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Reading path · Beginner

Political philosophy: power, justice, freedom

Political philosophy asks when power is legitimate, what justice requires and how free people should be. This path starts with a lively modern introduction, then reads short classics before the longer works. Machiavelli and Hobbes put the question of power at its starkest. Mill, Ambedkar and Berlin argue about freedom, from individual liberty to the social conditions that make it real. Rawls closes the path with the most discussed modern theory of justice. Allow two to three months.

7 books, in order

  1. Step 1: Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?

    Michael J. Sandel · 2009

    Sandel tests utilitarian, libertarian, Kantian, Rawlsian and Aristotelian answers against real controversies, so you meet the main positions before the classic texts.

    Where to start
    Read chapter 1, 'Doing the Right Thing', then chapters 5 and 6, on Kant and on Rawls.
    Time
    2 weeks
    Difficulty
    Beginner

  2. Step 2: The Prince

    Niccolò Machiavelli · Written 1513; published 1532

    Machiavelli advises a new ruler on gaining and holding a state, and asks whether a prince must sometimes act against conventional virtue. It is short and best read whole.

    Where to start
    If time is short, read chapters XV to XVIII, on praise and blame, liberality, cruelty and keeping faith, and chapter XXV on fortune.
    Time
    2 evenings
    Difficulty
    Beginner

  3. Step 3: On Liberty

    John Stuart Mill · 1859

    Mill argues that society may limit a person's liberty only to prevent harm to others, and makes a sustained case for freedom of thought and discussion.

    Where to start
    Read Chapter I, 'Introductory', and Chapter II, 'Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion', which together form a complete argument.
    Time
    3–4 evenings
    Difficulty
    Beginner

  4. Step 4: Annihilation of Caste

    B. R. Ambedkar · 1936

    Ambedkar's undelivered speech of 1936 argues that caste denies liberty, equality and fraternity, and that political reform cannot succeed without social reform. It is short and best read whole.

    Where to start
    Read the speech whole, then 'A Reply to the Mahatma', Ambedkar's answer to Gandhi's review of it in Harijan.
    Time
    2 evenings
    Difficulty
    Beginner

  5. Step 5: Leviathan

    Thomas Hobbes · 1651

    Hobbes argues that without a common power people would live in a state of war, and that rational people would authorise a sovereign to escape it.

    Where to start
    Read chapters XIII to XV, on the natural condition of mankind and the laws of nature, then XVII on the commonwealth and XXI on the liberty of subjects.
    Time
    2–3 weeks
    Difficulty
    Intermediate

  6. Step 6: Four Essays on Liberty

    Isaiah Berlin · 1969 (essays 1950–1959)

    In 'Two Concepts of Liberty' Berlin separates freedom as non-interference from freedom as self-mastery, and warns how the second can be turned against individuals.

    Where to start
    Read 'Two Concepts of Liberty', then the Introduction Berlin wrote for this 1969 collection.
    Time
    1 week
    Difficulty
    Intermediate

  7. Step 7: A Theory of Justice

    John Rawls · 1971 (revised edition 1999)

    Rawls asks which principles free and equal people would choose behind a veil of ignorance about their own place in society. He argues for equal basic liberties and the difference principle.

    Where to start
    Read Part One, Chapters I to III ('Justice as Fairness', 'The Principles of Justice' and 'The Original Position'), before deciding how much of the rest you need.
    Time
    3–4 weeks
    Difficulty
    Advanced

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