Theories of Justice and Human Rights
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
The course will introduce students to the contemporary philosophical debate about justice, paying special attention to questions of social and global justice. It will address general questions about the validity of our opinions about justice, the status of theories of justice, and the relation between justice and equality, and specific problems of justice concerning the social division of labour and wealth, the value of individual freedom and its limitation, the public treatment of disagreements about morality and happiness, the protection of human rights and the fight against world poverty.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course students should have acquired:
- knowledge and understanding of the main philosophical conceptions of justice and of their implications for legislation and public policies;
- the capability to apply acquired knowledge to elaborate and defend in a public debate a personal normative position on specific problems of justice.
- knowledge and understanding of the main philosophical conceptions of justice and of their implications for legislation and public policies;
- the capability to apply acquired knowledge to elaborate and defend in a public debate a personal normative position on specific problems of justice.
Lesson period: Second trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second trimester
In order to abide by the restrictions enacted to reduce the spread of the Covid19 infection, the teaching activity will be carried out in blended learning mode. Students with a valid Covid19 Green Certificate could attend classes on campus; other students could attend classes through Microsoft Teams. The code to access the team will be made available through the Ariel website of the course.
Students attending classes on campus will be invited to connect to the team from the classroom through their PCs or mobiles, to facilitate discussion with students attending online. Students attending online will be required to switch on their webcams.
Classes will be held twice a week, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Classes will be recorded. Access to recordings through the Ariel website of the course will be guaranteed for one year.
Students attending classes on campus will be invited to connect to the team from the classroom through their PCs or mobiles, to facilitate discussion with students attending online. Students attending online will be required to switch on their webcams.
Classes will be held twice a week, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Classes will be recorded. Access to recordings through the Ariel website of the course will be guaranteed for one year.
Course syllabus
The course will address the following topics:
- introduction: human rights from a theoretical perspective
- the general concept of rights
- two conceptions of human rights
- taxonomies of human rights
- the implementation of human rights at the national level
- conflicts involving human rights and their resolution
- the constitutionalizing of human rights and judicial review
- the internationalization of human rights
- the ethical validity and justification of human rights
- arguing for human rights
- the right to life faced with bioethical challenges
- freedom of expression and its regulation
- the right to immigrate and the rights of immigrants
- peoples' right to self-determination and secessionist movements
- from the right to freedom of association to panarchism
- the right to private property and social rights
- world poverty and international responsibility for social rights
- conclusion: final q&a and students' feedback
- introduction: human rights from a theoretical perspective
- the general concept of rights
- two conceptions of human rights
- taxonomies of human rights
- the implementation of human rights at the national level
- conflicts involving human rights and their resolution
- the constitutionalizing of human rights and judicial review
- the internationalization of human rights
- the ethical validity and justification of human rights
- arguing for human rights
- the right to life faced with bioethical challenges
- freedom of expression and its regulation
- the right to immigrate and the rights of immigrants
- peoples' right to self-determination and secessionist movements
- from the right to freedom of association to panarchism
- the right to private property and social rights
- world poverty and international responsibility for social rights
- conclusion: final q&a and students' feedback
Prerequisites for admission
No preliminary knowledge is required.
Teaching methods
For attending students, learning will be promoted through lectures, class discussion, and individual reading of assigned material. Non-attending student should prepare for the exam through the individual reading of assigned material.
All students will be required to write a review essay on a topic freely chosen form a list that will be provided. For each topic, a reading list will also be provided; the review essay should cover all the readings included in the reading list.
All students will be required to write a review essay on a topic freely chosen form a list that will be provided. For each topic, a reading list will also be provided; the review essay should cover all the readings included in the reading list.
Teaching Resources
Compulsory readings:
Pogge, T. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reform (2nd edn., Polity Press, 2008) (all students).
Dershowitz, A., Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights (Basic Books 2004) (non-attending students only).
In addition, all students should choose one of the following thematic reading lists to write their review essay:
1. The General Concept of Rights (difficult)
Hart, H.L.A., "Legal Rights" (1973), in H.L.A. Hart, Essays on Bentham: Jurisprudence and Political Theory (Oxford UP, 1982), pp. 162-193.
MacCormick, N., "Rights in Legislation", in P. Hacker, J. Raz (eds.), Law, Morality and Society: Essays in Honour of H.L.A Hart (Oxford UP, 1977), pp. 189-209.
Raz, J., "On the Nature of Rights", Mind 93/370 (1984), pp. 194-214.
Raz, J., "Legal Rights", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 4/1 (1984), pp. 1-21.
Kramer, M.H., "Rights without Trimmings", in M.H. Kramer, N.E. Simmonds, H. Steiner, A Debate over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries (Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 7-111.
Steiner, H., "Working Rights", in M.H. Kramer, N.E. Simmonds, H. Steiner, A Debate over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries (Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 233-301.
Wenar, L., "The Nature of Rights", Philosophy and Public Affairs 33/3 (2005), pp. 223-251.
Sreenivasan, G., "A Hybrid Theory of Claim-Rights", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 25/2 (2005), pp. 257-274.
Kramer, M.H., Steiner, H., "Theories of Rights: Is There a Third Way?", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 27/2 (2007), pp. 281-310.
2. Pre-Political Conceptions of Human Rights
Finnis, J., Natural Law and Natural Rights (2nd edn., Oxford UP, 2011), chapters 3-8 (pp. 59-230).
Griffin, J., On Human Rights (Oxford UP, 2008), chapters 1-5 (pp. 9-110), 7-11 (pp. 129-211).
3. The Constitutionalizing of Human Rights (difficult)
Dworkin, R., Taking Rights Seriously (2nd edn., Harvard UP, 1978), chapters 4-5 (pp. 81-149), 7 (pp. 184-205), 12 (pp. 266-278).
Dworkin, R., "Introduction: The Moral Reading and the Majoritarian Premise", in R. Dworkin, Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution (Harvard UP, 1996), pp. 1-38.
Waldron, J., "The Core of the Case against Judicial Review", Yale Law Journal 115/6 (2006), pp. 1346-1406.
Ferrajoli, L., La democrazia attraverso i diritti: Il costituzionalismo garantista come modello teorico e come progetto politico (Laterza, 2013), chapters 1-2 (pp. 5-94) and 6 (pp. 181-255).
4. Liberal Minimalism about Global Human Rights
Rawls, J., "The Law of Peoples", in J. Rawls, The Law of Peoples, with the Idea of Public Reason Revised (Harvard UP, 1997), pp. 1-128.
Beitz, C., The Idea of Human Rights (Oxford UP, 2009), chapters 5-7 (pp. 96-196).
Ignatieff, M., Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (Amy Gutmann ed., Princeton UP, 2001), pp. 3-98.
Cohen, J., "Minimalism about Human Rights: The Most We Can Hope for?", The Journal of Political Philosophy 12/2 (2004), pp. 190-213.
5. The "Capabilities Approach": Human Rights, Women's Rights, and Development
Sen, A., Development as Freedom (Oxford UP, 1999), chapters 1-2 (pp. 13-53), 4-10 (pp. 87-248).
Nussbaum, M.C., "In Defense of Universal Values", in M.C. Nussbaum, Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach (Cambridge UP, 2000), introduction and chapter 1 (pp. 1-110).
Okin, S.M., "Poverty, Well-Being, and Gender: What Counts, Who's Heard?", Philosophy and Public Affairs 31/3 (2003), 280-316.
Nussbaum, M.C., "On Hearing Women's Voices: A Reply to Susan Okin", Philosophy and Public Affairs 32/2 (2004), 193-205.
6. The Right to Life Faced with Bioethical Challenges
Thomson, J.J., "A Defense of Abortion", Philosophy and Public Affairs 1/1 (1971), pp. 47-66.
Finnis, J., "The Rights and Wrongs of Abortion: A Reply to Thomson", Philosophy and Public Affairs 2/2 (1973), pp. 117-145.
Thomson, J.J., "Rights and Deaths", Philosophy and Public Affairs 2/2 (1973), pp. 146-159.
Feinberg, J., "Voluntary Euthanasia and the Inalienable Right to Life", Philosophy and Public Affairs 7/2 (1978), pp. 93-123.
Singer, P., Practical Ethics (3rd edn., Cambridge UP, 2011), chapters 4-7 (pp. 71-190).
Dworkin, R., Life's Dominion: An Argument about Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom (Vintage Books, 1994), chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-101) and 7-8 (pp. 179-241).
7.1. Freedom of Expression and Pornography
Dworkin, A., "Against the Male Flood: Censorship, Pornography, and Equality" (1985), in A. Dworkin, Letters from a War Zone (Lawrence Hill Books 1993), pp. 253-275.
MacKinnon, C.A., Only Words (Harvard UP 1993).
Strossen, N., "A Feminist Critique of 'the' Feminist Critique of Pornography", Virginia Law Review 79/5 (1993), pp. 1099-1190.
Nussbaum, M. C., "Objectification", Philosophy and Public Affairs 24/4 (1995), pp. 249-291. 43
Dworkin, R., "Is There a Right to Pornography", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 1/2 (1981), pp. 177-212.
Dworkin, R., Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution (Harvard UP/Oxford UP 1996), chapters 8-9 (pp. 214-243).
Langton, R., "Whose Rights? Ronald Dworkin, Women, and Pornographers", Philosophy and Public Affairs 19/4 (1990), pp. 311-359.
7.2. Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech
Scanlon, T.M., The Difficulty of Tolerance: Essays in Political Philosophy (Cambridge UP, 2003), chapters 1 (pp. 6-25), 5 (pp. 84-112) and 8 (pp. 151-168).
Altman, A., "Liberalism and Campus Hate Speech: A Philosophical Examination", Ethics 103/2 (1993), pp. 302-317.
Cohen, J., "Freedom of Expression", Philosophy and Public Affairs 22/3 (1993), pp. 207-263.
Schauer, F., "The Phenomenology of Speech and Harm", Ethics 103/4 (1993), pp. 635-653.
Baker, C.E., "Harm, Liberty, and Free Speech", Southern California Law Review 70/4 (1997), pp. 979-1020.
Dworkin, R., "A New Map of Censorship", Index on Censorship 35/1 (2006), pp. 130-133.
Waldron, J., The Harm in Hate Speech (Harvard UP, 2012), chapters 1-7 (pp. 1-203).
8. The Right to Private Property and Property Rights
Waldron, J., The Right to Private Property (Clarendon Press 1988), chapters 1-2 (pp. 3-61), 5-12 (pp. 127-445).
9. The Right to Immigrate and the Rights of Immigrants
Carens, J., The Ethics of Immigration (Oxford UP, 2013), chapters 2-12 (pp. 19-287).
Miller, D., Strangers in Our Midst: The Political Philosophy of Immigration (Harvard UP, 2016), chapters 1-6 (pp. 1-111).
10. Peoples' Right to Self-Determination and the Right to Secession
Buchanan, A., Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law (Oxford UP 2003), chapters 2-3 (pp. 73-190), 5-6 (pp. 233-288), 8-9 (pp. 331-425).
Wellman, C.H., A Theory of Secession: The Case for Political Self-Determination (Cambridge UP 2005). Chapters 2-3 (pp. 6-64), 6-7 (pp. 128-180).
11. Social Rights, Equality of Opportunity and the Social Minimum
White, S., The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship (Oxford UP, 2003), chapters 1-8 (pp. 2-201).
Fabre, C., Social Rights under the Constitution: Government and the Decent Life (Oxford UP, 2000).
12. The Rights of Members of Cultural Minorities
Kymlicka, W., Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford UP, 1995), chapters 2-3 (pp. 10-48) and 5-8 (pp. 75-172).
Parekh, B., Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2nd edn., Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), chapters 7-9 (pp. 196-294).
Okin, S.M., "Feminism and Multiculturalism: Some Tensions", Ethics 108/4 (1998), pp. 661-684.
Okin, S.M., "'Mistresses of Their Own Destiny': Group Rights, Gender, and Realistic Rights of Exit", Ethics 112/2 (2002), pp. 205-230.
Barry, B., Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Polity Press, 2001), chapters 2 (pp. 19-62) and 4 (pp. 112-154).
Pogge, T. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reform (2nd edn., Polity Press, 2008) (all students).
Dershowitz, A., Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights (Basic Books 2004) (non-attending students only).
In addition, all students should choose one of the following thematic reading lists to write their review essay:
1. The General Concept of Rights (difficult)
Hart, H.L.A., "Legal Rights" (1973), in H.L.A. Hart, Essays on Bentham: Jurisprudence and Political Theory (Oxford UP, 1982), pp. 162-193.
MacCormick, N., "Rights in Legislation", in P. Hacker, J. Raz (eds.), Law, Morality and Society: Essays in Honour of H.L.A Hart (Oxford UP, 1977), pp. 189-209.
Raz, J., "On the Nature of Rights", Mind 93/370 (1984), pp. 194-214.
Raz, J., "Legal Rights", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 4/1 (1984), pp. 1-21.
Kramer, M.H., "Rights without Trimmings", in M.H. Kramer, N.E. Simmonds, H. Steiner, A Debate over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries (Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 7-111.
Steiner, H., "Working Rights", in M.H. Kramer, N.E. Simmonds, H. Steiner, A Debate over Rights: Philosophical Enquiries (Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 233-301.
Wenar, L., "The Nature of Rights", Philosophy and Public Affairs 33/3 (2005), pp. 223-251.
Sreenivasan, G., "A Hybrid Theory of Claim-Rights", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 25/2 (2005), pp. 257-274.
Kramer, M.H., Steiner, H., "Theories of Rights: Is There a Third Way?", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 27/2 (2007), pp. 281-310.
2. Pre-Political Conceptions of Human Rights
Finnis, J., Natural Law and Natural Rights (2nd edn., Oxford UP, 2011), chapters 3-8 (pp. 59-230).
Griffin, J., On Human Rights (Oxford UP, 2008), chapters 1-5 (pp. 9-110), 7-11 (pp. 129-211).
3. The Constitutionalizing of Human Rights (difficult)
Dworkin, R., Taking Rights Seriously (2nd edn., Harvard UP, 1978), chapters 4-5 (pp. 81-149), 7 (pp. 184-205), 12 (pp. 266-278).
Dworkin, R., "Introduction: The Moral Reading and the Majoritarian Premise", in R. Dworkin, Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution (Harvard UP, 1996), pp. 1-38.
Waldron, J., "The Core of the Case against Judicial Review", Yale Law Journal 115/6 (2006), pp. 1346-1406.
Ferrajoli, L., La democrazia attraverso i diritti: Il costituzionalismo garantista come modello teorico e come progetto politico (Laterza, 2013), chapters 1-2 (pp. 5-94) and 6 (pp. 181-255).
4. Liberal Minimalism about Global Human Rights
Rawls, J., "The Law of Peoples", in J. Rawls, The Law of Peoples, with the Idea of Public Reason Revised (Harvard UP, 1997), pp. 1-128.
Beitz, C., The Idea of Human Rights (Oxford UP, 2009), chapters 5-7 (pp. 96-196).
Ignatieff, M., Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (Amy Gutmann ed., Princeton UP, 2001), pp. 3-98.
Cohen, J., "Minimalism about Human Rights: The Most We Can Hope for?", The Journal of Political Philosophy 12/2 (2004), pp. 190-213.
5. The "Capabilities Approach": Human Rights, Women's Rights, and Development
Sen, A., Development as Freedom (Oxford UP, 1999), chapters 1-2 (pp. 13-53), 4-10 (pp. 87-248).
Nussbaum, M.C., "In Defense of Universal Values", in M.C. Nussbaum, Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach (Cambridge UP, 2000), introduction and chapter 1 (pp. 1-110).
Okin, S.M., "Poverty, Well-Being, and Gender: What Counts, Who's Heard?", Philosophy and Public Affairs 31/3 (2003), 280-316.
Nussbaum, M.C., "On Hearing Women's Voices: A Reply to Susan Okin", Philosophy and Public Affairs 32/2 (2004), 193-205.
6. The Right to Life Faced with Bioethical Challenges
Thomson, J.J., "A Defense of Abortion", Philosophy and Public Affairs 1/1 (1971), pp. 47-66.
Finnis, J., "The Rights and Wrongs of Abortion: A Reply to Thomson", Philosophy and Public Affairs 2/2 (1973), pp. 117-145.
Thomson, J.J., "Rights and Deaths", Philosophy and Public Affairs 2/2 (1973), pp. 146-159.
Feinberg, J., "Voluntary Euthanasia and the Inalienable Right to Life", Philosophy and Public Affairs 7/2 (1978), pp. 93-123.
Singer, P., Practical Ethics (3rd edn., Cambridge UP, 2011), chapters 4-7 (pp. 71-190).
Dworkin, R., Life's Dominion: An Argument about Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom (Vintage Books, 1994), chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-101) and 7-8 (pp. 179-241).
7.1. Freedom of Expression and Pornography
Dworkin, A., "Against the Male Flood: Censorship, Pornography, and Equality" (1985), in A. Dworkin, Letters from a War Zone (Lawrence Hill Books 1993), pp. 253-275.
MacKinnon, C.A., Only Words (Harvard UP 1993).
Strossen, N., "A Feminist Critique of 'the' Feminist Critique of Pornography", Virginia Law Review 79/5 (1993), pp. 1099-1190.
Nussbaum, M. C., "Objectification", Philosophy and Public Affairs 24/4 (1995), pp. 249-291. 43
Dworkin, R., "Is There a Right to Pornography", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 1/2 (1981), pp. 177-212.
Dworkin, R., Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution (Harvard UP/Oxford UP 1996), chapters 8-9 (pp. 214-243).
Langton, R., "Whose Rights? Ronald Dworkin, Women, and Pornographers", Philosophy and Public Affairs 19/4 (1990), pp. 311-359.
7.2. Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech
Scanlon, T.M., The Difficulty of Tolerance: Essays in Political Philosophy (Cambridge UP, 2003), chapters 1 (pp. 6-25), 5 (pp. 84-112) and 8 (pp. 151-168).
Altman, A., "Liberalism and Campus Hate Speech: A Philosophical Examination", Ethics 103/2 (1993), pp. 302-317.
Cohen, J., "Freedom of Expression", Philosophy and Public Affairs 22/3 (1993), pp. 207-263.
Schauer, F., "The Phenomenology of Speech and Harm", Ethics 103/4 (1993), pp. 635-653.
Baker, C.E., "Harm, Liberty, and Free Speech", Southern California Law Review 70/4 (1997), pp. 979-1020.
Dworkin, R., "A New Map of Censorship", Index on Censorship 35/1 (2006), pp. 130-133.
Waldron, J., The Harm in Hate Speech (Harvard UP, 2012), chapters 1-7 (pp. 1-203).
8. The Right to Private Property and Property Rights
Waldron, J., The Right to Private Property (Clarendon Press 1988), chapters 1-2 (pp. 3-61), 5-12 (pp. 127-445).
9. The Right to Immigrate and the Rights of Immigrants
Carens, J., The Ethics of Immigration (Oxford UP, 2013), chapters 2-12 (pp. 19-287).
Miller, D., Strangers in Our Midst: The Political Philosophy of Immigration (Harvard UP, 2016), chapters 1-6 (pp. 1-111).
10. Peoples' Right to Self-Determination and the Right to Secession
Buchanan, A., Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law (Oxford UP 2003), chapters 2-3 (pp. 73-190), 5-6 (pp. 233-288), 8-9 (pp. 331-425).
Wellman, C.H., A Theory of Secession: The Case for Political Self-Determination (Cambridge UP 2005). Chapters 2-3 (pp. 6-64), 6-7 (pp. 128-180).
11. Social Rights, Equality of Opportunity and the Social Minimum
White, S., The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship (Oxford UP, 2003), chapters 1-8 (pp. 2-201).
Fabre, C., Social Rights under the Constitution: Government and the Decent Life (Oxford UP, 2000).
12. The Rights of Members of Cultural Minorities
Kymlicka, W., Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford UP, 1995), chapters 2-3 (pp. 10-48) and 5-8 (pp. 75-172).
Parekh, B., Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2nd edn., Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), chapters 7-9 (pp. 196-294).
Okin, S.M., "Feminism and Multiculturalism: Some Tensions", Ethics 108/4 (1998), pp. 661-684.
Okin, S.M., "'Mistresses of Their Own Destiny': Group Rights, Gender, and Realistic Rights of Exit", Ethics 112/2 (2002), pp. 205-230.
Barry, B., Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (Polity Press, 2001), chapters 2 (pp. 19-62) and 4 (pp. 112-154).
Assessment methods and Criteria
Assessment methods and criteria will be different for attending and non-attending students.
In order to be considered attending student, attendance of 3/5 of classes (12 on 20) is required.
For attending students, the final assessment will be based on attendance, participation, a review essay, a written exam, and a final colloquium. Students who get a mark of at least 28/30 in both the review essay and the written exam will be exempted from the final colloquium.
For non-attending students, the final assessment will be based on a review essay, a written exam, and a final colloquium.
For further information about assessment methods and criteria, and instructions to write the review essay, consult the documents that will be uploaded on the Ariel website of the course.
In order to be considered attending student, attendance of 3/5 of classes (12 on 20) is required.
For attending students, the final assessment will be based on attendance, participation, a review essay, a written exam, and a final colloquium. Students who get a mark of at least 28/30 in both the review essay and the written exam will be exempted from the final colloquium.
For non-attending students, the final assessment will be based on a review essay, a written exam, and a final colloquium.
For further information about assessment methods and criteria, and instructions to write the review essay, consult the documents that will be uploaded on the Ariel website of the course.
Professor(s)
Reception:
The professor meets with students weekly, on campus or online. To make an appointment, please contact the professor by email.
On-campus meetings will be held in the professor's office on the second floor of the building overlooking via Passione (room 206). Online meetings will be held through Microsoft Teams.