ABSTRACT
We use the term political theory interchangeably with the term political philosophy.1 A political theory is constructed as a response to enduring questions that hold the attention of the political theorist. What are some of the questions we have in mind? Plato asked how justice and its important contributions to human life are possible in the face of a society that treats the idea of justice with skepticism. Thomas Hobbes wanted to know why society can become mired in a state of war, and he asked how (or even if) it is possible to overcome this prospect and achieve peace and freedom. John Rawls asked how to construct a society in which people with conflicting but equally reasonable moral perspectives can accord respect to each other’s basic rights.
