Fortgeschrittenenseminar "The Philosophy of Human Rights: Foundations – Applications – Challenges"

18. April bis 11. Juli 2016 | montags 14 bis 16 Uhr c.t. | MKE | Raum M210

The notion of human rights is widely used in political and moral debates. The core idea that all human beings have some inalienable basic rights is appealing and has an important practical function: It allows for moral criticism of various wrongs and calls for action in order to prevent them. Yet, the idea of human rights stands in need of specification and justification. In this advanced research seminar + essay course we will discuss important contemporary contributions to the philosophical debate about human rights. Issues to be addressed will include the theoretical justification and the practical application of human rights, as well as various challenges to the idea of human rights.

Objectives

By the end of this course you should be familiar with the main arguments in the contemporary debate about human rights; you will have practiced to present, develop and defend an argument both orally and in writing.

Since this will be an advanced research seminar, some familiarity with theories of domestic justice and moral theories is strongly recommended.

Students are expected to come prepared to each class, to participate actively and to give a brief presentation of one of the readings. Students may either write four short essays (ca. 2.000 words each) during the term or a "Hausarbeit" (ca. 7.500 words) during the term break.

Readings

We will be reading texts by: Kimberley Brownlee, Carol C. Gould, Virginia Held, Martha Nussbaum, Joseph Raz, John Tasioulas, Jeremy Waldron, and Jo Wolff. Most texts can be found in:

• Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. Ed. by Rowan Cruft, S. Matthew Liao, and Massimo Renzo. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2015; and in
• The Philosophy of Human Rights. Contemporary Controversies. Ed. by Gerhard Ernst, and Jan-Christoph Heilinger. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2012.

A reader will be provided at the beginning of the semester.

Registration

Please register before Apr 12, 2016 at mke@lmu.de.