Chevron Left
Back to Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality, Freedom

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality, Freedom by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

4.7
stars
323 ratings

About the Course

What is the purpose of government? Why should we have a State? What kind of State should we have? Even within a political community, there may be sharp disagreements about the role and purpose of government. Some want an active, involved government, seeing legal and political institutions as the means to solve our most pressing problems, and to help bring about peace, equality, justice, happiness, and to protect individual liberty. Others want a more minimal government, motivated, perhaps, by some of the disastrous political experiments of the 20th Century, and the thought that political power is often just a step away from tyranny. In many cases, these disagreements arise out of deep philosophical disagreements. All political and legal institutions are built on foundational ideas. In this course, we will explore those ideas, taking the political institutions and political systems around us not as fixed and unquestionable, but as things to evaluate and, if necessary, to change. We will consider the ideas and arguments of some of the world’s most celebrated philosophers, including historical thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, and John Stuart Mill; and more contemporary theorists such as Elizabeth Anderson, Isaiah Berlin, Thomas Christiano, Frantz Fanon, Amy Gutmann, Friedrich Hayek, Robert Nozick, Martha Nussbaum, Julius Nyerere, Ayn Rand, John Rawls, Peter Singer, and Kok-Chor Tan. The aim of the course is not to convince you of the correctness of any particular view or political position, but to provide you with a deeper and more philosophically-informed basis for your own views, and, perhaps, to help you better understand the views of those with whom you disagree....

Top reviews

CP

Oct 6, 2021

This course actually helped me understand the vast ideologies of various political thinkers in a brief way. Thanks to the creator who made learning fun and easy.

AE

Dec 22, 2020

I like how convenient it is for us especially that I am still a student in a university and I didn't really have to struggle managing this course.

Filter by:

76 - 100 of 113 Reviews for Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality, Freedom

By GEORGINA M H

•

Feb 21, 2023

Muy interesante

By CHRYSTIAN A M P

•

Feb 20, 2023

excelente curso

By LAURA C G G

•

Feb 17, 2023

Excelente Curso

By ARTURO A S

•

Feb 9, 2023

Excelente curso

By JOSE G V M

•

Feb 25, 2023

muy bien todo.

By Daniela b

•

Nov 30, 2020

Exelente curso

By RAUL M G

•

Feb 18, 2023

¡¡Excelente!!

By Gildete B

•

Apr 11, 2023

All super!

By Farhin C

•

Apr 2, 2024

Excellent

By Bernd K

•

Jun 26, 2023

Very good

By glauco h p

•

May 31, 2023

very good

By LUCRECIA G O B

•

Feb 27, 2023

excelente

By TANIA A R A

•

Feb 21, 2023

EXCELENTE

By ADRIAN V M

•

Feb 13, 2023

EXCELENTE

By Sara R

•

Mar 10, 2021

Thank you

By Abhishek P

•

Jul 15, 2020

FANTASTIC

By Куандык А Н

•

Oct 10, 2024

отлично

By ADAN G B E

•

Feb 26, 2023

Nice,

By Rajani N

•

Apr 8, 2025

GOOD

By REETI K

•

Apr 4, 2025

nice

By Anmoltayang

•

Mar 29, 2024

Good

By KANISHKA

•

Sep 4, 2020

nice

By Zakir H

•

Sep 28, 2020

Wow

By DANIEL A B T

•

Feb 22, 2023

.

By Abdikani A

•

Apr 19, 2025

or restricting freedom. I found your breakdown particularly persuasive because it didn’t just define the concepts—you also touched on their implications for how we think about power, autonomy, and the responsibilities of the state. It’s clear you understand that negative freedom aligns with classical liberalism and minimal state interference, while positive freedom opens the door to more state involvement in ensuring people have the means to lead meaningful, autonomous lives. To strengthen your analysis even more, you could include a short policy example or case study—like how Scandinavian countries balance these freedoms through social programs, or how debates around healthcare in the U.S. reflect this tension. Connecting theory to real-world politics would deepen your analysis and show how these ideas inform public policy and debates today.