Social and Political Philosophy
Core concepts
Political philosophy examines legitimacy, authority, justice, liberty, equality and rights. Social contract theories explain obligation through consent or mutual advantage: Hobbes' security, Locke's natural rights, Rousseau's general will. Rawls' original position uses a veil of ignorance to choose principles fairly; Nozick defends entitlement and a minimal state; Marx analyses class and alienation; communitarians stress shared goods.
Key distinctions
Negative liberty is non-interference; positive liberty is self-mastery or effective agency. Equality can concern opportunity, outcome or status. A right may be a claim or a liberty. Justice can be distributive, retributive or restorative. Rawls' two principles are equal basic liberties and the difference principle.
Worked example
Behind Rawls' veil, parties do not know their talents or social position. Reasoning: they would choose equal basic liberties and the difference principle, allowing inequalities only if they benefit the least advantaged. The veil does not assume altruism; it removes bargaining advantages. A critique: the model may presuppose a particular conception of the person.
Traps
- Treating the social contract as a documented historical event.
- Equating justice with mere equality of income.
- Confusing liberty with the absence of all law.