Undergraduate Course: Punishment, Protest, and Political Authority (PHIL10202)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course critically investigates the sources, implications, and limits of political authority, focusing on philosophical debates concerning the state's right to coerce citizens, citizens' duty to obey the state, the grounds for practices of legal punishment, and the ethics of protest and others forms of resistance to state authority. |
| Course description |
This course has three broad objectives thematically oriented around political authority and its exercise. First, it will address influential philosophical attempts to justify the state's authority and the duty to obey the law, This course has three broad objectives thematically oriented around political authority and its exercise. First, it will address influential philosophical attempts to justify the state's authority and the duty to obey the law, appealing to such considerations such as consent, fair play, duties of justice, etc., as well as addressing 'anarchist' opposition to state authority. Second, the course addresses the morality of punishment (the principal coercive instrument of state authority) comparing and contrasting theoretical justifications of punishment such as retributivism, consequentialist, expressivism, etc. Third, it addresses ethical questions concerning protest and other forms of resistance to state authority, interrogating what constitutes just cause for protest, when protest or other forms of resistance are morally permissible (or even obligatory), and what forms resistance may permissibly take (expressions of dissent, civil disobedience, conscientious objection, whistleblowing, interference with state actors, violence or revolution, etc.). Students should exit the course better able to describe and defend their own positions regarding the sources, implications, and limits of political authority, in addition to acquiring a robust appreciation of the philosophical and real-world stakes of questions concerning political authority.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014) AND
Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08017)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students studying on MA Cognitive Science (Humanities) are permitted to take this course without having met the pre-requisites of Mind, Matter and Language (PHIL08014) and Knowledge and Reality (PHIL08014). However, it is advisable that students discuss the suitability of the course with their PT and the course organiser before enrolling. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Philosophy courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Articulate and critically assess rival views of the source and limits of political authority, including views skeptical of political authority.
- Articulate and critically assess rival views of the ethical justification and goals of legal punishment, including views skeptical of the institution of punishment.
- Articulate and critically assess rival views of the ethical justification of political protest, including disputes about the justification of various protest tactics (violence versus non-violence, lawful versus unlawful conduct, etc.) and objectives (reform versus revolution, etc.)
- Contribute to wider academic and societal discourse concerning political authority, punishment and protest, especially in light of the distinctive issues these topics raise for democratic polities
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Reading List
Representative readings
Boonin, The Problem of Punishment
Brownlee, Conscience and Conviction
Celikates, "Democratizing Civil Disobedience"
Delmas, "Political Resistance: A Matter of Fairness"
Feinberg, "The Expressive Function of Punishment"
Hampton, "The Moral Education Theory of Punishment"
Horton, Political Obligation
King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
Moore, "The Moral Worth of Retribution"
Morris, "Persons and Punishment"
Plato, Crito
Quinn, "The Right to Threaten and the Right to Punish"
Rawls, A Theory of Justice, ยงยง56-59
Schuerman, "Whistleblowing as Civil Disobedience: The Case of Edward Snowden"
Simmons, Moral Principles and Political Obligation
Stilz, "Why Does the State Matter Morally? Political Obligation and Particularity"
Wellman, "A Liberal Theory of Political Obligation"
Wolff, "The Conflict between Autonomy and Authority" |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Mindsets: Enquiry and lifelong learning; Outlook and engagement
Skill groups: Personal and intellectual autonomy; Personal effectiveness
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Michael Cholbi
Tel:
Email: mcholbi@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Ann-Marie Cowe
Tel: (0131 6)50 3961
Email: Annmarie.Cowe@ed.ac.uk |
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