Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy

Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. Plato
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From The Republic
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Canadian Senate
- Introduction
- Sarah Barmak, "Why the Senate Deserves Props"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
2. Aristotle
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From Nicomachean Ethics
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Proportional Justice: R. v. Ipeelee
- Introduction
- From R. v. Ipeelee, [2012] 1 S.C.R 433
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
3. Niccolò Machiavelli
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From The Prince
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Canada's Machiavelli: Maurice Duplessis
- Introduction
- From Roncarelli v. Duplessis, [1959] S.C.R. 121
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
4. Thomas Hobbes
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From Leviathan
Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Quebec Student Protest and Bill 78
- Introduction
- Andy Blatchford, "Bill 78: Quebec Student Protest Legislation 'Worst Law' Since War Measures Act, Law Professor Says"
- From Bill 78: An Act to Enable Students to Receive Instruction from the Post-secondary Institutions They Attend
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
5. John Locke
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From The Two Treatises of Civil Government
- A Letter Concerning Toleration
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Quebec's Ethics and Religious Culture Course
- Introduction
- From S.L. v. Commission scolaire des Chénes [2012] 1 S.C.R. 235
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From The Social Contract
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Does Quebec Have a Right to Secede?
- Introduction
- Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
7. Immanuel Kant
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- "On the Common Saying: 'This May Be True in Theory, but It Does Not Apply in Practice'"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Introduction
- The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
8. John Stuart Mill
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From "On Liberty"
- From "Utilitarianism"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Polygamy in Canada
- Introduction
- From Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada, 2011 BCSC 1588
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
9. Karl Marx
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Winnipeg General Strike
- Introduction
- J.M. Bumsted, "Deferring Expectations, 1919-1945"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
10. John Rawls
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From A Theory of Justice
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Universal Healthcare in Canada
- Introduction
- C-6 Canada Health Act (1985)
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
11. Robert Nozick
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From Anarchy, State, and Utopia
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Liberty and Its Limits: R. v. Oakes
- Introduction
- From R. v. Oakes, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 103
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
12. Susan Moller Okin
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From Justice, Gender, and the Family
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Taking Gender Seriously: R. v. Lavellee
- Introduction
- From R. v. Lavallee, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 852
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
13. Charles Mills
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From "Racial Liberalism"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Unequal Funding for First Nations Children
- Introduction
- Cindy Blackstock, From "The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations Child Welfare"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
14. Martha Nussbaum
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
"Women and Cultural Universals"
Case Study: Shari'a Law in Ontario
- Introduction
- Marion Boyd, From "Dispute Resolution in Family Law: Protecting Choice, Promoting Inclusion"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
15. Jürgen Habermas
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- "Three Normative Models of Democracy"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Court Challenges Program
- Introduction
- Larissa Kloegman, "A Democratic Defence of the Court Challenges Program"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
16. Michel Foucault
Reading
- Introduction
- From "Two Lectures on Power"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Power and Consent: Norberg v. Wynrib
- Introduction
- From Norberg v. Wynrib, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 226
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
17. Will Kymlicka
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- From Multicultural Citizenship
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: Aboriginal Self-Government: The Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement
- Introduction
- From The Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
18. Charles Taylor
Reading
- Introduction
- Further Readings
- "Why Do Nations Have to Become States?"
- Post-Reading Questions
Case Study: The Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Reasonable Accommodation in Quebec
- Introduction
- Gérard Bouchard and Charles Taylor, From "Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation"
- Post-Case-Reading Questions
Endnotes
Additional Credits
Index

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Omid Payrow Shabani is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph. He has authored numerous articles on political philosophy and is author of Multiculturalism and the Law: A Critical Debate (University of Wales Press) and Democracy, Power, and Legitimacy: The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas (University of Toronto Press).

Monique Deveaux is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph and is Canada Research Chair in ethics and Global Social Change. She has authored a host of articles and book chapters on social and political philosophy and is author of Gender and Justice in Multicultural Liberal States (Oxford University Press UK), Cultural Pluralism and Dilemmas of Justice (Cornell University Press), and co-editor of Sexual Justice/Cultural Justice: Critical Perspectives in Political Theory and Practice (Routledge).

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Special Features

• Canadian content includes selections by prominent Canadian thinkers-such as Will Kymlicka and Charles Taylor-and examples from Canadian case law, making this a relevant introduction for students in this country.
• Practical case studies help readers draw connections between readings and the real-world implications of social and political philosophy in today's society.
• Contemporary coverage - including selections by twenty-first-century thinkers and female philosophers - provides a fresh, up-to-date approach to the discipline.
• Biographical information and critical insights offered by introductions to readings and case studies help students forge important connections between philosophy and the workings of contemporary society.
• Post-reading questions encourage students to think critically about the concepts being discussed and make connections between the readings and the case studies.