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Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, any references to assessment tasks and on-campus delivery may no longer be up-to-date on this page.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
A/Prof Paul Formosa
Dr Jennifer Duke-Yonge
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Credit points |
Credit points
10
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
What is justice? What is fair? This unit explores these important questions by examining several leading contemporary philosophical theories of justice, including John Rawls's influential theory of justice, and assessing the capacity of these theories to respond to pressing social issues. To do this we look at issues of inequality and diversity in society by asking: what degree of inequality, if any, can be justified? We explore the different answers to this question proposed by liberals, libertarians, and Marxists. We shall also examine broader questions around social and retributive justice, such as: How can we justify punishing those who violate justice? Should we focus more on the well-being of communities and less on the rights of individuals? Is justice biased against women? Should minorities receive special rights? What are the obligations of democratic citizenship? And what do we owe the poor in other countries? All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Assessment details are no longer provided here as a result of changes due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
All assessment is to be submitted on-line through iLearn.
Late Submission Policy “Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.”
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19.
Please check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status
Required Readings Textbook: Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction. (2nd edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2002.
Other Required readings: Other required readings are listed in the unit guide and available for download from iLearn and Leganto. There is no printed unit reader.
You must read the required readings BEFORE the lecture and tutorial.
Additional readings: As well as the required reading, recommended additional readings for each topic are listed on iLearn. Kymlicka also provides suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter and offers useful comments about what each text contains. You do NOT need to read these each week.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
The unit schedule/topics and any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19. Please consult iLearn for latest details, and check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status
Section 1: Equality and Inequality
Week 1 (24 February)
Lecture 1: Introduction: Equality and Diversity
No tutorial
No required reading
Week 2 (2 March)
Lecture 2: Utilitarianism
Tutorial 1: Utilitarianism
Required Reading:
1. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 2, pp. 10-37; 45-52. [OPTIONAL: Section 5, pp.37-45].
Quizzes start this week and continue until end of semester
Participation rubric handed out: March 2
Week 3 (9 March)
Lecture 3: Rawls
Tutorial 2: Rawls
Required Reading:
1. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971), Ch. 1, Sections 1-6 (pp.
3-33), Ch. 2, Sections 11-12 (pp. 60-78), Ch. 3, Sections 24-26 (pp. 136-161).
2. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 3, Sections 1-3 ONLY (pp.53-75). Do NOT read past p.75, we will cover that next week.
Comparative Analysis handed out: March 9
Week 4 (March 16)
Lecture 4: Dworkin
Tutorial 3: Dworkin
Required Reading:
1. Ronald Dworkin, ‘What is Equality? Part 2: Equality of Resources’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 10:4, 1981, Section I-IV & VII ONLY (pp.283-314; pp. 335-345). [OPTIONAL: Sections V & VI (pp. 314-334).
2. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 3, Sections 4-5.
Week 5 (March 23)
Lecture 5: Nozick
Tutorial 4: Nozick
Required Reading:
1. Robert Nozick, ‘Distributive Justice’ Ch. 7 (Section 1, pp. 149-182 & from 'Natural Assets' until end of chapter, pp. 213-231) of Anarchy, State and Utopia, (New York: Basic Books, 1974).
2. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 4, Section 2 (pp. 107-127), Section 4 (pp. 138-153), & Section 5
(pp.154-159) ONLY [OPTIONAL: Section 1 and Section 3 on Chapter 4].
Week 6 (March 30)
Lecture 6: Analytical Marxism
Tutorial 5: Analytical Marxism
Required Reading:
1. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 5
Section 2: Diversity, Citizenship and Justice
Week 7 (6 April)
Lecture 7: Retributive Justice, Criminality and Punishment
Tutorial 6: Retributive Justice, Criminality and Punishment
Required Reading:
1. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Section: The Rule of Law, section 38, pp. 235-243.
2. Walen, Alec, "Retributive Justice", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/justice-retributive/>.
RECESS
Week 8 (27 April)
Comparative Analysis assessment due: April 28
No lecture or tutorials this week – public holiday
Week 9 (4 May)
Lecture 8: Feminism
Tutorial 7: Feminism
Required Reading:
1. Susan Moller Okin, ‘Justice as Fairness: For Whom?’ Ch. 5 of Justice, Gender and the Family (pp. 88-109), (New York: Basic Books, 1989)
2. Eva Feder Kittay, ‘Human Dependency and Rawlsian Equality’ (pp. 219-266), in Diana Meyers (ed.) Feminists Rethink the Self (Boulder: Westview Press, 1997)
Essay Plan and Essay assessment handed out: 4 May
Week 10 (11 May)
Lecture 9: Democracy and Multiculturalism
Tutorial 8: Democracy and Multiculturalism
Required reading:
1. Joshua Cohen, ‘Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy’ (pp. 67-91) in James Bohman & William Rehg (eds) Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics, (MIT Press, 1997)
2. Kymlicka, CPP, Ch. 8
Week 11 (18 May)
Lecture 10: Global Justice
Tutorial 9: Global Justice
Required reading:
1. Brian Barry, ‘Humanity and Justice in Global Perspective’ (pp. 525-539) in Goodin and Pettit (eds.), Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology
2. John Rawls, The Law of Peoples (Harvard, 1999), Part III, Sections 15 & 16 (pp. 105-120).
Week 12 (25 May)
Lecture 11: Environmental and Animal Justice
Tutorial 10: Environmental and Animal Justice
Required reading:
1. Bell, Derek. “Environmental Justice and Rawls’ Difference Principle:” Environmental Ethics 26, no. 3 (2004): 287–306.
2. Garner, Robert. A Theory of Justice for Animals: Animal Rights in a Nonideal World. Oxford University Press, 2013. Chapter 2 “Contractarianism, Animals, and Justice”, pp. 20-37 (up to the section “Justice as Impartiality”) ONLY.
3. Brandstedt, Eric. “Non-Ideal Climate Justice.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 22, no. 2 (February 23, 2019): 221–34.
Week 13 (1 June)
No Lectures or Tutorials this week - Writing Week
Essay Plan and Essay due Thursday June 4 at 11:59PM
All quizzes close Friday June 5 at 11:59PM
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Date | Description |
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09/03/2020 | Corrected assessment dates |