Admission requirements
Admission to (one of) the programme(s) listed under Part of in the information bar on the right.
Description
Why does equality have such a prominent role in the philosophical discourse? Can I be exploited and be free at the same time? Does justice need equality and in which sense? These will be some of the questions we will tackle on this course.
In the first section we will discuss justice as fairness and its critics, to then discuss justice in a cosmopolitan framework where abnormal justice seems to be the norm. Besides discussing justice in a distributive sense, we will also spend some time on a different form of justice: epistemic justice, as presented by Fricker.
In the second part of the course, we will explore the concept of freedom, trying to understand what it means to be free – is it to be non-dominated? Is it to be in a certain condition to act? – and whether freedom conflicts with equality. In this section, we will deal with questions of self-ownership and exploitation and how they fit in a discourse around freedom and justice.
The third section will be on equality. The central question will be whether equality holds a fundamental value in political theory and if so, why. The major theories that contest the primacy of equality will be presented and discussed. In particular, this section will ask whether equality has an intrinsic or instrumental value, and will test equality vis à vis priority, sufficiency and desert.
The readings of these sections will guide our final discussions on specific cases that will shed light on the relation between equality, freedom and justice and their different interpretations.
Course objectives
This course aims to:
give students a deep critical understanding of the philosophical concepts of justice, 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 justice, 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 justice, 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
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Participation | 25% |
| Intermediate writing assignment(s) | 15% |
| Final Essay | 60% |
Class attendance requirement: Students absent for more than 3 classes will not be allowed to take the final essay and will not be allowed to pass the course.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is determined by the weighted average of the grades for each assessment.
A passing grade requires that both:
1. The weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher
2. Class attendance requirement is met
Resit
Students who fail the course can submit a resit, which will be an extended essay assignment that replaces the grades for the final essay and intermediate writing assignment(s)
It is not possible to make up for the attendance requirement or participation grade.
Inspection and feedback
Students will have an opportunity to discuss the grading of their essays with the instructor.
Reading list
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 information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.