Module Identifier |
IP32420 |
Module Title |
TWENTIETH CENTURY POLITICAL THOUGHT |
Academic Year |
2007/2008 |
Co-ordinator |
Professor Howard L Williams |
Semester |
Semester 1 |
Course delivery |
Seminars / Tutorials | 24 Hours. Seminar (8 x 3 hours) |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word essay | 40% |
Semester Assessment | 1 x 3500 word essay | 60% |
Supplementary Exam | Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics. | |
|
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
-Demonstrate a clear understanding of the main ideas of the two thinkers and their relevance to contemporary society and politics.
-Demonstrate a sound grasp of the following concepts: Rawls's theory of justice; his notion of political liberalism; the idea of a law of peoples; Habermas's discourse theory; his activity as critic in the public sphere; and his Kantian theory of international right; Schmitt's concepts of sovereignty; the 'crisis of parliamentary democracy'; 'the weapon' and 'the political' freedom;
Brief description
"Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue: likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient or well-arranged must be reformed or abolished of they are unjust." John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, chapter one
"The different tendencies towards the globalization of every kind of interchange and communication, economic production and its financing, transfers of technology and weaponry, the drug trade and criminality, and especially strategic and ecological dangers, confront us with problems that can no longer be solved within the framework of the nation-state. The hollowing out of the sovereignty of the nation-state will continue, and require us to develop capacities for global action on a supranational basis." Juergen Habermas, `1989 in the shadow of 1945,¿ A Berlin Republic, 168
This module examines closely the main writings of John Rawls and Juergen Habermas. Particular attention will be paid to the points of contrast and the areas of agreement in their thinking. Students will also be given the opportunity to look at the development of the ideas of the two thinkers over time.
Content
-
Habermas and the Frankfurt School
-
Rawls's A Theory of Justice - the veil of ignorance and the difference principle
-
Habermas and German politics
-
Political Liberalism and the politics of the United States
-
Habermas's concept of the public sphere
-
The 'law of peoples'- international justice
-
The idea of discourse ethics and the 'Divided West'
-
Rawls and Habermas compared - recapitulation and conclusion
Aims
To introduce the ideas of two of the most influential of recent political thinkers: John Rawls and Juergen Habermas. The module will examine closely the way in which both philosophers draw from the work of Immanuel Kant..
Transferable skills
This module will provide the opportunity for students to develop their oral, intellectual and communication skills. In preparing for seminars emphasis will be placed on understanding, following the argument and summarizing it concisely. In the seminars students will be encouraged to develop clear, cogent and persuasive arguments. The seminars offer the opportunity for students to show independent reasoning and judgement. Essay writing will encourage students to carry out research on their own initiative and to develop their IT presentation skills.
10 ECTS credits
Reading Lists
Books
** Recommended Text
Barry, Brian Liberal Theory of Justice
Oxf.U.P. 0198750323
Barry, Norman P. Introduction to Modern Political Theory
edition 2r.e. . Macmillan Educ. 0333497961
Baynes, Kenneth Normative Grounds of Social Criticism
State Univ.New York P. 0791408671
Habermas Autonomy and solidarity
London ; New York 0860913678
Habermas, Jurgen Berlin Republic
Polity P. 0745620450
Habermas, Jurgen Inclusion of the other
Polity 0745630464
Habermas, Jurgen Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action
edition n.e. . Polity P. 0745611044
Habermas, Jurgen Past as Future
Polity P. 0745614531
Habermas, Jurgen Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere
Polity P. 0745602746
Hayden, Patrick John Rawls
Univ.Wales P. 0708317286
Held, David Introduction to Critical Theory
edition n.e. . Polity P. 0745607691
Holub, Robert C. Jurgen Habermas
Routledge 0415022088
McCarthy, Thomas A. Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas
Hutchinson 0091335108
Outhwaite, William Habermas
Polity P. 0745602053
Pogge, Thomas W. Realizing Rawls
Cornell U.P. 0801496853
Rawls, John Law of Peoples
Harvard U.P. 067400079X
Rawls, John Political Liberalism
edition n.e. . Columbia U.P. 0231052499
Rawls, John Theory of Justice
edition 2r.e. . Oxf.U.P. 019825055X
Sandel, Michael J. Liberalism and the Limits of Justice
edition 2r.e. . Camb.U.P. 0521567416
Shute On human rights
New York, NY : BasicBooks 0465052231
Wiggershaus, Rolf Frankfurt School
edition n.e. . Polity P. 0745616216
Williams, Howard Ll. International Relations and the Limits of Political Theory
Macmillan 0333626664
Perpetual Peace
MIT P. 0262522357
Philosophy,Politics and Society
Blackwell 0631048901
Political Thought Since 1945
E.Elgar Pub. 1852783117
Social Contract from Hobbes to Rawls
Routledge 0415108462
Journals
H. Williams (1999) Kantian review Kant, Rawls, Habermas and the Metaphysics of Justice http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=%22kantian+review%22&SL=None&Search_Code=FT*&CNT=20
edition 3 43101. Cardiff : University of Wales Press 0013694154
Habermas (1995) Journal of philosophy Reconciliation through the Public Use of Reason http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=journal+of+philosophy&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
edition March . New York : Columbia University
(1996) German politics : journal of the Association for the Study of German Politics Jurgen Habermas and German Reunification http://voyager.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&Search_Arg=german+politics&SL=None&Search_Code=JALL&CNT=20
edition 5 part 2 pages 214-40. London : Frank Cass 0009644008
Web Page/Sites
** Supplementary Text
http://www.helsinki.fi/~amkauppi/hablinks.html
Introductory lecture on John Rawls http://www.mit.edu:8001/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/l/k/lking/www/writing/notes/rawls.html
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6