Course Description
Honors course designed to introduce students to the study of theories of social justice. Focus will be on introducing the major theoretical approaches to justice, examining issues relating to the justice of institutions, and designing research questions relating to theoretical and practical aspects of the subject.
Athena Title
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in POLS 4090
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Pre or Corequisite
POLS 1101 or POLS 1105H or POLS 2000
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will explore the theoretical basis for claims about justice. Should the rules and institutions that govern the distribution of social goods be designed to maximize social utility; or does justice require rules and institutions that can be justified to the persons who are subject to those rules? What kind of arguments might such persons be willing to accept? The course will focus on the works of John Rawls, the leading contemporary theorist of justice, and will (i) examine contrasting views in the works of Robert Nozick and Michael Walzer, and (ii) evaluate practical implications of these theories.
Topical Outline
Part 1. Introduction and Overview Overview of major theoretical approaches to justice Overview of substantive research issues in social justice Introduction to political justification How to conceptualize/formulate valid arguments relating to the justice of institutions Part 2. Substantive Issues The Central Issues: Freedom and Equality The Status of the Market: Optimizing Approaches and Justice General overview of methods of justification: justifying a theory of justice in a pluralist society; the problem of political stability; structuring judgments among competing claims Part 3. Designing Research Questions Assessing the quality of life: choosing a currency of well-being The status of the community’s ethical consensus The problem of ethical skepticism The problem of competing rights Conflicts between fairness and liberty