Summary Social and political philosophy
Philosophy minor 2022 ~ Readings and lectures of every week
,Week 1 The Nature of Politics and the
Anarchist Challenge
What we will cover in readings and the lecture:
What political philosophy is.
What ways there are to think about “the political”.
How to identify the core claim in some difficult texts in political philosophy.
What “Anarchism” is, and what types of anarchism exist.
What Wolff’s argument for anarchism is, and whether it is convincing.
Learning objectives for this week
Identifying arguments in difficult philosophical passages
Reconstructing a philosophical argument from a text
Readings this week
Read: Robert Paul Wolff: In Defense of Anarchism, Section I and Section II.1-3
(without the Appendix), pp. 1-17, 1970 (available online
at: http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/robert-paul-wolff-in-defense-of-
anarchism.pdf).
Read pp. 5-17 and 29-43 of chapters 1 and 2 of the introduction. I will assume that you
have read these pages before the lecture. The remaining pages cover material that we
will cover during the lecture and some additional topics. It could be a good idea to
review them after the lecture.
,Notes from the readings: In defense of anarchism (Robert Paul Wolff)
What is politics? (a deconstruction)
= (an attempt) to influence the exercise of the power of state
What is a state? (a deconstruction)
= a group of people/ an “organ” who has control (exercise “supreme authority”) within a
given territory/ over a certain population
I The conflict between authority and autonomy
The concept of authority
Autority= the right to command and to be obeyed
→ there is an important distinction to be made between the concepts of power and authority.
The authority of a state must be recognized by it people
“Power is the capacity of a person to influence others and alter their actions, beliefs, and
behaviors. However, it's important to note that there is a difference between power vs.
influence. Authority is the legitimate power that a person or group is granted to practice
over others within an organization.” .→ De jure states (where the authority is rightful and
just according to moral principles) Are there de jure states?
→ De facto states (where men believe in the legitimacy of its authority, the authority that
appears and that we witness in the world)= a precondition for a state to have authority
Authority resides in persons themselves (by virtue of what they are, not of what they possess).
→ But: authority can be lifted; think of cancel culture
The concept of autonomy
Men are responsible for their own actions= a fundamental principle in moral philosophy
→ Because one is able to critically assess their choices, one is obliged to do so.
The responsible man has the freedom to choose that which he finds himself to be just, and
therefore is self-legislating (autonomous)
Taking and forfeiting autonomy: The issue of democracy
Direct vs. indirect democracy
→ There is an issue of unanimity (a voter will rarely have “their candidate” that agrees with
them on every stance) & technical troubles of direct voting
, → Their representative might lose/ not get over the voting threshold, so their vote gets lost
Philosophy minor 2022 ~ Readings and lectures of every week
,Week 1 The Nature of Politics and the
Anarchist Challenge
What we will cover in readings and the lecture:
What political philosophy is.
What ways there are to think about “the political”.
How to identify the core claim in some difficult texts in political philosophy.
What “Anarchism” is, and what types of anarchism exist.
What Wolff’s argument for anarchism is, and whether it is convincing.
Learning objectives for this week
Identifying arguments in difficult philosophical passages
Reconstructing a philosophical argument from a text
Readings this week
Read: Robert Paul Wolff: In Defense of Anarchism, Section I and Section II.1-3
(without the Appendix), pp. 1-17, 1970 (available online
at: http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/robert-paul-wolff-in-defense-of-
anarchism.pdf).
Read pp. 5-17 and 29-43 of chapters 1 and 2 of the introduction. I will assume that you
have read these pages before the lecture. The remaining pages cover material that we
will cover during the lecture and some additional topics. It could be a good idea to
review them after the lecture.
,Notes from the readings: In defense of anarchism (Robert Paul Wolff)
What is politics? (a deconstruction)
= (an attempt) to influence the exercise of the power of state
What is a state? (a deconstruction)
= a group of people/ an “organ” who has control (exercise “supreme authority”) within a
given territory/ over a certain population
I The conflict between authority and autonomy
The concept of authority
Autority= the right to command and to be obeyed
→ there is an important distinction to be made between the concepts of power and authority.
The authority of a state must be recognized by it people
“Power is the capacity of a person to influence others and alter their actions, beliefs, and
behaviors. However, it's important to note that there is a difference between power vs.
influence. Authority is the legitimate power that a person or group is granted to practice
over others within an organization.” .→ De jure states (where the authority is rightful and
just according to moral principles) Are there de jure states?
→ De facto states (where men believe in the legitimacy of its authority, the authority that
appears and that we witness in the world)= a precondition for a state to have authority
Authority resides in persons themselves (by virtue of what they are, not of what they possess).
→ But: authority can be lifted; think of cancel culture
The concept of autonomy
Men are responsible for their own actions= a fundamental principle in moral philosophy
→ Because one is able to critically assess their choices, one is obliged to do so.
The responsible man has the freedom to choose that which he finds himself to be just, and
therefore is self-legislating (autonomous)
Taking and forfeiting autonomy: The issue of democracy
Direct vs. indirect democracy
→ There is an issue of unanimity (a voter will rarely have “their candidate” that agrees with
them on every stance) & technical troubles of direct voting
, → Their representative might lose/ not get over the voting threshold, so their vote gets lost
