COMMUNITY, SOCIETY, AND RIGHTS – PHIL 205

 

COURSE INFORMATION SHEET

 

For a readable version of this syllabus that preserves formatting click here

 

Recently we have been asked to post this update about Tuakana mentor information so I am placing it upfront to enhance visibility. The contact person is:

Nathan Rew

e-mail:  nrew454@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Nate's cohort includes all Maori and Pacific students enrolled in Philosophy courses in stage 1 through to 3. 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

This course covers a range of topics including: cultural claims, the relevance of ethnicity and culture to group rights, problems accommodating cultural claims in a multicultural society, the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke as to the existence of a "state of nature" and the emergence of the political state, as well as the concept of sovereignty, social contracts and political amalgamations between sovereign units. There will be detailed discussion of the Treaty of Waitangi.

 

PREREQUISITES

 

30 points in Philosophy or Political Studies or Politics and International Relations

 

POINTS

 

15

 

LECTURES:

 

Tuesday 10am-12, semester two, city campus

Location: Arts 1, rm 209 (206.209).

 

DISCUSSION HOUR:

 

Tuesday 12-1pm, i.e. in the hour immediately after the lecture.

 

COURSE COORDINATOR:

 

Stephen Davies

Arts 2, rm 320 ext 87615

sj.davies@auckland.ac.nz

 

LECTURERS:

 

Stephen Davies

Gillian Brock ext 88739

g.brock@auckland.ac.nz

 

 

RECOMMENDED TEXT:

 

Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship a Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). This book is available for purchase in the university bookstore. Copies are also available in the library.

 

READINGS:

 

Please familiarise yourself with the specified readings and come to lectures and tutorials prepared to discuss them. See the reading list in CANVAS for the course for more details.

 

TEACHING FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

 

This course is taught through lectures and discussion hours. (The lectures are not 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.

 

ASSESSMENT:

 

If you qualify for plussage your overall mark will be whichever is the HIGHER of (a) your final 3 hour examination mark and (b) 60% of your final examination mark plus 40% of your course-work mark. The course-work consists of one 2,000-word essay. To qualify for plussage, you must complete the essay to a satisfactory standard. If you do not qualify for plussage your final result will be your exam mark minus ten marks.

 

Exam

The exam is of three hours duration and involves essay-style answers.

In the exam you will be expected to answer three essay questions. You must answer ONE question from Stephen Davies’ part of the course. (This essay may be on the Treaty of Waitangi – details to be confirmed.) You must answer TWO questions from Gillian Brock’s part of the course.

 

Essay

The essay subjects are presented as topics, not as specific questions. You are required to focus on the readings assigned for the topic. You should identify what is at issue and why it is important, characterise the various positions taken in or referred to by the readings, and analyse and evaluate the arguments offered.

 

Essays will be returned during the discussion hour.  Your lecturer will announce in class when this will happen. Usually it will be in the third week after the essay was due.  Please make every effort to collect your essay at the discussion hour. 

 

You should read the file Essays in Philosophy (which is available via CANVAS), for information about presentation of essays. It also gives advice about preparing your essays. One of the discussion hour topics is devoted to the topic of the essay.

 

 

Essay submission:

Essays will be submitted in both hardcopy and electronically through CANVAS. When you submit your essay electronically the process also involves automatic TURNITIN scrutiny.

 

Policy on essay extensions and late penalties

To hand in a late essay without penalty, you need an extension from the course supervisor. Usually, extensions are given only on medical grounds. You may hand in a late essay without an extension. If it is less than one week late, the penalty is 5%; if it is more than one week and less than two weeks late, the penalty is 10%. Essays that are more than two weeks late receive 0.

 

Policy on plagiarism and cheating in essays

The university asks us to advise you of the following:

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting his or her learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced.   This requirement also applies to sources on the world-wide web. A student’s assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

The policy of Philosophy is as follows:

Plagiarism is taking and using as your own the work or thoughts of another person. The University and Philosophy regard plagiarism as completely unacceptable. Wherever you make use of work or ideas of other people, published or unpublished, these must be properly cited and acknowledged. This includes material obtained from the World Wide Web. Acknowledgement is usually done by providing a reference (either in a footnote or in brackets in the text) to where the material can be found. Failure to fully acknowledge the work of others in your essays will result in a mark of zero for the offending essay, and may also result in a mark of zero for the entire coursework component of the relevant course. Students who plagiarise will not receive the benefit of plussage in courses which offer that option: the calculation of their final mark will include the mark of zero given for the coursework component.

            If you prepare for essays by copying out sentences or passages from texts and references, you must make sure to keep a clear record for yourself of where the material comes from, and of what is quotation and what is your own summary or comment. Anything that is quoted should be indented or appear within quotation marks.

Simply pasting together passages, or close summaries of passages, from things you have been reading (whether these are texts, suggested reading, or lecture handouts) can amount to plagiarism. Even if you give references in footnotes and in your Bibliography, and are not intending to deceive the marker into thinking that you have thought and said these things yourself, you will be penalised for this sort of essay preparation. A marker cannot give you a grade for your ability in the course unless you can put things into your own words, to show your own understanding of what is being said.

 

We advise you to consult the University’s “Academic Integrity Guidelines”, “Academic Policies, guidelines and procedures and (if you are a research student).

Academic Integrity: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/learning-and-teaching/policies-guidelines-and-procedures/academic-integrity-info-for-students/about-academic-integrity.html

 

Academic Conduct: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/the-university/how-university-works/policy-and-administration/teaching-and-learning/students.html

 

 

ESSAY TOPIC

 

Both Hobbes and Locke talk about a contract as the means by which people leave the state of nature and join together in civil society. What are their accounts? How and why do these differ? Discuss.

 

For appropriate styles of referencing, see http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/services/referencing

 

The essay is due at 2 pm on Friday, September 1. Generate a cover sheet in CANVAS and attach it to the hard copy of your essay, indicating the course number, PHIL205, your name, student ID, and the course lecturer’s name, Stephen Davies. Hand the hard copy of your essay in at Arts 1 Reception. Also, submit your essay electronically in CANVAS.

 

The essay is of 2,000 words. If you don't hand in a satisfactory essay, your final result is your exam mark minus ten.

 

Note: To hand in a late essay without penalty, you need an extension from the course supervisor. Usually, extensions are given only on medical grounds. You may hand in a late essay without an extension. If it is less than one week late, the penalty is 5%; if it is more than one week and less than two weeks late, the penalty is 10%. Essays that are more than two weeks late are marked as 0.

 

Essay writing will be discussed explicitly in a discussion hour before the essay is due, namely the one on August 22. However, help with the essay will be available at each discussion hour. You are strongly encouraged to attend all discussion hours if you want to do well in your essay (and the course more generally). A file on "How to Write Essays in Philosophy" is available in CANVAS.

 

(See the readings for Locke and Hobbes for some resource material.)

 

TIMETABLE:

 

Week Number and Lecture Date	Lecturer	Tutorial Topic
Wk 1 : July 25	S. Davies	No Tutorial
Wk 2 : August 1		Hobbes
Wk 3 : August 8		Hobbes
Wk 4 : August 15		Locke
Wk 5 : August 22		Discussion of essay topic
Wk 6 : August 29		Treaty
Mid	Semester	Break
Wk 7 : September 19	G. Brock	Treaty
Wk 8 : September 26		Kymlicka
Wk 9 : October 3		Kymlicka
Wk 10 : October 10		Kymlicka
Wk 11 : October 17		Waldron & Kymlicka
Wk 12 : October 24		Kukathas & Kymlicka

 

DISCUSSION HOUR TOPICS FOR STEPHEN DAVIES'S LECTURES

 

There are no discussion hours in week one.

 

1. Hobbes - Week 2 – August 1

Read Chapters 13 & 14 of Leviathan (available in CANVAS:files) with a view to considering if Hobbes' account is historical or hypothetical. Why can't one contract to put one's life at risk?

 

2. Hobbes - Week 3 - August 8

Read Chapters 18 & 19 of Leviathan (available in CANVAS:files) with a view to considering what constraints, if any, Hobbes places on the authority of the sovereign.

 

3. Locke - Week 4 - August 15

What is Locke's theory of property? What is the Lockean proviso and does it guarantee a fair distribution of property? Can claim-rights (such as property rights) be naturally acquired, as Locke thinks?

Reading:

Ch 5 Of Property, of Locke's Second Treatise on Government (available in CANVAS:files).

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York, 1974). Read the sections "Locke's theory of acquisition" and "The Proviso."

 

4. Essay discussion - Week 5 - August 22

In this discussion hour, the essay, due 2 pm on Friday, September 1, will be covered.

 

5. Hobbes and the Treaty - Week 6 - August 29

Were the parties that signed the Treaty of Waitangi in the radical form of "man's natural condition"?

Reading:

Lord Normanby's instructions to Hobson (available in CANVAS:files:New Zealand declaration and treaty documents) and the potted history of New Zealand (available in CANVAS:files).

Jindra Tichy & Graham Oddie, "Is the Treaty of Waitangi a Social Contract?" in Justice, Ethics, and New Zealand Society, eds Graham Oddie and R. Perrett, (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1992), 73-90 (available in CANVAS:reading list).

 

6. The Treaty of Waitangi - Week 7 - September 19

What kinds of political units were signatories to the Treaty? Hobbes says the sovereign is not a party to the social contract instituting sovereignty. Yet Victoria (through Hobson) did sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Does this show that Hobbes is wrong?

Reading:

Stephen Davies & R. E. Ewin, "Sovereigns, Sovereignty, and the Treaty of Waitangi" in Justice, Ethics, and New Zealand Society, eds Graham Oddie and R. Perrett, (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1992), 41-59 (available in CANVAS:files).

 

 

DISCUSSION HOURS FOR GILLIAN BROCK'S LECTURES

 

In the discussion hours for the second half of the course, we will use the time available for two purposes. First, we aim to ensure students have a good grasp of material covered in lectures by asking key questions aimed at assessing comprehension of core issues from the preceding lecture. Second, we apply knowledge from the course to very brief current cases. In order to ensure the issues we discuss are of maximum contemporary relevance, this aspect of the material will be revealed in the lectures and announcements made on CANVAS as needed. At the start of each discussion hour, the case material will again be made available for students who miss the preceding lecture.

 

7. Introduction to Kymlicka's view - Week 8 - September 26.

 

Some issues to consider:

1. Kymlicka distinguishes three different kinds of minority rights. Explain what they are and how they differ.
2. What does Kymlicka mean by a national minority?
3. What is Kymlicka's position on whether immigrants should be granted minority rights? Is it plausible, given the reasoning he offers?

 

Reading:

Kymlicka, Will Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), Chapters 1-2, pp. 1-33. For access to readings see the CANVAS:reading list for the course.

 

 

8. Kymlicka cont.: Freedom and Culture - Week 9 – October 3.

 

Some issues to consider:

1. What connection does Kymlicka make between freedom and culture? Is there an important connection between freedom and culture? Explain.
2. What does Kymlicka mean by a societal culture? Critically discuss his account.

 

Reading:

Kymlicka, Will Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), Chapter 5, pp. 75-106.

 

 

9. Kymlicka cont.: Equality, History, and the Value of Cultural Diversity - Week 10 - October 10

 

Some issues to consider:

1. Explain how the equality-based argument works. Does it succeed?
2. Critically discuss the history-based argument and also the intrinsic value of cultural diversity argument. What weight does Kymlicka place on these arguments? Which arguments are doing the most work in his case for minority rights?

 

Reading:

Kymlicka, Will Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), Chapter 6, pp. 107-130.

 

 

10. Waldron vs Kymlicka - Week 11 - October 17

 

Some issues to consider:

1. What criticisms does Waldron marshal against Kymlicka's case for minority rights? Which of these criticisms do you find most compelling? How might Kymlicka respond to Waldron's points? Do you, on balance, agree most with Kymlicka or Waldron? Explain your view.

 

Reading:

Waldron, Jeremy "Minority Cultures and the Cosmopolitan Alternative" in Will Kymlicka (ed.) The Rights of Minority Cultures (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 93-119.

 

 

 

11. Kukathas vs Kymlicka, and exam preparation - Week 12 - October 24

 

Here are some questions you might like to consider which may help with your review of the material in this part of the course, and help you prepare for the exam:

 

1. What are Kukathas's criticisms of Kymlicka's view? Outline his arguments and critically discuss them. How might Kymlicka respond? Who, on balance, do you believe has the strongest argument?

 

2. Should multicultural societies accommodate minorities by recognising minority rights? Explain why or why not. If you do not support minority rights explain what other measures (if any) you would support to ensure minorities are not disadvantaged or otherwise unjustly treated.

 

3. A defender of group rights or entitlements will need a clear criterion for membership in the group purportedly deserving rights or entitlements. Is this a problem? Discuss some of the criteria that could be used and outline some of their strengths and weaknesses.

 

4. Does granting group-differentiated rights for minority cultures undermine the social solidarity necessary for properly functioning states?

 

 

 

Reading:

Kukathas, Chandran "Are There Any Cultural Rights?" in Will Kymlicka (ed.) The Rights of Minority Cultures (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 228-256.

 

 

For lecture notes for Gillian Brock's part of the course click here