PHI 350—Philosophy of Political Economy

This course offers students an opportunity to carefully consider the roots – both historical and philosophical– of political economy. We begin with Adam Smith’s and Immanuel Kant?s seminal arguments that lay the foundation for optimism about the promise of commerce in the modern world. Following that, we consider a series of powerful critiques by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx that reject the conceptual apparatus of Smith and Kant, while offering different categories for thinking through the issue of political economy. Finally, we conclude with Alexis de Tocqueville, who attempts to answer the critiques and put commerce on a more solid foundation.