Free ebookIntroduction to Political Philosophy: Freedom, Justice, and Power

Course Description

Introduction to Political Philosophy: Freedom, Justice, and Power is a free ebook course in Basic studies and Philosophy that helps you understand how political ideas shape everyday life, from rights at work to debates about policing, welfare, taxation, and free speech. You will learn how political philosophers build arguments, what counts as a good justification, and how to think clearly about laws and institutions without getting lost in slogans.

Through progressive learning, the course explains the structure of political arguments and the core concepts behind rights and duties, including claims, liberties, powers, and immunities. You will explore liberty and coercion through negative freedom, positive freedom, and non-domination, then connect those ideas to equality and fairness, such as equal status, equal opportunity, and distributive principles. Along the way, you will practice building and evaluating normative arguments about policies, constitutional limits, and public reasons that can be defended to people who disagree.

Political philosophy becomes most useful when it clarifies what makes authority legitimate and when political obligation is real. This course examines when laws are binding, how consent and democracy are used to justify institutions, and why legitimacy matters for public trust. You will also see how justice in practice takes different forms, including distributive, retributive, and restorative approaches, and how these frameworks change what we consider an appropriate response to harm.

To understand power, the course connects theory to real-world mechanisms such as violence, economic power, ideology, and structural control. You will compare major traditions in political philosophy, including liberalism, libertarianism, socialism, and republicanism, and learn how each prioritizes values like individual rights, neutrality, property, exploitation, social equality, and the control of arbitrary power. By comparing traditions through policy disagreements, you will gain a clearer sense of why people reach different conclusions even when they share some goals.

If you want a practical introduction to political philosophy that strengthens critical thinking and improves how you debate freedom, justice, and power, start this course today and earn your free certificate as you learn.