Philosophical and Historical Perspectives on Conflict and Peacemaking in 20th C. Europe
IS-???
Fall 2019
Westmont in Northern Europe
Dr. Christian Hoeckley
Course Description
This tightly integrated interdisciplinary course will explore significant 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts blending the study of philosophical issues with historical events and historiographical issues. The course will teach fundamental concepts, methods, skills and aptitudes in the study of both philosophy and history.
Asignificant pitfall in using historical cases as illustrations or thought experiments for philosophical issues is the temptation to present a two-dimensional account of the historical case so that it neatly illustrates the philosophical issue. This can leave students with caricatures of historical events that overlook competing interpretations of these events, or significant developments in historical data about these events. By pairing the philosophical issues with careful historical analysis of the relevant events, students learn to avoid the facile use—or abuse—of historical events to forward an ideological point. What does the best data reveal about the number of deaths in the Dresden bombing? What does the best data reveal about the military value of Dresden to Germany’s continuing war effort? In what ways have competing interpretations of the bombing been deployed to forward various ideological interests? Only when these historical questions have been addressed is one in a position to consider how the event bears on the question of just war theory’s non-combatant immunity condition.
General Education Requirements
The course fulfills both the “Philosophical Reflections” and “Thinking Historically” elements of Westmont’s General Education curriculum. One of the strengths of the Westmont General Education curriculum is its integrative holistic nature. Few real-world issues can be comprehended or addressed without bringing knowledge and skills from a range of disciplinary perspectives to bear. Different academic disciplines are interdependent and can be mutually supportive in helping us confront challenges in our world.
Conflicts and peacemaking efforts in Europe over the past century are powerful examples of this interdependence. How shall we understand the social conflicts of 1920s Weimar Germany that led to the rise of Nazism without understanding the competing political theories and theories of distributive justice embedded in the views of the conflicting parties? Conversely, how shall we understand the nature and limits of Just War theory without careful historical analysis of relevant events like the Allied bombing of German cities?
This course offers an opportunity to experience that disciplinary interdependence in one course. It pairs central philosophical issues from the major sub-disciplines of philosophy with key events in conflict and peacemaking in 20th C. Europe.
By the end of the semester students will be able to:
1. Read primary sources on 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts historically – asking and answering basic questions about historical sources (historical context, author, audience, genre); drawing historical conclusions from the sources and assessing their reliability and usefulness; and reflecting on how their own background shapes their interpretation.[CH1]
2. Identify the arguments of secondary sources relevant to 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts and recognize differences in interpretation.[CH2]
3. Articulate responsibly how the conflicts and peacemaking efforts of 20th C. Europeare, and are not, relevant for the present, drawing informed connections between their study of those past events and their bearing on Europe’s present.[CH3]
4. Understand and be able to explain the importance the bearing of metaphysical assumptions on our understanding of conflicts and peacemaking efforts in 20th C. Europe, and see these instances as a model for how metaphysical assumptions might bear on a wide range of specific issues.[CH4]
5. Recognize and be able to discuss how assumptions about knowledge are embedded in and revealed by the study of history, and, through this example, discover how those assumptions affect other pursuits such pursuits as science, mathematics, theology, self-understanding.[CH5]
6. Recognize and be able to discuss the importance of competing value claims, with particular attention to how competing value claims bear on our assessment of social conflict.[CH6]
7. Practice identifying and assessing philosophical arguments when a thesis is proposed.[CH7]
8. And finally, emerge with a sense of how to think Christianly about various worldviews.[CH8]
Course Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Students will be able to analyze historical sources relevant to 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts with appropriate attention to their various contexts.
Students will be able to articulate major philosophical ideas related to 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts and describe how these philosophical ideas bear on the Christian liberal arts.
Course Outline (the exact dating of these course elements awaits the program’s final itinerary)
After a review of key events in 20th C. Europe and an introduction to key concepts and sub-disciplines of philosophy, the course will proceed by linking central philosophical issues with key events in the history of 20th C. European conflicts and peacemaking efforts.
I. Change and Continuity—the metaphysical problem of identity over time, and the question of what constitutes a “nation” or a “country” over time, with Ireland and especially Germany as case studies.
II. Constructing the Truth—the constructivist epistemology of Kant and conceptual relativism and the problem of competing historical memory in Northern Ireland.
III. Toleration: its Successes and its Failures—the nature, limits and justification of toleration as a political policy and personal virtue and the triumph of intolerance in the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany and East Germany.
IV. Justifying Violence—Utilitarian and deontological approaches to ethics and the area bombing of German cities in WWII.
V. Nonviolence—nonviolent peacemaking efforts in 20th C. Europe, and their various (even competing) ethical underpinnings.
VI. Wealth, poverty, and social conflict—competing economic systems in 20th. C. Europe and their associated theories of distributive justice.
Readings and Resources
Michael D. Richards, Paul R. Waibel, Twentieth-Century Europe: A Brief History, 1900 to the Present3rd Edition—selections concentrating on Ireland, the UK and Germany.
Marvin Perry, Matthew Berg, James Krukones, Sources of European History: Since 1900 2nd Edition—Selections from this primary source reader.
Doris Bergen, War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, 2nd Edition, Ch. 1 - 3
Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob, Telling the Truth About History,“Introduction” and Ch. 7, “Truth and Objectivity”
Piers Benn, "Authority and Relativism"
Clifford Geertz, “Anti-anti-relativism”
Peter Singer,Practical Ethics, Ch 1, "What ethics is--one view"
Immanuel Kant, Groundworkexcerpts
John Locke,Letter Concerning Toleration
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Ch 1 & 2
Bernard Williams, ”Toleration--an impossible virtue?”
Thucydides, "Melian Dialogue"
“Iraq War Veterans Ask: Was It Worth It?”
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, excerpts
Reinhold Niebuhr, "Why the Christian Church is not Pacifist"
Nigel Biggar, In Defence of War, Ch 2 "Love and War"
John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus Ch 2, 4, 8, 10, 12
Dietrich Bonhöffer, Cost of Discipleship, Ch 6, 12, 13
Course Assignments and Grading
20th & 21st C. European History Group Timeline Project with Presentation on Continuities and Discontinuities (10%)[CH9]
Brief Reading Analyses—a brief summary, key terms, and analytical questions on each class period’s reading assignment. (20 @ 1% ea. = 20%)[CH10]
Reflective Journal Entries—key ideas and personal takeaways from site visits and guest speakers. (10 @ 1.5 % ea. = 15%)
Mid-term Test on Key Historiographical and Philosophical concepts (10 %)[CH11]
Embodying History Group Site Presentation (5%)[CH12]
Two Primary Source Analyses (2 @ 5% ea. = 10%)[CH13]
Ethics andConflict Extended Essay (10%)[CH14]
Final Essay Exam Synthesizing Faith, Philosophy, and History (10%)[CH15]
Class Participation (10%)
CourseProcedure and ClassroomPolicies
Classes will vary in format, including but not limited to formal lectures, student-led discussions, documentaries, site visits (memorials, museums, synagogues, etc.), and on-site debriefs. Classes will be held in different settings each week. Each class will concentrate on a theme or feature of the war, specifically chosen for the location where the class will take place. Prior to the lecture, students will have read related primary and secondary sources to situate the topic within the war’s broader framework. Students are expected to attend all classes unless they have an excused absence.
Although this course will be taught abroad, Westmont College’s policy for academic integrity will be strictly followed. Dishonesty of any kind may result in loss of credit for the work involved and the filing of a report with the Provost’s Office. Major or repeated infractions may result in dismissal from the course with a grade of F. Plagiarism on Europe Semester will not be tolerated. To plagiarize is “to present someone else's work—his or her words, line of thought, or organizational structure—as your own. This occurs when sources are not cited properly, or when permission is not obtained from the original author to use his or her work.” The College’s plagiarism policy can be found here:
Students who have been diagnosed with a disability are strongly encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services as early as possible to discuss appropriate accommodations for this course. Formal accommodations will only be granted for students whose disabilities have been verified by the Office of Disability Services. These accommodations may be necessary to ensure your equal access to this course. Please contact Sheri Noble, Director of Disability Services prior to the group’s departure date in August (805-565-6186, ) or visit the website for more information:
Electronic devices must be silencedbefore class begins. Cell phones mustbe put away. Laptops and tablets may be used to take notes and refer to readings. To ensure focus and limit distractions, please come to all classes with a notebook and a writing utensil. While computers are allowed to take notes, much of this course’s learning will be done beyond the normal confines of the classroom—pen and paper simplify the process and also reduce the risk of theft.
[CH1]Means of assessment:Two Primary Source Analyses
[CH2]Means of assessment: Brief Reading Analyses; Ethics and Conflict Extended Essay
[CH3]Means of assessment: Reflective Journal Entries, Embodying History Group Site Presentation
[CH4]Means of assessment: Timeline Project with Discussion of Continuities and Discontinuities.
[CH5]Means of assessment: Midterm Test
[CH6]Means of assessment: Brief Reading Analyses, Ethics and Conflict Extended Essay, Embodying History Group Site Presentation
[CH7]Means of assessment: Extended Ethics and Conflict Essay.
[CH8]Means of assessment: Final exam and site visit and guest speaker reflections.
[CH9]Philosophy criterion 1
[CH10]Philosophy criterion 4, History criteria 1 & 2
[CH11]Philosophy criterion 2, History criterion 3
[CH12]History criteria 1, 2 & 3, Philosophy criterion 3
[CH13]History criteria 1
[CH14]Philosophy criteria 3, 4, 5, History criteria 1 & 2
[CH15]Philosophy criteria 3 & 5, History criteria 2 & 3