By Pradeep N Study Notes: Negative and Positive Liberty 1. Introduction & Theoretical Context In political theory, freedom (or liberty) is widely considered an “essentially contested concept.” The contemporary debate largely revolves around how we define the boundaries of individual action relative to state power, societal structures, and internal psychological barriers. The modern starting point…

By Pradeep N Study Notes: Contemporary Debates on Freedom 1. Introduction & Theoretical Context In political theory, freedom (or liberty) is widely considered an “essentially contested concept” (a term coined by W.B. Gallie). This means there is no single, universally agreed-upon definition; the term itself is the subject of ongoing ideological struggle. The contemporary debate…

By Pradeep N Study Notes: H.L.A. Hart and Natural Rights 1. Introduction & Context H.L.A. Hart (1907–1992) is widely regarded as one of the foremost legal philosophers of the 20th century. While best known for his work in legal positivism (specifically The Concept of Law), his 1955 essay “Are There Any Natural Rights?” remains a…

By Pradeep N Study Notes: Ronald Dworkin”Rights as Trumps” 1. Introduction & Context In the landscape of contemporary political theory, Ronald Dworkin (1931–2013) provides a major pivot away from legal positivism and utilitarianism. Prior to Dworkin (and his contemporary John Rawls), much of Anglo-American political philosophy was dominated by utilitarian thought, which evaluates the justice…

By Pradeep N MORAL AND LEGAL RIGHTS Comprehensive Graduate Seminar Notes | Contemporary Debates in Political Theory Course Level Theme Primary Texts Contemporary Political Theory Graduate / Ph.D. Core Jurisprudence & Normative Theory H.L.A. Hart (1961); R. Dworkin (1977); J. Bentham; J. Locke 1. Introduction: The Ontological Divide A central preoccupation of contemporary political and…

By Pradeep N DEBATES ON RIGHTS Comprehensive Graduate Seminar Notes | Contemporary Debates in Political Theory Course Level Theme Primary Texts Contemporary Political Theory Graduate / Ph.D. Core Normative Frameworks & Legal Theory R. Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously (1977); W. N. Hohfeld (1919); J. Raz, The Morality of Freedom (1986); H. Shue, Basic Rights (1980)…

By Pradeep N Welcome to the study of International Relations (IR)! As a first-time learner, the easiest way to approach IR is to think of it as the study of how the world works as an interconnected system and how countries interact, why they cooperate or go to war, and how global decisions affect everyday…

By Pradeep N Course Level Theme Primary Texts Contemporary Political Theory Graduate / Ph.D. Core Institutional Cosmopolitanism & Negative Duties of Justice World Poverty and Human Rights (2002/2008); Realizing Rawls (1989); Politics as Usual (2010) 1. Introduction: From Domestic to Global Justice & The Challenge to Rawls The emergence of Global Justice as a distinct…

Dr. Pradeep N Comprehensive Graduate Seminar Notes | Contemporary Debates in Political Theory Course Level Theme Primary Texts Contemporary Political Theory Graduate / Ph.D. Core Critiques of Liberal Individualism: Relationality, Tradition, & Power M. Sandel, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982); M. Walzer, Spheres of Justice (1983); S. M. Okin, Justice, Gender, and the…

By Dr. Pradeep N Course Level Theme Primary Texts Contemporary Political Theory Graduate / Ph.D. Core Liberal Egalitarianism & Contractarianism A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism (1993), Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001) Download Kannada Practice Points here. 1. Introduction: The Contractarian Revival and the Basic Structure The publication of John Rawls’s A Theory…