Undergraduate Course: Distributive Justice (PHIL10135)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Philosophy |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | How should the benefits and burdens of social cooperation be distributed? This course examines various answers to this question, various proposed principles of distributive justice. Among the principles considered are, for example, utilitarianism (maximise the sum of individual utilities), Rawls' difference principle (maximise the condition of the least well off), and sufficientism (ensure that everyone has the minimum necessary to live a decent life). The course addresses questions such as the following. Are the correct principles of justice those which would be chosen from behind a 'veil of ignorance'? Should we care about inequalities in resources or well-being or something else? If equality is desirable, would 'levelling down' (i.e., merely reducing the better off to the level of the worse off) be in some way good? Do principles of distributive justice presuppose an unacceptably ahistorical view of property rights? |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| To develop further the philosophical skills, and to extend as well as deepen the philosophical knowledge, acquired in previous philosophy courses. |
Assessment Information
| The course will be assessed by a 2500-word mid-term essay worth 40%, and a final exam in the standard exam conditions worth 60%. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Clayton and Williams (eds). The Ideal of Equality. Palgrave MacMillan, 2002.
Fleurbaey, Salles, and Weymark (eds). Justice, Political Liberalism, and Utilitarianism: Themes from Harsanyi and Rawls. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Gosepath. 'Equality'. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. <http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/entries/equality/>
Hampton. Political Philosophy. Westview Press, 1997. Ch 4.
Kymlicka. Contemporary Political Philosophy. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, 2001. Chs. 2-4.
Lamont and Favor. 'Distributive Justice'. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. <http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/entries/justice-distributive/> |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Campbell Brown
Tel:
Email: Campbell.Brown@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Susan Richards
Tel: (0131 6)51 3733
Email: sue.richards@ed.ac.uk |
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