Meisterkurs: Accountability and Power | 21. - 25. Juli 2025
We are writing to let you know about a Meisterkurs that we shall be teaching at the Humboldt during the week of 21-25 July.
The course is open to members of the philosophical community across Berlin and we would be very happy if you would bring it to the attention of anyone you know who might be interested.
Accountability and Power: Political Philosophy and the Problem of Institutions
One of the most important debates in contemporary political philosophy is methodological: between so-called “ideal” and “non-ideal” theory. Non-ideal theory – “engaged” political philosophy, as Jonathan Wolff calls it – aims to start from the world as it is, and this leads necessarily to the practical question of institutions. In this class, we will look at different pictures of the nature of institutions, the way that they work, the values embodied in them, and the mechanisms by which they can best be controlled.
The timetable and syllabus are available here:
In order for us to have a better idea how many participants will turn up for the class, we kindly ask you to register by June 20.
To register, please e-mail the Course Administrator, Alex Radev: alex.radev.1@hu-berlin.de.
There is a course Moodle site with the course readings and Alex will be happy to help set up a Moodle account for anyone who does not already have one.
Please feel free to e-mail Alex or the class-givers if you have any questions.
Michael Rosen (Humboldt-Universität and Harvard University, mrosen@gov.harvard.edu)
Jonathan Wolff (University of Oxford, jonathan.wolff@bsg.ox.ac.uk