Tamar Gendler: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics and Economics

Tamar Gendler, Department of Philosophy Chair at Yale University, Cognitive Scientist

Who gets what and who says so? These two questions underlie and inform every social arrangement from the resolution of schoolyard squabbles to the meta-structure of human societies. They are also the basis of political philosophy. Professor Tamar Gendler uses the work of three titans of the discipline, Thomas Hobbes, John Rawls, and Robert Nozick, as a lens to guide us through the taut debate about the role of government in society, asking "Will we embrace the radical state of nature or will we surrender our freedom to the leviathan of the state?"

The Floating University
Originally released September 2011.

Additional Lectures:
Michio Kaku: The Universe in a Nutshell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NbBjNiw4tk

Joel Cohen: An Introduction to Demography (Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vr44C_G0-o

Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B_ONJIEcE

Leon Botstein: Art Now (Aesthetics Across Music, Painting, Architecture, Movies, and More.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6F-sHhmfrY