First Day of Class

Posted: Wed, Jan 21, 2026

Today

  • Welcome! :-)
    • About us: Ding and Sara
    • Please form small groups of 3–4, introduce yourselves, and exchange contact info
    • Course website: https://pol.dingherself.com
  • Course overview: Political philosophy between the past and the future
  • Some advice for how to approach this class
  • Course logistics
  • Questions? & Plans for next week

Political philosophy between the past and the future

A quick word about materials & interactions in our class

  • Some of our readings and discussions can be personally difficult; we’re here if you need to talk.
  • Philosophy is full of disagreements, but you can disagree without being a prick—let’s take care of each other!
  • When I or your TA challenges you with follow-up questions, it means we are interested in what you are saying, not that we’re upset with you!!
  • I like to compare teaching to “crowd work” in standup comedy. I don’t mind questions or occasional interjections (we may adjust as we go). And my apologies if I interject—I’m working on it!
  • Sometimes people read my sense of humor as passive aggression; again, I apologize!

Our big question: How should we live together?

Iris Young: “Normative reflection arises from hearing a cry of suffering or distress, or feeling distress oneself. The philosopher is always socially situated, and if the society is divided by oppressions, she either reinforces or struggles against them” (Justice and the Politics of Difference, p. 5)

Alison Jagger’s three aspects of political philosophy (Feminist Politics and Human Nature, pp. 15–16):

  1. Critique of how we currently organize and structure society;
  2. Vision of what a good society would look like;
  3. Roadmap for realizing that vision in our real world, for transitioning from here to there.

Discussion question: Reflecting on your own experiences, what’s an issue you care about that falls under “how should we live together?” but isn’t usually thought to be political? How would treating it as an issue of in/justice challenge our sense of what politics can do for us?

On what grounds could our political critique, vision, and roadmap stand?

  • The relevance of intellectual history
    • The crisis of political philosophy in early analytic philosophy.
  • The relevance of political and social history
    • Caro Flores: “[A]ny thinking about the world is necessarily selective. We are limited beings. We can feel nostalgia for distinctive positive features of a period without believing that that period was uniformly positive and while acknowledging that there has been progress since then. Instead of working as a distorting kaleidoscope, nostalgia can serve as a pointer: here lies a taste of utopia.”
  • The relevance of the social sciences
    • Political philosophy is characteristically methodologically interdisciplinary and socially grounded.

In so doing, we will work with primary rather than secondary sources.

  • Philosophy is egalitarian: We treat even the most famous philosophers as equal participants in a long conversation.
  • Philosophy is anti-dogmatic: We don’t believe something because parents, society, etc., tell us so; we believe what we reflectively endorse and can “own up to.”
  • Philosophy is democratic: No interpretation should be taken for granted; we can and are all really just trying to figure things out.

Philosophy is an activity we do, not specific facts to be memorized.

  • For me, a philosophy classroom is not where students come to passively learn about different philosophies (though we will of course do a lot of learning!).
  • It’s where we come to do philosophy together—think of us as a book club!

Some advice for how to approach a philosophy class

  • Read the assigned texts carefully and critically before class (see also the participation section of our syllabus for advice).
  • Come to class with questions or just things you want to discuss from the readings!
  • Bring a copy of the readings with you.
  • There will be a handout posted to the course website, but take your own notes as well.
  • Talk through your thoughts with the class, and ask lots of questions.
  • Ideas are powerful—don’t underestimate them!
  • They are also deeply personal relevant; philosophy isn’t just intellectual. Think about the ideas in this class in relation to your own experiences and the world around you!

Course Logistics

  • Course website: https://pol.dingherself.com
  • Required book
  • Reading schedule
  • Assignments & grading
  • Excused absences & extensions
  • Emergencies & makeups
  • Office hours
  • Emails
  • Waitlist & access to readings
  • Questions?
  • Plans for Monday