Prospectus

This course explores the remarkable statement made by the late political theorist Judith Shklar that “philosophy ignores evil” and fails to give “injustice its due.” What does this claim mean and why would it be true? And if it is true, why does it happen, what are the consequences of failing to give injustice its due, and what would be required to give injustice its due? And lastly, are we even in a position today to give injustice its due? The course will explore first the classical argument for giving injustice its due in St. Augustine and then to a group of late modern thinkers who were skeptical of the classical answer and still sought to give injustice its due.  These include Lon Fuller, Judith Shklar, Hannah Arendt, Susan Niemann, Barrington Moore Jr., Isaiah Berlin, Donald Livingstone, and Susan Brison.