PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy
PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy
The Generic Catalog Description
This course will concentrate on a specific issue in political philosophy. Typical topics include civil disobedience, war and peace, theories of political revolution, theories of utopia, and punishment and criminal justice.
PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy: Liberalism and Feminism (class is linked with Dr. Ingram's PHIL 480)
Jennifer Parks
This course will examine the liberal and feminist traditions in contemporary social and political philosophy. We will begin by considering the foundational liberal social contract theory of John Rawls. We will then address the ways that feminists have incorporated and rejected liberal thought within their theories of justice and care. The course will also address radical feminist approaches that question the dominant liberal rights-based framework. We will consider issues such as distributive justice and the family, the gendered basis for care and caregiving, multiculturalism and feminism, and liberal versus radical feminist positions on pornography. Readings for the course will draw from the Anglo-American tradition in philosophy, possibly including works by authors such as John Rawls, Susan Moller Okin, Martha Nussbaum, Eva Kittay, Catharine MacKinnon, and Shulamith Firestone.
PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
David Schweickart
How should we, as social beings, live together? This is the fundamental question of political philosophy. This course will address this question directly. Given the knowledge and resources that we have, what is the best form of society that we, in the United States today, might construct?
Virtually everyone would agree as to the basic political structure of our ideal society. It should be a democracy. Democracy has proven itself to be a durable and contagious ideal. The history of the past several centuries has witnessed a steady deepening of democracy to include all citizens of a society and a steady spread of democracy--at least as an ideal--throughout the world.
There may be agreement about political structure, at least in broad outline, but there is no agreement about that other fundamental feature of a society--its economic structure. It is this disagreement that will serve as the focus of the course. Should our economic structure remain capitalist? If so, what sort of capitalism--a conservative free-market economy that gives little scope for governmental intervention, or a more liberal version that would, among other things, allow the government to regulate the economy more and redistribute some of the income and wealth. Or should we aim for something more drastic. Should we try to move beyond capitalism? Does there exist an economically viable socialist alternative to capitalism, or has the socialist project been wholly discredited? If an economically viable alternative to capitalism does exist, is it worth struggling to bring it about?
To clarify the issues, we will read three books, each representing a contending view, conservative, liberal and socialist, respectively. The conservative position is represented by one of the most influential economists of the post-World-War-Two period. We will read his classic statement. The liberal position is articulated by the most influential political philosopher of the post-World-War Two period. We will read his most famous work. The socialist position will be set out by me. We will read and discuss Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, and David Schweickart's After Capitalism.
These readings and discussions comprise the first two-thirds of the course. During the last third of the course, the class divides into groups, each of which draws up a blueprint for its own Ideal Society. The course culminates in a Great Debate, in which each group attempts to defend its vision against the alternatives.
PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy: Globalization Ethics (class is linked with Dr. Ingram's PHIL 480)
Thomas Wren
In this course we will explore economic and cultural issues of globalization, with particular attention to their normative dimensions of economic and cultural issues such as nationalism, colonialism, immigration, cultural identity, group rights, and related topics such as global ecology.
We will draw on a variety of sources, including videos as well as books and articles. We will begin the course with excerpts from classic works such as Aristotle's Politics, Rousseau's Social Contract, Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace, and perhaps Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto. We will then look at texts from contemporary authors such as John Rawls. Jurgen Habermas, Thomas Pogge, Iris young, and Seyla Benhabib. The readings will be supplemented with several videos about some of the disturbing by-products of globalization.
This class will meet with Dr. Ingram's graduate seminar (PHIL 480) for lectures and video presentations, though not for the many scheduled discussion sessions (roughly, every third meeting).
PHIL 327: Topics in Political Philosophy: