Prof. Marion Smiley 110 Mandel Humanities Center

Department of Philosophy Phone: 781.736.2792

Brandeis University email:

Spring 2014

Philosophy 121A: Normative Questions of the Welfare State

This course sets out to develop a normative framework for arguing about the value of particular aspects of the welfare state broadly understood.* Part One explores various arguments put forward by 20th and 21st century philosophers to justify -- or to undermine -- a role for the state in providing individuals withthe means for achievingpersonal wellbeing. Part Twofocuses on thevalues that ground these arguments – needs, rights, liberty, fairness, citizenship, solidarity, dependence, non-paternalism, utility, and personal responsibility -- and asks: How are we to understand these values both in general and in discussions of the welfare state? What implications do they have for the normative value of particular kinds of assistance? Are conflicts between these values inevitable in the context of the welfare state? If so, what is the appropriate normative response? Part Three places two programs in particular, namely, Social Security and National Health Care, at the center of our attention and explores the justifiability of each on the basis of the above analysis.

*In the context of this course, “the welfare state” is not limited to Federal programs for the poor but is instead understood broadly to encompass all programs designed to provide citizens with the basis for achieving personal wellbeing.

Course Prerequisites: Phil. 1A (Introduction to Philosophy), Phil. 17A (Introduction to Ethics), Politics 10A (Introduction to Political Theory), or any upper level course in the fields of ethics and political philosophy.

Course Requirements: two 7-9 page essays and a final exam. Class participation is encouraged and class attendance mandatory.

Course Materials/ Many of the materials are to be found in the course pack. The following (required) books can be purchased at the University bookstore:

David Schmitz and Robert Goodin, Social Welfare and Individual Responsibility.

Jan Narveson and James Sterba, Are Liberty and Equality Compatible?

Norman Daniels, Just Health Care. Meeting Health Care Needs Fairly.

Attention: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this course, please inform me in class.

READINGS

Note: Since class discussion focuses on assigned readings, please read the following selections by the date cited. (CP = course pack)

Jan. 13: Introduction to Course

Jan. 15: “Welfare State”, Oxford English Dictionary(1 page) (LATTE).

Linda Gordon, selection, “What is ‘Welfare’?” (2 pages) (LATTE).

Robert Goodin, selection, Reasons for Welfare (LATTE).

Amy Gutmann, selection, Democracy and the Welfare State (LATTE).

Norman Barry, selection, Welfare (1 page) (LATTE)

[Recommended: Raymond Plant, “The Very Idea of a Welfare State” (LATTE)]

Jan. 22: Robert Goodin, Social Welfare and Individual Responsibility, pp. 97- 154.

Jan. 27:Goodin, Social Responsibility and Individual Responsibility, pp. 155-183.

Jan. 29:David Schmitz, Social Welfare and Individual Responsibility, pp. 3-23; 60-79.

Feb. 3: Raymond Plant, Harry Lesser, and Peter Taylor-Gooby, “Needs, Rights, and Welfare” (CP)

Len Doyal and Ian Gough, “A Theory of Human Needs” (CP).

Feb. 5:David Braybrooke, selections, Meeting Needs (CP).

Kai Nielsen, “On Human Needs and Moral Appraisal” (CP).

Feb. 10:Michael Walzer, “Citizenship and Welfare” (CP).

Jeremy Waldron, “Social Citizenship and Welfare” (CP).

Feb. 12: Henry Shue, selections, Basic Rights (CP).

Jeremy Waldron, “When Justice Replaces Affection: the Need for Rights” (CP).

Donald Moon, “The Moral Basis of the Democratic Welfare State”(CP).

Feb. 24: Katherine Eddy, “Welfare Rights and Conflicts of Rights” (CP).

James Griffin, “Welfare Rights”(CP).

Feb. 26: Stuart White, “What’s Wrong with Workfare?” (CP).

S. Segall, “Unconditional Welfare Benefits and the Principle of Reciprocity” (CP).

FIRST PAPERS DUE: Friday, Feb. 28in the Philosophy Department Office.

Mar.3: Elizabeth Anderson, “What is the Point of Equality?” (CP).

Mar. 5: Harry Frankfurt, “The Moral Irrelevance of Equality” (CP).

Gregory Vlastos, “Justice and Equality” (CP).

March 10: Richard Arneson, “Welfare should be the Currency of Justice” (CP).

Gillian Brock, “Is Redistribution to Help the Needy Unjust?” (CP).

March 12: James Sterba, Are Liberty and Equality Compatible?, pp. 7-38.

March 24:Sterba, pp. 39-116.

March 26: Jan Narveson, Are Liberty and Equality Compatible?, pp. 123-181.

April 2:Narveson, pp. 182-251.

April 7: Carole Pateman, “The Patriarchal Welfare State” (CP).

Nancy Fraser, “After the Family Wage: Gender Equity and the Welfare

State”(CP).

April 9: L. Halldenius, “Non-Domination and Egalitarian Welfare Politics” (CP).

Michael Walzer, “Socializing Welfare” (CP).

April 14: Norman Daniels, Just Health Care: Meeting Health Care Needs Fairly, ch.s 1-3.

April 23: Daniels, ch.s 4-7.

SECOND PAPERS DUE: Friday, April 25 in the Philosophy Dept. Office.

April 28: Allen Buchanan, “The Right to a Decent Minimum of Health Care (CP).

Amy Gutmann, “For and Against Equal Access to Health Care” (CP).