Postgraduate Course: Political Philosophy MSc (PHIL11055)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will be divided into two related parts, each concerned in some way with contemporary liberalism. |
| Course description |
The first part will examine Rawls' seminal A Theory of Justice his theory of justice and his conception of political liberalism. The second part will address the question of what restrictions on individual liberty modern states are justified in imposing.
Course is shared with undergraduate version Political Philosophy (PHIL10093)
For courses co-taught with undergraduate students and with no remaining undergraduate spaces left, a maximum of 8 MSc students can join the course. Priority will be given to MSc students who wish to take the course for credit on a first come first served basis after matriculation.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 8 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2,500 word assessment
Deadline: Thursday 17th December 2015 by 12 noon.
Return Deadline: Tuesday 19th January 2016 |
| Feedback |
- MSc-only tutorials in weeks 5 and 11
- Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic.
Formative essay deadline: Thursday 29th October 2015 by 12 noon
Return deadline: Friday 20th November 2015 |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- give knowledge of the work of John Rawls
- give knowledge of the work of various critics of Rawls
- awareness of the considerations arising from various restrictions on liberty
- the ability to write an essay in political philosophy
- 5 an enhanced ability to articulate and defend one¿s own views on various political issues
|
Reading List
Class Readings and Topics (still provisional but indicative)
In the first part of the course we will cover a lot by John Rawls. Students considering taking this course are strongly advised to take a look at Rawls' Theory of Justice beforehand.
** = required
* = highly recommended
PART I - Distributive Justice and Political Liberalism
1. Rawls I: Justice as Fairness
** Rawls, J. A Theory of Justice (Revised Edition) chapter 1
Further Reading
*Freeman, S. The Cambridge Companion to Rawls, 'Introduction' (pp.1-20).
Freeman, S. Rawls (Routledge, 2007), chapter 1
2. Rawls II: The Principles of Justice
** Rawls, chapter 2
Further Reading
*Freeman, Rawls, chapters 2-3
3. Rawls III: The Original Position
** Rawls, chapter 3
Further Reading
*Freeman, Rawls, chapter 4
Further Reading (weeks 1-3)
- Daniels, N. (ed.) Reading Rawls (Standford, 1989).
- Freeman, S. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Rawls (CUP, 2002)
- Rawls, J. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement
- Kymlicka, W. Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edition), chapter 3.
4. The Basic Structure Objection
** Cohen, G. A. 'Where the Action Is: On the Site of Distributive Justice,' Philosophy and Public Affairs 26 (1), (1997), 3-30.
Further Reading
- Cohen, G. A. 'Incentives, Inequality and Community', The Tanner Lectures on Human Values.
http://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/c/cohen92.pdf
- Woodard, C. 'Cohen and the Basic Structure Objection', Acta Politica, 35/3 (2000), 275-301.
5. The Feminist Critique and the move to Political Liberalism
** Rawls, J. 'Justice as Fairness: Political Not Metaphysical' Philosophy and Public Affairs, 14(3) (1985) 223-251.
** Pick one (or more) from:
(a) Okin, S. 'Political Liberalism, Justice, and Gender,' Ethics 105 (1994), 23-43.
(b) Okin, S. ''Forty Acres and a Mule' for Women: Rawls and Feminism,' Politics, Philosophy & Economics 4 (2005), 233-248.
(c) Lloyd, S. A. 'Family Justice and Social Justice,' Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 75 (1994), pp. 353-371.
(d) Abbey, R. 'Back toward a Comprehensive Liberalism? Justice as Fairness, Gender, and Families,' Political Theory 35 (2007), pp. 5-28.
(e) Hartley, C. & Watson, L. 'Is a Feminist Political Liberalism Possible?', Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, 5/1
Further Reading
- Freeman, S. Rawls, chapters 8, 9.
* - Freeman, S. Rawls, 'The Institution of the Family', 235-40.
*- Freeman, S. The Cambridge Companion to Rawls, 'Introduction' (28-44).
- Rawls, J. Political Liberalism (especially lectures 1, 4, 5, 6).
- Nussbaum, M. 'Rawls and Feminism' in Freeman, S. The Cambridge Companion to Rawls, 'Introduction' (28-52).
PART II - The Limits of the Liberal State
6. Marriage
** Brake, E. 'Minimal Marriage: What Political Liberalism Implies for Marriage Law,' Ethics 120(2), (2010), 302-337.
Further Reading
- Hartley, C. & Watson, L. 'Political Liberalism, Marriage and the Family', Law and Philosophy 31/2 (2012),185-212.
7. Civil disobedience
** Sabl, A. 'Looking Forward to Justice: Rawlsian Civil Disobedience and its Non-Rawlsian Lessons', Journal of Political Philosophy, 9/3 (2001).
Further Reading
- Brownlee, K. 'Conscientious Objection and Civil Disobedience', in Marmor, A. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Law, 527- 539.
8. Immigration
** Blake, M. 'Immigration, Jurisdiction, and Exclusion', Philosophy & Public Affairs, 41, (2013), 103-130.
Further Reading
- Wellman, C. H. 'Immigration and Freedom of Association', Ethics, 119/1, (2008), 109-141.
- Dummett, M. 'Immigration', Res Publica, 10/2, (2004), 115-122.
9. Noxious markets
** Satz, D. Why Some Things Should Not Be For Sale, chapters 4-6.
Further Reading
- Liberto, H. 'Noxious Markets Versus Noxious Gift Relationships', Social Theory and Practice 39 (2), (2013), 265-287.
- Rippon, S. 'Imposing Options on People in Poverty: The Harm of a Live Donor Organ Market', Journal of Medical Ethics 40/3, (2014), 145-150.
10. Voting
** Brennan, J. & Hill, L. Compulsory Voting: For and Against, chapter 2 or 8 (if unsure which to read: pick the one with which you disagree, or think you're most likely to disagree).
Further Reading
- Lever, A. 'Compulsory voting: a critical perspective', British Journal of Political Science 40:897-915 (2010)
11. Freedom of expression
**Scanlon, T. 'A Theory of Freedom of Expression', Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1/2 (1972), 204-226.
Further Reading
*- Mill, J. S. On Liberty
- Maitra, I. 'Subordinating Speech', in Maitra, I. & McGowan, M. K. (eds.) Speech and Harm: Controversies over free speech (OUP, 2012).
- Cohen, J. 'Freedom of Expression', Philosophy & Public Affairs, 22(3), 207-263.
- West, C. 'Words that Silence? Freedom of Expression and Racist Hate Speech' in Maitra, I. & McGowan, M. K. (eds.) Speech and Harm: Controversies over free speech (OUP, 2012).
12. Conclusion
§3. Class Format
It's imperative that you only come to class (a) having done the reading and (b) prepared to contribute to discussion on it. The issues under consideration are of crucial importance and you all have interesting points to make. Think about what your view is and come to class ready to discuss it. Make sure to bring with you (a) the reading (b) your notes (c) some questions and thoughts on the reading.
Full reading list available on Learn. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
Please see Learn |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
The course will be taught by Dr Guy Fletcher. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Guy Fletcher
Tel: (0131 6)50 9942
Email: Guy.Fletcher@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk |
|
© Copyright 2015 The University of Edinburgh - 2 September 2015 4:42 am
|
University Homepage