Our focus this year is on liberalism, which is the main social and political ideology of the modern era. Its best known doctrines, such as the rule of law, individual rights, division of powers, and internationalism are mainstays of advanced democracies around the world. Moreover, its ideas of individualism, privacy, tolerance, reciprocity, pluralism, and irony define the culture, selfhood, and psychology of our times.

In this unit of study we will undertake an in-depth study of two thinkers who stand at the beginning, and perhaps the end, of the liberal tradition: Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) and John Rawls (1921-2002).

We will spend five weeks with Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835/1840), arguably the greatest book ever written on both democracy and America. Tocqueville himself was an aristocrat and very clearly saw both the pros and cons of the coming democratic age. With him we will explore ideas of freedom, equality, individualism, majority rule and tyranny of the majority, racism and genocide, and power.

With Rawls, we will dedicate five weeks to A Theory of Justice (1971), which is the most influential book of political philosophy of the twentieth century. With him we will look at ideas of justice, impartiality, fairness, merit, self-interest, moral education, shame, and love.

Guest appearances will also be made by Jonathan Lear (whose book “Radical Hope” will be used to frame the course), John Locke (one of the first great liberals) and Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (two fearsome early critics of liberalism). The goal of the unit of study is to achieve a better understanding of liberalism in general, and especially as it inform our own sense of what makes for a decent and legitimate polity, as well as a meaningful and enjoyable life.