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Political Philosophy

Exercise: Listening to Non-Ideal Theory

This activity is a way to facilitate discussion about Charles Mills’ The Racial Contract by drawing out the implications of listening to different kinds of voices. Students are assigned to read a passage from The Racial Contract and to listen to one podcast episode, as a way to prepare for this in-class activity. The podcast episode provides a series of concrete examples of the racial contract that dramatize the stakes of non-ideal theory, especially in relation to the settler nation states of Canada and US America.

Exercise: Social Obligations in the Bhagavad Gita

In the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is asking an important philosophical question: what obligations do I owe to society when society has broken down (e.g. why should I fulfill my social obligation to fight in this civil war when the civil war itself represents a complete breakdown of society and society’s obligations to people). This activity helps students connect that question with their own lives.

Exercise: Find a Political Philosoph-her

This assignment instructs students to look at the website, Philosopher (originally Political Philosop-her), created and maintained by Meena Krishnamurthy at politicalphilosopher.net. The site, as Prof. Krishnamurthy says, “showcases work by philosophers from underrepresented groups in philosophy.” [hotlink for this quote: https://meenakrishnamurthy.net/]

Lesson: Understanding Oppression as a Critique of Hedonism

After teaching the hedonism of Bentham and Mill in my Introduction to Ethics class, I often assign Marilyn Frye’s classic feminist essay “Oppression.” (I got this idea from the late, great Claudia Card). This serves two pedagogical purposes for me. First, it exposes my intro students to excellent feminist philosophy without relegating it to its own “feminist ethics” unit at the end of the semester. Second, it offers a fascinating critique of hedonism (even though that is not the main point of the essay).