Human Rights & Human Wrongs Hons.302 § 007 Professor Fagelson Spring 2003

You will be expected to look for any class assignments either here or on our blackboard site.

Materials
 

Required:

Readings In The Syllabus will be made available either directly from the Web site or as hard copies delivered in class.
 

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.

PREREQUISITES:

 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.

• Each student will be responsible for making a presentation to the class based on the material due for discussion that week.  It is expected that the presentation will be in the style and quality of a paper presented at a professional conference.

•   There will be a final paper of  approximately 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.....

  •    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.

  •   No grade will be received for these papers but comments will be provided and late papers will result in a reduced final paper grade.
     

Grading (subject to qualification described below)

Class Participation: 25%

Class Presentation: 15%

Two page anotated outline and biblography: 15%

Seven Page Draft: 20%

Final Paper: 25%
 

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.
 
 

***************

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.

TOPIC OUTLINE

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: What is Right and Wrong? Questions of Law And Justice

Neitzsche On The Genealogy of Morals (Preface And First Essay)

Dostoyevsky The Grand Inquisator

Week 2

Foundations of Justice
 

Hobbes Leviathan
 
 

PART ONE: OF MAN

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 nature

PART 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

Machiavelli, The Prince Chapters 14-20
 

Locke    Second Treatise On Government

Chapter 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 Government

Kant    Perpetual Peace         Excerpts On Morality

Bentham   Principles of Morals And Legislation Books I-IV

Mill    Selections FromOn Liberty
 

Week 3
 

Justice And International Relations

Hans J. Morgenthau, The Mainsprings of American Foreign Policy: The National Interest vs. Moral Abstractions
Marshall Cohen, Moral Skepticism And International Affairs
Michael Doyle, Liberalism And World Politics

  Week 4

Justice And Human Rights

H.L.A. Hart      Are There Any Natural Rights?
Ronald Dworkin  Rights As Trumps
Charles Beitz    Human Rights as a Political Concern
Henry Shue     Basic Rights

NOTE: Two Page Outlinles Due

  Week 5

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
Tamir Response
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 Rights

Week 6
The Subject of Justice: Individual Or Community (And Which Ones)?

      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

                     JS 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)

Week 7

   Democracy And Equality As Ideas of Justice

           Will Kymlicka:  Individual Rights And Collective Rights

           Charles Fried     Markets Law And Democracy

           Francis Fukayama    The Illusion of American Exceptionalism

           Francis Fukayama    The March of Equality

           Pippa Norris        Cultural Obstacles To Democracy

[Pogge On Equlity??]

Week 8

The Object of Human Rights III: Sovereignty And Self Determination

        Franz Fanon     Wretched of the Earth

               Walzer        The Moral Standing of States

          Stephen Krasner Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy

               Luban         Romancing The Nation State

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

Joseph Carens       Culture, Citizenship, and Community : A Contextual Exploration of Justice As Evenhandedness
                                PARTS: One Two & Three

Adolph Hitler   Mein Kampf

[Kymlicka & Norman on Citizenship in Diverse Societies]

Week 10

  Multiculturalism And Tolerance

Michael Walzer                       On Tolerance: Chapters Two And Three
Khaled Abou El Fadl:    The Place of Tolerance in Islam
                                Responses:
    Sohail H. Hashmi     A Conservative Legacy,
    Amina Wadud            Beyond Interpretation
    John L. Esposito        Islam and Tolerance
    Abou El Fadl          Replies

    Susan Okin        Is Multiculturalism Bad ForWomen?
             Responses

 Whose Culture?    Katha Pollitt
Liberal Complacencies Will Kymlicka
Complicating Culture Bonnie Honig
Who Do You Trust? Yael Tamir
"Barbaric" Rituals? Sander Gilman
Between Norms and 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

Susan Okin Responds

Sexual Equality vs. Religion: What Should the Law Do?      Cass R. Sunstein

Week 11
  Just And Unjust Wars

Sartre           Dirty Hands (The Play)
Walzer         Dirty Hands (The Article)
Hassan        An Arsenal of Believers: Talking To Human Bombs
Bentham       What is Utility?

Week 12

Humanitarian Intervention And The Prosecution of Genocide

Powers          Bystanders To Genocide
Macedo      Universal Jurisdiction
Kant           Excerpts From "Morals"
 

[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
 
 

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?