This course serves as an introduction to several key issues and questions in Western political theory: What is the nature of justice? What is the nature of the "good life"? And how should we organize ourselves socially and politically if we are to secure justice and human flourishing? The diversity of answers to these and other questions provided by political thinkers and philosophers over the centuries will serve as the broad theme for this course. Our readings will draw upon texts by ancient, modern and contemporary political thinkers, including Plato, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls. These works will be complemented by readings on concrete moral and political issues, particularly those that bring into sharp relief tensions and conflicts between individual rights and freedoms on the one hand and collective goods and community norms on the other. Of particular interest are dilemmas surrounding free speech, affirmative action, the right to die (euthanasia), and international justice or aid to distant others. Lecture/discussion format. Requirements: class participation, regular small group meetings, weekly 1-page reaction papers, two 5- to 7-page papers, and a final exam. No prerequisites. This is an introductory course; open to all students, including first-year students. Political Theory Subfield