Liberty, Equality, and Justice: Philosophical Problems in Domestic and Global Contexts

FAIN: FS-50280-11

Washington University (St. Louis, MO 63130-4862)
Christopher Heath Wellman (Project Director: March 2011 to September 2014)
Andrew Altman (Co Project Director: March 2011 to September 2014)

A four-week seminar for sixteen college and university faculty members examining the meanings of liberty, equality, and justice, and the applications of these concepts within and between nations.

Liberal democracies such as the United States aspire to treat their members as free and equal citizens. Determining precisely what this means in today's world, however, is a difficult matter. Even if one agrees that political regimes must organize themselves in a liberal democratic fashion (and not everyone does, of course), it remains controversial as to when someone is free, what equality requires, and how conflicts among these two core values should be adjudicated. What is more, as interesting and important as these issues are, some of the most pressing and difficult questions in today's geo-political context concern not how liberal democracies should treat their own citizens, but how they should interact with foreigners and their states. The chief purpose of this seminar is to enable its participants to understand and contribute to the current debates on these questions and to bring their understanding of these debates to their teaching, research and public service.