terrorism and the use of violence for political ends

Liberty and rights

•        Positive and negative liberty

•        Legal and human rights: duties and responsibilities

•        Liberty and equality: needs, merit, entitlement and social justice

•        Degrees of censorship and freedom of information

Justice

•        The distinction between distributive and retributive justice: the right or will of the strong; substantive versus procedural justice; relations to fairness; truth; the moral and positive law

•        Notions of punishment

•        Gender politics

•        National and international law

•        Crimes against humanity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SECTION B Optional Theme 1 (SL & HL): Political Philosophy

 

Example from exam: “There is a difference between having rights and having the possibility of exercising rights.” Discuss and critically evaluate.

 

This question asks for an examination of the notion of rights both on theoretical and on practical levels. It also invites an exploration of the relationship that might exist between freedom and rights in personal and political contexts.

 

Key points

·         The notion of rights: personal, political, universal

·         Rights: Inalienable, acquired, natural, distributive, self-evident, God-given

·         The notion of freedom: personal, political, universal

·         Rights versus duties, responsibilities, obligations

·         Political authority and rights

·         Violation of rights; suppression of rights; denial of rights; extension of rights; protection of rights

·         The struggle and the demand for rights

·         Rights and justice

·         Forms of government as contexts for the acquisition and exercise of rights

·         Positive freedom and its possible implications

 

Discussion

·         Is it possible to speak of rights without speaking of the possibility of exercising those rights?

·         Do rights imply the duty and/or obligation to exercise them? To protect and preserve them?

·         How do various theories of rights promote or limit the acquisition and exercise of rights (e.g. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Rawls, Nozick, Lucas)?

·         How have various political philosophers and philosophies defined the notion of rights and the notion of freedom and justice in the exercise of rights?

·         What are the alternatives or options to a political situation that denies, represses, limits or violates rights?

·         How can political institutions promote, maintain and protect rights?

·         What is the nature of the relationship between rights and responsibilities? Is there one?

·         Is the possibility of exercising one’s rights itself a right?

·         Do the possession and exercise of rights have ethical/moral implications?

·         Can we speak of the possession and exercise of universal rights?

·         How does cultural pluralism and a global community impact on our understanding of rights?

·         Social democratic points of view

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·    Government: compatibility of benevolence and dictatorship

          Critically evaluate the claim that benevolent dictatorship is the best form of government.

 

·    Liberty and rights: freedom within a variety of state structures

          Explain and discuss the notion of freedom within the state.

 

·    Civil society, liberty & rights: political obligation, privilege, right, duty

          Evaluate the grounds for political obligation.

 

·    Government: power vs authority; types of power & state

          Evaluate philosophically the relationship between power and the state.

 

·    Justice, liberty & rights: justice; personal/social responsibilities

          “Some people are born rich and some are born poor. If this is unjust, should anything be done about it?” Discuss and critically evaluate.

 

·    Government, liberty & rights: legitimate means to alter government

          To what extent might there be a right to revolution?

 

·    Government, liberty & rights: state’s rights/authority vs. individual citizen

          To what extent should the state make laws to protect us from ourselves?

 

·    Distributive/retributive justice; state’s duties

          To what extent is the role of justice in the state to correct social and economic inequalities?

 

·    Civil society, government: social contract emergence, authority of states

          Explain and discuss the origin and maintenance of the state according to at least one social contract theory.

 

·    Liberty & rights: Rights: natural, inalienable, attributed

          Critically evaluate the idea that human rights emerge as a natural property of the human condition.

 

·    Civil society, government: emergence, viability of anarchism in the world

          To what extent is anarchism viable in a modern society?

 

·    Justice, liberty 6 rights: nature, scope of international law; justice

          Evaluate the challenges that arise out of movements to establish international laws in more areas of our global society.

 

·    Liberty & rights: freedom, distributive justice; governmental role

          Is the primary duty of any form of government to ensure the liberty and equality of all its citizens?

 

·    Liberty & rights: Rights: personal, social & political contexts

          “There is a difference between having rights and having the possibility of exercising rights.” Discuss and critically evaluate.

 

·    Civil society, liberty & rights: Scope, limitations of ‘social contract’ theories.

          Assess the merits and drawbacks of the notion of “Social Contract”.

 

·    Civil society, Government: Power, authority; legitimacy in political contexts

          “Political power is one thing, but legitimate political power is justified power, or authority.” Discuss and evaluate.

 

·    Justice: Justice: political/governmental contexts

          “There will always be numerous answers to the single question of justice.” Discuss and evaluate.

 

·    Civil society, Justice: Punishment, deterrence vs. revenge, retribution

          To what extent should a law be deterrent by means of punishment?

 

·    Liberty & rights: Value, scope, meaning, viability of human rights

          “The idea of human rights is nonsense. It is talk without meaning.” Critically evaluate this statement.

 

·    Civil society, liberty & rights: Civil disobedience; limitations, enactment

          Under what circumstances, if any, is civil disobedience justified?