4AANB006 Political Philosophy I Syllabus Academic year 2015-16 Basic information Credits: 15 Module Tutor: Dr Sarah Fine Office: 902 Consultation time: Tuesdays 12pm, and Thursdays 12pm. Semester: Second Lecture time and venue: Thursday, 11am, S- 2.18 Module description (plus aims and objectives) This module introduces students to some of the central concepts, questions, approaches, and debates in political philosophy. Under which conditions, if any, should we submit to political authority? What, if anything, makes the exercise of coercive power legitimate? What is the value of democracy? What is the value of equality? What kind of liberty should a just society aim to protect? The module is designed complement (and lay the groundwork for) the Level 5 and Level 6 political philosophy modules. Aims: To introduce students to political philosophy. To engage with some of the enduring questions and controversies in political philosophy. To consider why these questions continue to occupy political philosophers. To read texts carefully, closely, and critically. Objectives: By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practical skills appropriate to a Level 4 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate: A good understanding of some central debates in political philosophy. The ability to engage critically with the relevant literature. The ability to develop and defend arguments of their own. Assessment methods and deadlines Formative assessment: 2 x 1,000 word essay. 1. Deadlines: First essay due at 16:00 on Friday 26 February 2016;second essay due at 16:00 on Friday 08 April 2016 Summative assessment: 1 x 2 hour exam in May/June 2015 (100%) Be sure to familiarise yourselves with the College s guidelines on plagiarism and correct referencing: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/help/plagiarism/index.aspx Outline of lecture topics (plus suggested readings)
Week One<21 January 2016>: Political obligation Christopher Heath Wellman and A. John Simmons (2005) Is There a Duty to Obey the Law? For and Against (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), Part II. Week Two <28 January 2016>: Liberty Isaiah Berlin (1969) Two Concepts of Liberty in his Four Essays on Liberty (Oxford: Oxford Week Three<4 February 2016>: Power Steven Lukes (2005) Power: A Radical View Second edition (London: Macmillan), chapter 1, Power: A Radical View. Week Four<11 February 2016>: Democracy Michael Walzer (1981) Philosophy and Democracy, Political Theory 9. Week Five<18 February 2016>: J ustice: Rawls John Rawls (2001) Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press), esp. Parts I and II. Week Six< 3 March 2016>: Justice: Nozick Robert Nozick (1974) Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books), chapter 7. Week Seven <10 March 2016>: Equality Ronald Dworkin (1981) What is Equality? Part 2: Equality of Resources, Philosophy and Public Affairs 10 [also printed in his Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press), chapter 2.] Week Eight <17 March 2016>: Multiculturalism Will Kymlicka (2002) Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press), chapter 8, Multiculturalism. Week Nine<24 March 2016>: Feminism Catherine MacKinnon (1989) Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press), esp. Part III, esp. chapters 11 and 12. Week Ten<31 March 2016>: Global Justice Michael Blake (2001) Distributive Justice, State Coercion, and Autonomy, Philosophy and Public Affairs 30.
Suggested essay questions 1. What is the best response to the philosophical anarchist? 2. What, if anything, is wrong with negative liberty? 3. Power is not to be taken to be a phenomenon of one individual s consolidated and homogeneous domination over others, or that of one group or class over others Power must be analysed as something which circulates, or rather as something which only functions in the form of a chain (Foucault). Discuss. 4. Should we value democracy because of its results, or in spite of its results? 5. What is the best argument for adopting the difference principle? 6. What is the problem with taxation of earnings, according to Nozick? Is he right? 7. Do luck egalitarians miss the point of equality? 8. Are cultural minorities entitled to any group-differentiated rights? 9. What would a feminist state look like? 10. The full standards of justice apply only within the boundaries of a sovereign state, however arbitrary those boundaries may be (Nagel). Discuss.
Suggested additional readings Introductions Will Kymlicka (2002) Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford A. John Simmons (2008) Political Philosophy (New York: Oxford Adam Swift (2006) Political Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide for Students and Politicians (Cambridge: Polity). Jonathan Wolff (2002) An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford Political Obligation Ronald Dworkin (1986) Law s Empire (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press), chapter 6. Nancy Hirschmann (1992) Rethinking Obligation: A Feminist Method for Political Theory (Ithaca: Cornell George Klosko (2005) Political Obligations (Oxford: Oxford A. John Simmons (2000) Justification and Legitimacy: Essays on Rights and Obligations (Cambridge: Cambridge M.B.E. Smith (1973) Is There a Prima Facie Obligation to Obey the Law?, Yale Law Journal 82. Jeremy Waldron (1993) Special Ties and Natural Duties, Philosophy and Public Affairs 22. Robert Paul Wolff (1970) In Defense of Anarchism (New York: Harper & Row). Liberty Ian Carter (1999) A Measure of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford G. A. Cohen (2011) Freedom and Money, in G. A. Cohen, On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice and Other Essays in Political Philosophy, ed. Michael Otsuka (Princeton: Princeton Matthew Kramer (2003) The Quality of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford Philip Pettit, P (1997) Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government (Oxford: Oxford Charles Taylor, C., 1979, What's Wrong with Negative Liberty?, widely reprinted, e.g. in Alan Ryan (ed.). (1979) The Idea of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford Quentin Skinner (1998) Liberty Before Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge. Power Amy Allen (2013 edition) Feminist Perspectives on Power, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/feminist-power/. William Connolly (1993) The Terms of Political Discourse Third Edition (Oxford: Blackwell), chapters 3 and 4. Michel Foucault (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (various editions). Michel Foucault (1983) The Subject and Power, in H. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow (eds.) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Wendy Brown (2006) Power After Foucault in John Dryzek et al. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford Democracy Richard Arneson (2003) 'Defending the Purely Instrumental Account of Democratic Legitimacy', Journal of Political Philosophy 11. Robert Dahl (1989) Democracy and its Critics (New Haven: Yale David Estlund (2008) Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework (Princeton: Princeton Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson (1996) Democracy and Disagreement (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press), chapters 1-6. Peter Jones (1983) Political Equality and Majority Rule in David Miller and Larry Siedentop (eds.) (1983) The Nature of Political Theory (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Carole Pateman (1970) Participation and Democratic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), chapters 1-3. Iris Marion Young (2002) Inclusion and Democracy (Oxford: Oxford Justice: Rawls John Rawls (1971) A Theory of Justice (Cambridge MA: Harvard G.A. Cohen (2008) Rescuing Justice and Equality (Cambridge MA: Harvard Samuel Freeman (2007) Justice and the Social Contract: Essays on Rawlsian Political Philosophy (New York: Oxford Thomas Pogge (2007) John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice (Oxford: Oxford Leif Wenar (2012 edition) John Rawls, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/rawls/. Justice: Nozick Ralf M. Bader and John Meadowcroft (2011) The Cambridge Companion to Nozick s Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Cambridge: Cambridge Barbara Fried (1995) Wilt Chamberlain Revisited: Nozick's "Justice in Transfer" and the Problem of Market-Based Distribution, Philosophy and Public Affairs 24. G.A. Cohen (1995) Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality (Cambridge: Cambridge Serena Olsaretti (2004) Liberty, Desert, and the Market: A Philosophical Study (Cambridge: Cambridge Jonathan Wolff (1991) Robert Nozick: Property, Justice, and the Minimal State (Stanford: Stanford. Continued
Equality Richard Arneson (1989) Equality and Equality of Opportunity for Welfare, Philosophical Studies 56. G.A. Cohen (1989) On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice, Ethics 99. Larry Temkin (1986) Inequality, Philosophy and Public Affairs 15. Michael Walzer (1983) Spheres Of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality (New York: Basic Books), esp. chapters 1, 12, 13. Bernard Williams (1962) The Idea of Equality in his Problems of the Self (Cambridge: Cambridge Elizabeth Anderson (1999) What is the Point of Equality?, Ethics 109. Harry Frankfurt (1987) 'Equality as a Moral Ideal', Ethics 98. Samuel Scheffler (2003) What is Egalitarianism?, Philosophy and Public Affairs 31 Multiculturalism Brian Barry (2001) Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Cambridge: Polity Press). Seyla Benhabib (2002) The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era (Princeton: Princeton Avigail Eisenberg (2003) Diversity and Equality: Three Approaches to Cultural and Sexual Difference, Journal of Political Philosophy 11. Will Kymlicka (1995) Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Oxford David Miller (2000) Citizenship and National Identity (Cambridge: Polity Press), chapter 4. Sarah Song (2007) Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism (Cambridge: Cambridge Irish Marion Young (2000) Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton: Princeton Feminism Clare Chambers (2008) Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice (Penn State University Press ). Nancy Fraser (1995) From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a Post-Socialist Age, New Left Review I/212. Rae Langton (1993) Speech Acts and Unspeakable Acts, Philosophy and Public Affairs 22. Susan Moller Okin (1989) Justice, Gender, and the Family (New York: Basic Books). Susan Moller Okin (1999) Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? in Joshua Cohen et al. (eds.) Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? (Princeton: Princeton Carole Pateman (1988) The Sexual Contract (Stanford: Stanford Iris Marion Young (1997) Intersecting Voices: Dilemmas of Gender, Political Philosophy, and Policy (Princeton: Princeton Global Justice Charles Beitz (1979) Political Theory and International Relations (Princeton: Princeton Simon Caney (2005) Justice Beyond Borders: A Global Political Theory (Oxford: Oxford Nancy Fraser (2005) Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World, New Left Review 36. David Miller (2007) National Responsibility and Global Justice (Oxford: Oxford Thomas Nagel (2005) The Problem of Global Justice, Philosophy and Public Affairs 33. Thomas Pogge (1989) Realizing Rawls (Ithaca: Cornell John Rawls (1999) The Law of Peoples (Cambridge MA: Harvard Andrea Sangiovanni (2007) Global Justice, Reciprocity, and the State, Philosophy and Public Affairs 35.