PHIL 103 – Freedom, Rights, and Justice

 

Semester Two 2017

 

15 points

 

Lecturers

 

Stephen Davies (Course coordinator)
Room 457, Arts 1, Building 206, 14a Symonds Street

Office hours: Room 457, Arts 1, 2-4 Monday

sj.davies@auckland.ac.nz, 3737599 xt 87615,

 

Mark Tan

25146637

m.tan@auckland.ac.nz

 

Daniel Wilson

Office hour: Room 303, Arts 1 @ 4-5 Wednesday

daniel.wilson@auckland.ac.nz

 

Matheson Russell

Room 435 Arts 1, Building 206, 14a Symonds Street

Office hours: 11-12.30 Monday

m.russell@auckland.ac.nz 3737599 xt 83940

 

Tutors

Matteo Ravasio - mrav740@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Office hours: Room 304, Arts 1 @ 9-10 Monday and 12-1 Friday

 

David Kelley - dkel960@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Office hours: Room 304, Arts 1 @ 3-4 Monday and 2-3 Wednesday

 

Timetable

 

Lecture                                     

Monday 4-5, LgeChem/301-G050

Wednesday 3-4, HSB1/201N-346

 

Discussion hours                 

Friday, 10-11, MLT3/303-101

Friday, 1-2, 206-220

 

Textbook

 

There is no textbook for this course. All readings are available via CANVAS.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 

This course covers a range of topics concerning the nature of society and the relationship between society and the individual, including the following: What is the nature of community, the nature of democracy, and the source of the citizen's obligations to obey the community's laws? What rights do people have? How are rights acquired? How do their rights affect how others should be treated? What principles of justice should our community adopt? Is there some way of identifying principles that all members of the community should endorse? Under what circumstances, if any, are others justified in interfering in a person's liberty? (In addressing this question, we consider John Stuart Mill's account of the limits of legitimate social interference in individual freedom.)

The course is divided into four sections. The first section (8 lectures) is on the nature of political communities and of democracy. At the end of this section you should have an appreciation of theories about the source (if any) of the citizen's obligation to obey the laws of the state. The second section is on rights (4 lectures). At the end of this section you should have an appreciation you should also have an appreciation of theories of rights and of their sources, including the distinction between liberty rights and claim-rights. The third section is on justice (4 lectures). At the end of this section you should have an appreciation of theories of justice, including differences between a view that equates justice with a particular pattern of distribution of burdens and benefits and a view characterizing justice in terms of a history of fair transactions. The fourth section (8 lectures) deals with J. S. Mill's work, On Liberty. At the end of this section you should have appreciation of Mill's arguments for the "harm principle", which sets out the limits to legitimate interference with the liberty of individuals, and be able to apply those arguments to relevant cases. In all cases, you should be able to argue for your own positions on these topics, in a way that shows good familiarity with the prescribed readings.

 

TEACHING FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

 

This course is taught through lectures and discussion hours. (Usually the lectures are recorded.) Students are expected to attend both regularly. As well, readings are set to accompany the lectures. Students read these in their own time. But if the readings are not covered in lectures, they will be reviewed in the discussion hours. Essay topics also are covered in discussion hours.

 

Note that all materials presented in lectures and in readings are examinable. As appropriate, powerpoints and lecture notes are made available to students via Files in CANVAS. In line with the university expectation, this course should require on average 10 hours of work per week, including attendance at lectures and tutorials, preparation for discussion hours, completing the weekly readings, and preparing work for assessment.

 

You are welcome to consult lecturers or your tutor about any questions you may have about course material or organisation. Lecturers and tutors have walk in hours each week (displayed on their office door) during which they are available for consultation without appointment. It is also possible to make an appointment for another time should you need to do so.

 

 

COURSE CONTENT

 

Week 1. Democracy

 

Lectures: Mon. Jul. 24, Wed. Jul. 26

No discussion hours.

 

Readings:

Wolff, R. P., In Defense of Anarchy, Harper Torchbooks, 1970, 21-37. ISBN: 0-06-131541-9

 

Week 2. Democracy

 

Lectures: Mon. Jul. 31, Wed. Aug. 2  

Discussion hours: Fri. Aug. 4

 

Readings:

Hyams, Keith, "Political Authority and Obligation," in Issues in Political Theory, edited by C. McKinnon, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 9–32. ISBN- 13:978-0-19-921700-7.

 

Week 3. Democracy

 

Lectures: Mon. Aug. 7, Wed. Aug. 9

Discussion hours: Fri. Aug. 11

 

Readings:

Wolff, Jonathan, 'Who Should Rule?" in his An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, revised edition, 2006, pp. 62–76 & 90–103. ISBN 978-0-19-929609-5

 

Week 4. Democracy

 

Lectures Mon. Aug. 14, Wed. Aug. 16  

Discussion hours: Fri. Aug. 18

 

Readings:

Bird, Colin, 'Democratic Rule,' in his An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 201–222. ISBN-13: 978-0-521-54482-5.

 

Week 5. Rights

Lectures: Mon. Aug. 21, Wed. Aug. 23  

Discussion hours: Fri. Aug. 25

 

Readings:

Brenda Almond, "Rights." In A Companion to Ethics, edited by P. Singer, Oxford: Blackwell, 1999, 259-69. ISBN 0-631-18785-5

 

 

Friday, August 25, by 2pm.……ESSAY ONE DUE

 

Week 6. Rights

 

Lectures: Mon. Aug. 28, Wed. Aug. 30  

Discussion hours: Fri. Sep. 1

 

Readings:

Dare, Tim, "Group Rights and Constitutional Rights." In Litigating Rights: Perspectives from Domestic and international Law, edited by G. Huscroft and R. Rishworth, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 189-202.

 

Mid-Semester Study Break:

 

Monday 4 September - Saturday 16 September

 

 

Week 7. Justice

 

Lectures: Mon. Sep. 18, Wed. Sep. 20  

Discussion hours: Fri. Sep. 22

 

Readings:

Selections from John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1971). Reprinted in: Manuel Velasquez, Ethics: Theory and Practice, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985, 136-149, 577-589. ISBN: 013290487X

 

Week 8. Justice

 

Lectures: Mon. Sep. 25, Wed. Sep. 27  

Discussion hours: Fri. Sep. 29

 

Readings:

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Basic Books, 1974). Part Two, Chapter 7, Distributive Justice, Section 1.

 

Friday, September 29, by 2pm ESSAY TWO DUE

 

Week 9. Freedom

 

Lectures: Mon. 0ct. 2, Wed. Oct. 4  

Discussion hours: Fri. Oct. 6

 

Readings:

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter I.

 

Week 10. Freedom

 

Lectures: Mon. 0ct. 9, Wed. Oct. 11  

Discussion hours: Fri. Oct. 13

 

Readings:

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter IV.

 

Week 11. Freedom

 

Lectures: Mon. 0ct. 16, Wed. Oct. 18  

Discussion hours: Fri. Oct. 20

 

Readings:

Pettit, Philip "Republicanism: Once More With Hindsight," Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government (Oxford University Press, 1997), 283-305.

 

Week 12. Freedom

 

Lecture: Wed. Oct. 25  

Discussion hours: Fri. Oct. 27

 

Reading:

Monbiot, George, "Introduction," How Did We Get Into This Mess? (Verso, 2015), 1-6.

 

ASSESSMENT

 

(1) Coursework:

The coursework consists of two essays, each of about 1,000 words. Each essay is worth 20%.

 

To qualify for plussage, both essays need to be submitted and both need to receive marks anywhere between D and A+ (see below)

 

 

(2) Final Examination: Form of the Exam

Two-hour, essay-style exam

 

Please Answer Three Questions in Total (i.e., approximately 40 minutes per question).

 

Past exams can be viewed by going to the library web page, selecting the tab "examinations and readings", and searching for PHIL 103. But note that in past years different topics may have been covered in the course.

 

 

(3) Final mark:

 

If BOTH essays are submitted and if both receive grades anywhere between D and A+, then you qualify for plussage and the final result will be whichever is the higher of:

 

(a) The grade on the final examination

OR
                

(b) 60% of the final examination grade plus 40% the averaged score on the two essays

If ONLY ONE essay is submitted, then the final result will be 70% of the grade on the final examination plus 20% of the score on the essay

 

If NO essays are submitted, then the final result will be 70% of the final examination grade.

 

Essay Submission Guidelines:

It is required to submit essays via CANVAS. (This checks for plagiarism and unacknowledged copying.) In addition, please submit your essay in hard copy to Arts 1 Reception. Generate a cover sheet in CANVAS and print it, sign it, and attach it to the hardcopy of your essay.

 

Please note that there is no e-mail submissions to the instructors or tutors, etc..

 

Advice on essay writing:

 

Please consult the file Writing Essays in Philosophy (available in CANVAS).

 

What we are looking for in an essay is evidence that:

1) You understand and can explain the issue you have chosen to discuss. This may include being able to summarise the relevant points in some writer’s views.

2) You are aware of, and able to make clear, the important concepts in the area/topic you have chosen. (This may involve discussing and assessing different definitions or accounts of those concepts.)

3) You have read and understood the essential reading assigned on the topic. If you wish to achieve good grades, you should be reading beyond the lecture notes – you should have consulted material in the reading lists. You may wish to search in the library for other material. It is important that you are able to select material that is relevant and helpful in your discussion of the topic, and that you critically assess what you read. (You might not include all that you have read, or your assessment of it, in your essay; that will depend on what is relevant to the argument you are making.)

4) You are capable of critically assessing a position or view or argument (see below).

5) You are capable of presenting your essay as an argument FOR a position on the issue under discussion. (The position might be that a view is wrong, or that it is right, or that there isn’t a basis for deciding one way or the other. But you need to argue FOR this position as the conclusion of your essay.)

 

We want to know YOUR views, but only your reasoned and informed views, on the topic or question or issue you have chosen.

 

Critically assessing something requires:

• Being able to state it clearly and correctly
• Being able to present reasons FOR it
• Being able to present objections or problems it faces (reasons AGAINST it)
• Being able to see how someone who held a different view might respond to what you have said
• Assessing the result of the discussion FOR and AGAINST (Arriving at a conclusion from your discussion.)

 

 

Penalties for Late Essays without Authorised Extensions:

If the essay is submitted up to one week late it is penalised 5%. If the essay is up to two weeks late it is penalised 10%. Essays will not be accepted more than two weeks after the due date.

Extensions on the Essay Due Date:

 

To hand in a late essay without penalty, an extension from the course coordinator is needed.

 

Grading Scale:

Grade		Percentage
A+		90-100
A		85-89
A-		80-84
B+		75-79
B		70-74
B-		65-69
C+		60-64
C		55-59
C-		50-54
D+		45-49
D		40-44
D-		0-39

 

 

COURSEWORK ESSAY TOPICS

1. Coursework Essay Lengths and Due Date

 

LENGTH: 1000-words for each essay.

 

DUE DATES:

Essay One: Due Friday, August 25^th by 2pm

Essay Two: Due Friday, September 29^th by 2pm

 

1. Essay topics

 

Essay One:

 

Please write your first essay (1000-words) on the following:

 

What are the differences between a political community that uses unanimous direct democracy as its decision procedure and a group of people who all happen independently to do the same thing? Which model best fits the people at a game of football? (Consider the players and officials as well as the audience.) Is Wolff inconsistent in believing both that one should never surrender one's autonomy and that one should be bound by decisions reached through a procedure of unanimous, direct democracy?

 

Essay Two:

Please write your second essay (1000-words) on the following question:

 

'A duty or a legal obligation is that which one ought or ought not to do. ‘Duty’ and ‘right’ are correlative terms. When a right is invaded, a duty is violated.' (WN Hohfeld. Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning. Yale Law Journal, 23(1):16–59, Nov. 1913)

Critically evaluate this statement. Consider what sort of right Hohfeld is referring to and compare it with his understanding of rights as liberties and/or immunities.