Professor Esteve Morera

Office:  S419 Ross

Phone: 736 2100, ext. 77591

Email: morera@yorku.ca

Office hours: Wednesday 9:30-10:30

or by appointment.

This course will focus on the central issues of political theory: justice, liberty, and equality, and race. These concepts are at the core of contemporary debates on the good society, the kind of society that is morally justified. Two distinct traditions will be examined, the liberal tradition and the socialist one. Readings for the course are drawn from contemporary debates in political philosophy. The course aims at developing the students’ understanding of political philosophy, its key issues, and approaches to this central aspect of philosophical work today.

PHIL 4180 KIT, available at the York Bookstore

Mills, Charles. '"Ideal Theory" as Ideology."

Hypatia , Summer, 2005, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer, 2005), pp. 165-184

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3811121

Mills, Charles. "Retrieving Rawls for Racial Justice?: A Critique of Tommie Shelby" Critical Philosophy of Race , Vol. 1, No. 1, 2013), pp. 1-27

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/critphilrace.1.1.0001

Matthew, Dale. "Purview and Permissibility."

Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 40, No. 1 (January 2014): 73-98.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24332264

Jeffers, Chike. The Cultural Theory of Race

Ethics , Vol. 123, No. 3 (April 2013), pp. 403-426

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/669566

Short paper  (Feb. 14) . . . . . . . . 30%

Research paper (April 4) . . . . .  . 45%

Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15%

Participation. . . .  . . . . . . . . . . .  10%

Seminar with weekly discussions of assigned readings.

The student completing this course will

• acquire a solid understanding of both the liberal and socialist approaches to political philosophy.
• gaining a clear appreciation of contemporary debates on the ideas of liberty, equality, and justice.
• appreciate the philosophical significance of 'race'
• develop critical skills and a greater understanding of the normative foundations of political philosophy.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. The first paper should be a critical analysis of one of the following articles: Berlin, Rawls (Theory of Justice), Nozick, Shue, Nussbaum, or Mills (Ideal Theory). It is not to be a mere summary of the text; rather, it should focus on its central argument, explore its soundness, draw its implications, and then either criticize its weaknesses, or if you deem it appropriate, attempt to strengthen the author's position. No secondary sources should be used. This essay should be of 6 to 8 pages (1500-2000 words) in length.
2. The second paper should develop a thesis on an appropriate topic of your own choice. You must consult the instructor on your chosen topic.  This paper should be based on some research to explore different approaches to the subject matter of the paper.  However, the paper is not to be merely a report on the state of the debate, but rather a well-developed, systematic argument in defence of your well-considered thesis.  It must be of 10 to 15 pages in length (2500-3000 words).

3. Presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes. They should present the central argument of the assigned readings, explicating the basic concepts and the conclusion or conclusions reached by the author. The main purpose of presentations is to stimulate discussion and understanding.

SOURCES:

Sources for your papers must be chosen carefully.  Encyclopedias generally are not a very good source; they may provide some general information, but they do not provide the original research you should be learning from.  Wikipedia is not acceptable at all.  Use books published by good academic publishers, such as university presses, articles in academic journals, etc.  You should be particularly careful about internet publications.  Use Library materials only, whether they are in printed or electronic form.

SOME USEFUL REFERENCE BOOKS

Strunk, William Jr.  The Elements of Style.

Turabian, Kate. Manual for Writers

COURSE POLICIES

1. Academic honesty and integrity:

In this course, we strive to maintain academic integrity to the highest extent possible. Please familiarize yourself with the meaning of academic integrity by completing SPARK’s Academic Integrity module at the beginning of the course. Breaches of academic integrity range from cheating to plagiarism (i.e., the improper crediting of another’s work, the representation of another’s ideas as your own, etc.). All instances of academic dishonesty in this course will be reported to the appropriate university authorities, and can be punishable according to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.

2. Turnitin:

To promote academic integrity in this course, students will be required to submit their written assignments to Turnitin (via the course Moodle) for a review of textual similarity and the detection of possible plagiarism. In so doing, students will allow their material to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used only for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin service are described on the Turnitin.com website.

3. Late policy:

Assignments must be submitted on time.  No extensions will be generally granted for papers, other than in some officially documented exceptional circumstances (illness, bereavement, disability, special needs.)  Late papers will be penalized 5% per day.  There are no exceptions to this rule.

WEEKLY READINGS

Additional Course Information

CLASS SCHEDULE: