Description
This course deals with the clash between liberal and conservative conceptions of politics and policy. The often-acclaimed victory of liberalism has led many to believe that any defensible political theory must be a variant of liberalism (‘we are all liberals now’). Nonetheless, liberalism has to confront expressions of unease at many points. In actual politics, conservative viewpoints are widespread and, if anything, still gaining ground. This raises the question whether there can be a systematic conservative political philosophy as an alternative to liberalism. This question will be dealt with in two parts. Firstly, we will investigate liberal and conservative conceptions of politics. Whereas liberals have often devised blueprints for a just society, conservatives have been skeptical towards these blueprints and stressed the importance of authority, tradition and organic change. Secondly, we will go into liberal and conservative policy prescriptions. Here the key issue is whether, and to what extent, the state can legitimately interfere in the private lives and actions of citizens. Liberals often stress that the state should only interfere when citizens cause harm to each other, while conservatives promote further going paternalistic and moralistic interventions. Here ideals about education, health, life style and sexuality form the battleground between liberals and conservatives.
Methods of instruction
lectures and small-group discussions
Study material
(approximately 1000 pages)
John Rawls, Political Liberalism (expanded edition), Columbia University Press, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-231-13089-9.
Roger Scruton, The Meaning of Conservatism (3rd, revised edition), St. Augustine\‘s Press, South Bend, Indiana, 2002. ISBN 1-890318-40-x
Reader with texts
Examination
paper and oral examination
Time table
Monday February 2, till March 23, 15.00 -17.00 p.m. in SA21 and
Wednesday February 4, till March 25, 15.00 – 17.00 p.m., in SA05 (except Feb. 11 and 18 5B04, March 4, SA37 and March 25, 5B04)