Theories of Justice and Human Rights

The course aims at introducing students to current philosophical debates about human rights, understood as fundamental rights, both at the national level and at the international level.
It will start by analyzing the principles of freedom, equality, solidarity and human dignity that provide the foundations of human rights and the normative arguments that support specific categories of human rights: liberal or civil rights, political rights, economic and social rights, cultural rights.
Il will then address philosophical problems emerging from the institutionalization of fundamental rights at the national level - in the form of constitutional rights - and at international level - as universal human rights.
The final lectures will focus on human rights' advocacy by considering normative arguments for and against the inclusion among human rights of two new rights: the individual right to immigrate and the collective right to secession.

At the end of the course students should have acquired:
- knowledge and understanding of the main positions in current philosophical debates on human rights both at the national level and at the international level;
- the capability to apply the acquired knowledge and understanding in order to take actively part in discussions about human rights and to form individual judgements.
In order to exercise their learning, critical and communication skills, students will be required to read texts, to discuss them and to elaborate personal opinions.