Admission requirements
Admission to one of the following programmes is required:
MA Philosophy 60 EC: specialisation Philosophical Perspectives on Politics and the Economy;
MA Philosophy 60 EC: specialisation Moral and Political Philosophy;
MA Philosophy 120 EC: specialisation Philosophy of Law, Governance, and Politics.
Description
Almost nobody denies that freedom and equality matter, in some way. But these are complex values, and they can be interpreted and cashed out in different ways. What does an attractive view of freedom look like? Freedom from intervention, or ‘real’ freedom to pursue our plans?
Equality is not much more straightforward. Does an egalitarian theory of justice entail an egalitarian distribution, or is equality of concern compatible with other patterns of distributive justice. And if we care about equality, equality of what? Resources, welfare, primary goods, capabilities? And does equality apply at a particular point in time, or over our lives? Should we worry about distributions for their own sake at all, or should we be concerned with people’s capacity to relate to each other as equals?
These big values might clash. Theories of justice try to cash out these values, sometimes in a more or less unified way. Can freedom and equality fit in one theory of justice, or are there tough choices to make?
Ultimately, freedom and equality are not the only values that matter. What about efficiency, solidarity, community or self-realization? Does a plausible theory of justice carve out space for such considerations?
This an advanced course on (distributive) justice. We will look at the big debates in contemporary debates, freedom vs. equality; distributive vs. relational egalitarianism; life-time equality; outcome vs. resources and so on.
Course objectives
This course aims to:
give students a deep critical understanding of the philosophical concepts of freedom and equality, their relationship, and their embedding in different political theories as core values and as principles guiding political action;
acquaint students with key writings on freedom and equality, including but not limited to the treatment of these ideas by modern political philosophers.
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
analyse and critically evaluate the use made of freedom and equality in philosophical writing and in wider political contexts;
apply the concepts and arguments from the authors studied to better understand contemporary real world problems and debates.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar.
Class attendance is required.
Assessment method
Assessment
Presentation;
Midterm paper;
Paper proposal;
Final paper;
Class participation.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by (i) determination of the weighted average combined with (ii) additional requirements.
Presentation in class (10%);
Mid-term paper (30%);
Final paper proposal (10%);
Final paper (50%).
Attendance, active partipation and making small reading assignments are required to pass this course.
Resit
The resit will consist of one long paper, which replaces all the partial grades in the course. One cannot participate in the resit if one has not attended the seminar (activily, including reading assignments).
Inspection and feedback
By appointment.
Reading list
Important texts in contemporary political philosophy focusing on justice, freedom and equality, by authors such as Rawls, Dworkin, Cohen, Phillips, Anderson, Bidadanure, Parfit, Van Parijs, Arneson, Sen, Nussbaum, Kymlick and more.
Links to these texts, usually journal articles, will be made available on Brightspace. Will Kymlicka’s Introduction to Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edition) is recommended.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.