Philosophy and Social Justice

By 5/31/2014 . You should quote or paraphrase from specific pages in the course text to support your claims about philosophical ideas and concepts, using correct APA citation. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates and the facilitator as early in the week as possible.

Address the following in a three-page paper:

1. Identify some of the features and values you associate with a just society. For example, does it include access to quality education, basic healthcare, and housing? How involved should the national government be with local issues and personal decisions about healthcare and other issues? Is the opportunity for economic equality important regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, and so on?
2. Present an account of at least one social/political philosophy from the assigned readings with support from the course texts and online lectures that might achieve the values/features you identify. For example, you might discuss classical theories, social contract theory (including Rawls’ veil of ignorance), Marxism, and/or feminist philosophy.
3. Explain how the theory would achieve the just society you envision.
4. Make comparisons between the just society you envision and the United States. You may need to do additional research to support the claims you make about social and economic conditions in the U.S.
5. Identify and an additional political theory that would take a different approach.
   

   Our final topic of discussion is an area of philosophy that encompasses many different types of philosophical reflection dealing with human social interaction; professional philosophers call it “social-political philosophy.” Yet again, we find ourselves examining an area of human life that we may not have thought of as philosophical before now. Philosophers have been interested in the way in which humans live together in societies since the time of Plato. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that most major societies in existence have constitutional or organizational documents that depend upon explicit references to the history of philosophy. The original architects of our government in the United States, for instance, were very versed in the history of political philosophy, and they often referred to the philosophic figures we will be covering. This week, we’ll cover some of the most important thinkers who have contributed to our own society’s philosophical basis.   Do not copy paste…use APA and site