Contemporary Theories of Justice
(formerly Political Ideology)
Fall 2014
POL 3103 001/901 Dan Engster
TR 11:30-12:45 Office: MS 4.03.36
MB 0.302/FS 2.518 Office hrs.: TR 1:00-2:00
Email: Office phone: 458-5645
This course explores a number of contemporary political ideologies including egalitarian liberalism, libertarianism, socialism, communism, communitarianism, race theory, multiculturalism, feminism, and green political thought. We will read representative accounts of each of these ideologies, explore their underlying assumptions and justifications, investigate the social policies associated with them, and discuss their merits and limitations. The course will provide students with the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the ideological landscape of contemporary politics and the justifications behind a variety of different social policy proposals. Ideally, it will also help them to clarify their own political theories. The first part of the course focuses on issues of economic justice and political rights. The second part of the course focuses on the political ideologies associated with a number of new political and social movements. By the end of the course, students should be able to define the basic principles of each of the ideologies studied, relate these ideologies to specific policy proposals, defend and criticize different ideologies and policies, and provide a coherent account of their own political ideology.
BOOKS:
The following books are available at the UTSA Bookstore. They are also on reserve at the 1604 library.
Dobson, Andrew, Green Political Thought, fourth edition, (New York: Routledge, 2008).
Friedman, Milton, Capitalism and Freedom, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).
Kymlicka, Will, Multicultural Citizenship, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
Mills, Charles, The Racial Contract, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997).
*Okin, Susan, Justice, Gender, and the Family, (New York: Basic Books, 1989).
Rawls, John, A Theory of Justice, (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1999).
Schweickart, David, After Capitalism, Second Edition, (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2011).
We will be reading short excerpts from a couple of other books. I have not ordered these books, but they are on reserve at the 1604 library.
Etzioni, Amitai, The Spirit of Community, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993).
Ollman, Bertell, Social and Sexual Revolution, (Boston: South End Press, 1979).
Van Parijs, Phillipe, What’s Wrong with a Free Lunch?, (Boston: Beacon Press, 2001).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1) Paper: You are required to write one paper. The paper should be 6-8 pages, typed and double-spaced, and counts 30% toward your final grade. I will pass out more detailed instructions about the paper assignment later in the semester. You may turn in your paper anytime between October 23 and December 9.
2) Exams: There are two in-class short answer/essay exams: a mid-term exam and a comprehensive final exam. Each exam counts 25% toward your final grade. Make-up exams will be given only to students who present a note from the Dean or a doctor explaining their absence on the day of the exam. In any case, all make-up exams will be penalized a minimum of 15 percentage points.
3) Participation: Your participation counts 20% toward your final grade. Your participation grade will be based on two factors: reading quizzes and in-class group projects. Reading quizzes will be given at the beginning of class to test whether or not you have done the reading. You will receive credit or no credit for these quizzes. Group projects will be assigned periodically in class. These projects are written assignments that you will produce as a group in response to some questions related to the course topics and readings. Your group will receive credit or no credit for each of these assignments based on the quality of your responses.
PLEASE NOTE: I use a +/- system in assigning final grades, so every point counts!
Computers, ipads, phones, and other electronic devices are not allowed in class, except with my permission.
Support services, including registration assistance and equipment, are available to students with disabilities through the Office of Disability Services (DSS), MS 2.03.18. Students can contact that office at 458-4157 to make arrangements.
Plagiarism: The University Student Code of Conduct defines plagiarism in the following way: "Plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to, “the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift or obtaining by any means another's work and the submission of said work as one’s own academic work offered for credit.” In other words, if you buy a paper and turn it in as your own, or copy parts of a friend’s old paper/summary and claim it as your own, or take passages off the internet and insert them into your paper/summaries (e.g., from SparkNotes) as if they were your own writing, then you have plagiarized. Any student who submits plagiarized work for any assignment in the class, including summaries and papers, will automatically receive a F for the class. More information on plagiarism is provided on the Plagiarism Sheet that I will pass out.
Other important university guidelines can be found at: http://utsa.edu/syllabus.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
8/28: Introduction
EGALITARIAN LIBERALISM
9/2: Rawls, A Theory of Justice, sects. 1-5.
9/4: Rawls, A Theory of Justice, sects. 11-13, 15-17. [HINT: Don’t get bogged down
by the graphs in sections 11-13].
9/9: Rawls, A Theory of Justice, [continued].
9/11: Rawls, A Theory of Justice, sects. 20, 22, 24-26, 29.
9/16: Rawls, A Theory of Justice, sects. 31-33, 36-37, 41-43 + Rawls, Justice as Fairness,
pp. 135-140 (available on Blackboard).
LIBERTARIANISM
9/18: Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, p 1-36.
9/23: Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, p 85-118, 137-160.
9/25: Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, p 161-195.
MARKET SOCIALISM
9/30: Schweickart, After Capitalism, p 1-46.
10/2: Schweickart, After Capitalism, p 47-83.
10/7: Schweickart, After Capitalism, p 85-123.
10/9: Schweickart, After Capitalism, p 125-164, 179-206.
COMMUNISM
10/14: Ollman, “Marx’s Vision of Communism,” in Bertell Ollman, Social and Sexual Revolution, p 48-98.
LEFT-LIBERTARIANISM/EGALITARIAN-LIBERTARIANISM
10/16: Van Parijs, “A Basic Income for All,” in Philippe Van Parijs, What’s Wrong with a Free Lunch?, pp. 3-26.
IN DEFENSE OF THE WELFARE STATE
10/21: Engster, “Justice, Care, and the Poor.”
10/23: MIDTERM EXAM.
COMMUNITARIANISM
10/28: Etzioni, The Spirit of Community, p 1-53.
10/30: Etzioni, The Spirit of Community, p 134-191. (Grid exercise)
FEMINISM
11/4: Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family, p 3-24, 89-109.
11/6: Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family, p 134-186.
JUSTICE AND RACE
11/11: Mills, Racial Contract, p 1-40.
11/13: Mills, Racial Contract, p 81-133.
MULTICULTURALISM
11/18: Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, p 1-48.
11/20: Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, p 75-130.
11/25: Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, p 152-195
11/27: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY. NO CLASS.
GREEN POLITICAL THOUGHT
12/2: Dobson, Green Political Thought, p 1-52.
12/4: Dobson, Green Political Thought, p 53-102.
12/9: Dobson, Green Political Thought, p 148-188; David Keith, A Case for Climate Engineering, p. 1-20 Papers must be turned in no later than 12:45 pm.
12/16: FINAL EXAM: 9:45 am – 12:15 pm.