Professor Esteve Morera

Office:  S419 Ross Building

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%

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

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

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.

Note:

Notes-sharing websites (NSW), such as Course Hero enable students to upload and access course materials including tests, test answers and assignments. They are often used to plagiarize assignments or cheat on tests. The Dean's Office maintains that any student who uploads course material on these websites without permission of the instructor violates York's Academic Honesty Policy, even if that material is not used by another student to cheat or plagiarize. Uploading course material onto an NSW potentially violates two sections of the Senate Policy:

2.1.6 Dissemination of information without permission. Information or experimental data that was collected with a member of faculty or another student, and other works that involved the participation of a faculty member or another student, should not be submitted for publication or otherwise disseminated without their permission.

2.1.10 Encouraging, enabling or causing others to do or attempt any of the above with intent to mislead an instructor, academic unit, program, office or committee as to a student's academic status, qualifications, actions or preparation, or knowingly aiding or abetting anyone in a breach of academic honesty shall itself be considered misconduct. Taking any action which can reasonably be interpreted as intending to encourage or enable others to commit an offence of 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.

5. Course information

All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information:

• Student Rights & Responsibilities
• Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

6. Times and locations:

This course will be taught in person, Tuesdays 11:300 - 2:30 pm in  BSB 207