The problem of political authority is that of explaining the source and extent of the law's power to bind members of the political community to obedience. The problem of distributive justice is that of determining the appropriate criteria by which scarce resources ought to be allocated within a political community. Texts include works by Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Rawls, Aristotle, and MacIntyre. Requirements will include a mixture of short and long papers. In Western culture, the source of traditional morality has been the biblical religion of Jews and Christians.
Biblical religion is rooted in the belief in divine revelation.
This course will explore the distinction and intractable conflict between the traditional religious and contemporary secular points of view on morality. First, we shall look at the very notion of divine revelation. Then, we shall develop some of the basic moral doctrines of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The course readings are taken from professedly Jewish and Christian Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox and secular philosophical authors. It is hoped, of course, that more light than heat can be shed on these complex and sometimes troubling questions and issues.