Political Philosophy
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Description
The term “political philosophy” can be used loosely to cover almost any abstract thought about law, politics, and society, particularly if it addresses normative questions about the way in which political power should be used or the way citizens should behave. Thus, democratic theory, jurisprudence, political morality, applied ethics, social theory, and political economy have all been thought of as parts of political philosophy. A political philosopher might study subjects as diverse as punishment, representation, feminism, private property, judicial review, economic inequality, civil disobedience, rational choice, and the morality of abortion. In these and similar areas, people who think of themselves primarily as philosophers have become immersed in recent times in the study of what we may call “public affairs”, and they have contributed to a large body of literature in which the issues and controversies of public life are debated and discussed.
Source Publication
The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers
Source Editors/Authors
J.O. Urmson, Jonathan Rée
Publication Date
1989
Edition
new, completely rev.
Recommended Citation
Waldron, Jeremy, "Political Philosophy" (1989). Faculty Chapters. 1654.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1654
