Should We Consent to Be Governed? A Short Introduction to Political Philosophy

by Stephen Nathanson

Introduces students to political philosophy by raising a relevant, practical question that each of us faces -- What attitude ought we to adopt toward governments and laws? Beginning with this question, the author introduces a variety of political philosophies, each presented as an answer to this question, and shows why it is worth understanding and learning about these views. The text involves the students in the issues and encourages active thinking and learning by stressing what the student needs to make up their mind about the question. By studying this material, students will understand how one can respect the legitimacy of laws while retaining a critical stance that permits disobedience when laws and governments fail to be just.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 1991

Reviews

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting approach to introducing political philosophy. It leads students through three ways of thinking about the relationship of the citizen to the state: is the state owed our absolute allegiance, is it necessarily corrupt on behalf of the governing elite, and is it possible for states to be legitimate at all? Ultimately, thinking critically about these three questions leads Nathanson to conclude that the solution is the "critical citizen", exemplified by Martin Luther King, Jr., who defines "unjust laws" and then acts to oppose only those.

[Sam (◕‿◕✿) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had read half of this previously but never finished so picked this up yesterday again and restarted!

I deep dived into their examples on my own research but I think this is a great introduction to the main political philosophies and how we can begin to think about our position to the government.

I definitely align with critical citizenship to the core but it made me think a lot about its flaws.

[Maureen]

DNF. Originally assigned during a college course, I circled back in hopes of revisiting this text and couldn’t find the time to do so.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talks about 4 philosophies about government. Short and pretty much to the point.

[Chaston Kome · Rating 2 out of 5]

easy to follow, but doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny