Even though political philosophy has a long tradition, it is much more than the study of old and great treatises. Contemporary philosophers continue to press new arguments on old and timeless questions, but also to propose departures and innovations. The field changes over time, and new work inevitably responds both to events in the world and to the directions of thought itself. This volume includes 22 new pieces by leaders in the field on both perennial and emerging topics of keen interest to contemporary political philosophers. In addition to longstanding issues such as Authority, Equality, and Freedom, and Democracy, there are articles on less classical topics such as Race, Historical Injustice, Deliberation, Money and Politics, Global Justice, and Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory. All of the pieces combine clarity and accessibility with a top scholar's critical and original point of view. The introductory essay briefly situates this snapshot of the state of the art in a broader view of developments in political philosophy in the last 40 years, and looks forward to future developments. Students and scholars alike will find the pieces to be valuable not only surveys but as provocations to think further about the questions, puzzles, and practical problems that animate recent work in political philosophy. The issues will be of interest to many working in philosophy, political science, law, economics, and more.

Table of Contents

Introduction, David Estlund
I. Classic Questions
1. Authority, A. John Simmons
2. Equality, Elizabeth Anderson
3. Justice, Richard Arneson
4. Freedom, Philip Pettitt
5. Property, Gerald Gaus
II. Approaches
6. Classical Liberalism, John Tomasi and Jason Brennan
7. Social Contract Approaches, Samuel Freeman
8. Left-Libertarianism, Peter Vallentyne
9. Marxist and Socialist Perspectives, Andrew Levine
III. Democracy
10. Democracy, Jeremy Waldron
11. Deliberation, Robert Talisse
12. Religion and Politics, Robert Audi
13. Money and Politics, Thomas Christiano
IV. The Globe
14. Global Justice, Matthias Risse
15. Human Rights, Allen Buchanan
16. War, Jefferson McMahan
V. Injustice
17. Historical Injustice, Jeff Spinner-Halev
18. Race, Tommie Shelby
19. Gender, Debra Satz
20. Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory, Zophia Stemplowska and Adam Swift
VI. In Retrospect
21. Rawls, Leif Wenar
22. Nozick, David Schmidtz and Christopher Freiman

Author Information

Edited by David Estlund, Professor of Philosophy, Brown University

Contributors:

Elizabeth Anderson
Richard Arneson
Robert Audi
Jason Brennan
Allen Buchanan
Thomas Christian
David Estlund
Samuel Freeman
Christopher Freiman
Gerald Gaus
Andrew Levine
Jefferson McMahan
Philip Pettitt
Matthias Risse
Debra Satz
David Schmidtz
Tommie Shelby
A. John Simmons
Jeff Spinner-Halev
Zophia Stemplowska
Adam Swift
Robert Talisse
John Tomasi
Peter Vallentyne
Jeremy Waldron
Leif Wenar