JLS 496
Professor Fagelson
Spring 2007
| Class Hours/Venue: | Th 2:10 – 4:50 PM Ward 205 |
| Office | Ward 249 |
| Office hours | MondayAnd Thursdays 9:45 – 11:15 AM AND 5-00- 6-00PM |
| And by appointment. | |
| Phone: 885-2372 | (Call anytime and leave a message if I am out.) |
| Course Web Site: | http://academic2.american.edu/~dfagel/ |
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You will be expected to look for any class assignments either here or on our blackboard site.
Materials
Required:
John Arthur Moral Cases And ControversiesFurther readings will be made available as links from the Web site.
Course Description
Content
This course will examine the nature and application of justice to issues of global concern. An inquiry such as this must begin with a conceptual and ethical over view about the nature of justice, human rights, and their justification. Once we have considered the various conceptual and normative views of justice and rights we will examine various contexts, such as military intervention in another sovereign state, protection against genocide, and transfer of resources to poor nations, in which some right is thought to apply. Finally we will also consider specific rights to free speech, religion, privacy etc., to see what the basis is for these rights and how, if at all, they are vindicated.
Skills
Although this is a graduate course there is no assumption that you have had any prior course about human rights. It is assumed, however, that you will have had some exposure to conceptual and normative (that is to say ethical) reasoning. The course also assumes that you have the capacity to synthesize information and present your own ideas orally and in writing. This course will help develop further your analytical skills particularly as they apply to legal and moral reasoning. This course is designed not only to teach you the ideas of others but also to help you develop the capacity to engage in original thinking and research to advance those ideas further. Hence, it is absolutely essential to have completed each reading assignment and to be prepared to speak in each class.
Requirements
* Active class participation : all students are expected to attend class regularly and to be prepared to discuss the reading. Students may be called upon to participate in class and no passing is permitted. Each student will be allowed 1 un-excused absences. Any additional un-excused absence will reduce your final grade by one whole grade per absence. Study the class calendar carefully to make sure you don't have any prior commitments that would preclude you from meeting these requirements.
* There will be a final paper of approximately 20-25 pages due on the date of the final exam. This paper is not expected to be a research paper but rather an in depth analysis of some issue of global justice chosen by the student in consultation with the professor. It will be written along the following schedule.....[if in the teacher's opinion, students are not reading the assigned material in advance, there will be a final exam that will count 30% towards the final grade with the value of the other exercises deacreasing proportionately]
* Students will provide a two page annotated outline together with a one page bibliography by the fourth week of class.
* By the eighth week of class, students will provide a seven page draft of the paper outlining the basic arguments and ideas to be included in the final paper.
Grading (subject to qualification described below)
Class Participation: 25%
Two page anotated outline and biblography: 15%
Seven Page Draft: 20%
Final Paper: 40%
Standards: Grading standards are in part subjective and excellence in one area may compensate for deficiencies in another. No curve will be used to calculate the grades in this class. Hence, it is theoretically possible for every student to receive an A if he or she meets the standards for that grade. My primary goals are for each student to develop the critical thinking skills and to understand the ideas covered in this course by the time it is completed. If later exams and papers illustrate this proficiency, earlier grades which do not will be discounted. The following will give you a general guide to the typical performance associated with each letter grade.
A: all course requirements met, work shows full understanding of course material and an original perspective on the subject
B: all course requirements met, work shows full understanding of course material (or satisfactory understanding of course material and an original perspective on the subject)
C: all course requirements met, work shows satisfactory understanding of course material
D: work fails to meet minimum course requirements, either in full and timely completion of requirements or in satisfactory understanding of course material
F: work falls far below minimum course requirements either in full and timely completion of requirements or in satisfactory understanding of course material.
University and Classroom Standards
The American University's "Academic Integrity Code" governing standards for academic conduct apply. Students may discuss the subject matter of their essays with anyone. All students, however, must compose their own essays and may not show or read their essays to any other persons, except for proofreading or typing assistance by a person not enrolled or previously enrolled in the course. The use of another person's words or ideas without proper attribution constitutes plagiarism or false authorship. Both are serious academic offenses. By turning in an essay, a student is certifying that the essay is entirely his/her own work. If there are any questions about this matter, consult the Academic Integrity code or see the instructor.
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Freedom of expression is at the root of academic discourse and the advancement of knowledge. This course will deal with a wide range of topics, some of which may challenge a student's deeply held beliefs and perhaps even cause offense. While no topic will be censored simply because it has these effects, students are expected to treat the differing views of others with respect. While a tolerance towards the opinions of others does not preclude expressions of disagreement, which are, indeed, encouraged, it does require that these expressions be based on the content of the ideas expressed and not on the personal traits or values of the speaker. All class participants will be expected to tolerate the expression of opposing views and to engage in reasoned discourse about them.
I will endeavor to ensure that the classroom is free of any conduct that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating or hostile environment. Furthermore, I will attempt to give each student an opportunity to express his or her own opinions and to treat student opinions with respect. Any student who believes that he or she has not been given fair or adequate opportunity to contribute to class discussion is encouraged to bring this to my attention.
I am genuinely interested in student development and the generation of critical understanding of the issues addressed in this course. If you have any questions or problems and would like to discuss them with me, please call me, visit me during my office hours, or make an appointment to meet with me at a mutually convenient time and location. If problems arise that may affect your performance in this course (e.g. academic, health, family, or other personal matters), it is important that you bring these issues to my attention when they arise and not wait until they interfere with some class exercise such as a paper or an exam. I am eager to assist you in making this an interesting and beneficial educational experience.
NOTE: Many readings are restricted to American University Faculty and Students. In order to access these readings, you first must either log into an American University computer on campus, or log into your my.American.edu account from any location you choose.
Week 1: - Introduction: Are Ethics Real?
Week 2 - Foundations of Justice – Two Perspectives
Neitzsche On The Genealogy of Morals (Preface And First Essay)
Dostoyevsky The Grand Inquisator
Hobbes Leviathan
PART ONE: OF MAN (and woman)
I. Of sense
V. Of reason and science
X. Of power, worth, dignity, honor, and worthiness
XIII. Of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their felicity and misery
XIV. Of the first and second natural laws, and of contracts
XV. Of other laws of naturePART TWO: OF COMMONWEALTH
XVII. Of the causes, generation, and definition of a commonwealth
XVIII. Of the rights of sovereigns by institution
XX. Of dominion paternal and despotical
XXI. Of the liberty of subjects
XXIV. Of the nutrition and procreation of a commonwealth
XXVI. Of civil laws
XXVIII. Of punishments and rewards
XXIX. Of those things that weaken or tend to the dissolution of a commonwealth
XXX. Of the office of the sovereign representative
XXXI. Of the kingdom of God by nature
Week 3 – Ethical Foundations of Politics I
Machiavelli, The Prince Chapters 14-20
Locke Second Treatise On GovernmentChapter 1. Of Political Power
Chapter 2. Of the State of Nature
Chapter 3. Of the State of War
Chapter 4. Of Slavery
Chapter 5. Of Property
Chapter 7. Of Political or Civil Society
Chapter 8. Of the Beginning of Political Societies
Chapter 11. Of the Extent of the Legislative Power
Chapter 18. Of Tyranny
Chapter 19. Of the Dissolution of GovernmentRousseau -- Second Discourse: On The Origins of Inequality
Week 4 --Ethical Foundations of Politics I I
Kant -- Excerpts On Morality
Mill -- Selections From On Liberty
The Scope of Justice: Universal or Relative?
Peter Singer All Animals Are Equal
Yael Tamir Hands Off Clitoridectomy: What Our Revulsion Reveals About Ourselves"Boston Review (1996)
Nussbaum, Neuwirth, Kamm & George Reply To Tamir
US Immigration Proceeding In Re Kasinga: Asylum Hearing of Potential FGM Victim
Claude Ake The African Context of Civil Rights , vol. 34 Africa Today Nos. 1&2 (1987)
Abdullahi Ahmed An Na'im Islam, Islamic Law and the Dilemma ofcultural Legtitimacy For Universal Human RightsJS Hawley -- Sati: The Blessing And The Curse: The Burning Of Wives In India
(Oxford, 1994) Chapters 3 & Chapter -4.United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Covenant on Civil & Political Rights Arts. 18-22 (Freedom of Religion)Readings On International Court of Justice
Abu Ghareb
NOTE: Two Page Outlinles Due
Week 5 – Rights And Justice: Individual And Community
H.L.A. Hart Are There Any Natural Rights?
Ronald Dworkin Rights As Trumps
Islamic Protests : To The Satanic Verses: Religious Freedom versus Freedom of Speech
Ronald Dworkin " Do We Have A Right To Pornography" in A Matter of Principle
Mackinnon Only Words
Devlin Morals And The Criminal Law
Texas v Johnsonn
Collins (Nazi Party) v. Smith (President of City Council) SkokieAmerican Booksellers v. Hudnut (7 th Cir.1986)
Feinberg Ride On The Bus
Kristol Pornogrpahy ObscenityAnd the Case For Censorship
Berlin -- Two Concepts of Freedom
Miller -- Constraints On Freedom
Taylor -- What's Wrong With Negative Freedom
PLEASE READ FOR THURSDAY March 8
Week 6 AND 7 -- Justice And Economic Distribution
Arthur -- Chapters 9 And 10
| Economic Distribution | Locke | Second Treatise (On Property) | |
| Nozick | The Entitlement Theory (from Anarch State And Utopia ) | ||
| Singer | Rich And Poor | ||
| Rawls | A Theory of Justice | ||
| Welfare | Walzer | Security Welfare And Communal Provisions | |
| Murray | A Proposal For Public Welfare | ||
| Rachels | What People Deserve | ||
| Callahan | Aging And The Ends of Medicine | ||
Week 8 -- Equality, Discrimination And Difference
Arthur -- Chapters 15, 16 & 17 (various)
| Sexual Equality | Mill & Taylor | The Subjugation of Women | |
| Ellison v. Brady | |||
| Richards | Freedom Conditioning And the Real Woman | ||
| Wright | The Female Mind: Feminists Meet Mr. Darwin | ||
| Race Identity And Difference | Plessy v Ferguson | ||
| Brown v. Board of Education | |||
| Hand | Jewish Quotas at Harvard College | ||
| Young | Social Movements And The Politics of Difference | ||
| Affirmative Action | Rachels | Reverse Discrimination | |
| University of California v. Bakke | |||
| Dworkin | The Rights of Alan Bakke | ||
| Bell | Racism: A Major Source of Inequality In America | ||
| Murray | Affirmative Racism | ||
Week 9 -- Abortion, Euthanasia, Sexual Orientation, And Stem Cell Research
Arthur -- Chapters 6- 7 & 13
| Euthanasia | |||
| Abortion | |||
| Sex Love And Marriage | |||
| Week 10 -- Justifying The Use of Force | |||
| Samantha Powers | Bystanders To Genocide | ||
| Kristof Interviews on Darfur | Please listen to all segments for all four headers | ||
| Arthur Chap - 8 | Richard Wasserstrom | On the morality of War | |
| Cheyney Ryan | The Morality of Pacifism | ||
| Michael Walzer | Dirty Hands | ||
| Jane Mayer | A Deadly Interrogation | ||
| United Nations | Convention against Torture | ||
| Seymour Hersh | Torture at Abu Ghraib | ||
| Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | Principle of Double Effect | ||
| Franz Fanon | Wretched of the Earth | ||
| Walzer |
Dirty Hands (The Article) | ||
| Hassan | An Arsenal of Believers: Talking To Human Bombs | ||
| Bentham | What is Utility? | ||
| Wikipedia | The Trolley Problem | ||
| Week 11 - Lying And Secrecy in Public Life | |||
| Plato | Book IV(concerning Noble Lies by the Guardians) | ||
| John Mason | Leo Strauss And The Noble Lie: The Neo-Cons at War | ||
| Roger Sullivan | Kant's Moral Theory (Concerning Lies) | ||
| United States v. Progressive | Publishing Manual To Build A Hydrogen Bomb | ||
| New York Times vs. US | Pentagon Papers Case | ||
| CIA/Valerie Wilson Investigation | Indictment of I Lewis Libby | ||
Week 9 Nationalism Patriotism And Citizenship
Yael Tamir Liberal Nationalism Chapters Five & Seven
Jacob Levy The Impossibility of Universal Nationalism in The Multiculturalism of Fear
Adolph Hitler Mein Kampf
Alisdyre MacIntyre Is Patriatism A Virtue? (In Arthur p 92)
Whose Culture? Katha Pollitt
Liberal Complacencies Will Kymlicka
Complicating Culture Bonnie Honig
Who Do You Trust? Yael Tamir
"Barbaric" Rituals? Sander Gilman
Between Norms & Choices Robert Post
A Varied Moral World Bhikhu Parekh
Publicity and Public Life Elizabeth Frazer
Culture Beyond Gender Saskia Sassen
Liberalism's Sacred Cow Homi K. Bhabha
Reform or Destroy? Joseph Raz
Culture Constrains Janet Halley
Sexual Equality vs. Cass R. Sunstein
Religion: What Should
the Law Do?
Susan Okin Responds
Week 11-- Professional Ethics versus Ethics
Week 12 Humanitarian Intervention And The Prosecution of Genocide
Powers Bystanders To Genocide
ant Excerpts From "Morals"
Sartre Dirty Hands (The Play)
Walzer Dirty Hands (The Article)
Hersh The Iraqi Intervention
Hassan An Arsenal of Believers: Talking To Human Bombs
Bentham What is Utility?
[Rwanda (regret Book by Gourevitch]
Week 13 Our Brother's Keeper? Globalization And Inequality
Singer Famine Affluence And Morality
Hardin The Tragedy of the Commons
Bhagwati Free Trade In the 21st Century
Hart & Empire (excerpt from first chapter)
Inegri
Daly Globalization And Its Discontents
Franz Fanon Wretched of the Earth
Walzer The Moral Standing of States
Stephen Krasner Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy
Luban Romancing The Nation State
Week 14 Global Justice And The Law Of The Peoples?
Rawls The Law of Peoples
Fagelson Two Concepts of Sovereignty (Skip this)
Barber Jihad vs. McWorld
Huntington Clash of Civilizations?
