Political Philosophy

Dudley Knowles is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of the Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Hegel and the Philosophy of Right.

• Preface 1. Introduction: the methods of ethics and political philosophy; political philosophy 2. Utilitarianism: the foundations of utilitarianism; utilitarian political philosophy 3. Liberty: introduction; analysis; the value of freedom; free states and free citizens; conclusion 4. Rights: introduction; analysis and definition; the justification of rights 5. Distributive Justice: entitlement; human needs; equality of what?; John Rawls' theory of justice; the communitarian challenge 6. Political Obligation: the problems; anarchism and communitarianism; consent and contract; the benefits of good government; conclusion 7. Democracy: introduction; Rousseau: freedom, equality and the general will; direct and representative democracy; democracy and majority tyranny; democracy, deliberation and disagreement Notes Bibliography Index

'The author presents his arguments... with great good humour and proper modesty... his sections on Berlin, Hayek and Rawls are masterpieces of compression; and the chapter on rights takes one through Hohfeldian and other terminologies with admirable briskness. But throughout, the footnotes and reading list will lead the teacher and student to where they need to go next.' - Australian Journal of Political Science