Philosophy 235
Human Rights: Philosophical Foundations, Issues, and Debates
Spring Semester 2000


Instructor: Maurice L. Wade
Office: McCook 318
Campus Phone Number: 2417
(I tend to be somewhat more responsive to e-mail than to voice mail)
Web page:http://www.trincoll.edu/~mwade/
Office Hours: Mondays 3:00 - 5:00 and by Fridays 2:00 - 3:00


COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will begin by focusing on some contemporary analyses of human rights. What is a right? What is a human right? Are there any human rights? How is the claim that something is a human right justified? Do all humans have human rights? These and related questions will be the focus of this first part of the course.

Armed with understanding of some contemporary analyses of human rights, the course will move to the history of human rights discourse. For most of the history of that discourse, the two contending perspectives have been liberalism and socialism/Marxism. We will first focus upon the liberal tradition and then turn to socialist/Marxist perspectives.

Next the focus of the course will be on Henry Shue’s arguments in favor of viewing at least some economic and social rights as no less basic than the kinds of political and civil rights that have traditionally been regarded as legitimate human rights.

From here the course moves on to consideration of women’s rights as human rights and the claim by some feminist critics that human rights have been and continue to be understood in a manner that is biased against the experiences and interests of women.

Then the course will focus upon the topic of cultural relativism and debates about whether the notion of human rights is or can be universal in nature.

We will go on from here to the topics of rights to national and/or cultural self determination and group rights.

The final topic of the course will be cosmopolitanism versus patriotism. Is loyalty to one’s own nation and its interests a legitimate moral position if international norms such as human rights are valid? Can one take both the cosmopolitan moral perspective that seems to follow from accepting human rights and the narrower perspective that seems to follow from patriotism?

This is an ambitious agenda and since this is the first time that this course has been taught, we may find that it is too ambitious and that we will not be able to cover all of these topics. Hence, this syllabus may be subject to revision (perhaps radical revision) as the semester progresses. You are responsible for being aware of any such changes. (I will try to keep the most up-to-date version of the syllabus posted on my web site: http://www.trincoll.edu/~mwade/.

ATTENDANCE
What happens in the classroom (lectures and discussions) is important. These dimensions of the course are to be taken no less seriously than the reading assignments, exams, or other requirements. I expect everyone to come to class. To promote this goal, I am adopting a policy of my colleague, Drew Hyland. Everyone gets three unexcused absences. After that, if you miss a class, for whatever reason, then at the very next class, you must submit a 5 page essay discussing the readings assignments for the class that you missed. You will remain, of course, responsible for determining what happened during class itself on any day that you are absent.
Although this is not a seminar course and so will consist mostly of lectures by the instructor, participation in class is highly encouraged. Students who pose questions, make comments, etc. that are clearly and solidly grounded in the assigned readings and in class discussion will be rewarded. Furthermore, the classroom experience will be far more enjoyable for you if you keep yourself actively engaged in the course in this fashion.

TEXTS
Three books have been ordered for this course and should be available for purchase at the College bookstore in the basement of Mather Campus Center.
1. The Human Rights Reader edited by Michele Ishay
2. Basic Rights by Henry Shue
3. For Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism by M. Nussbaum et. al.
Additional readings in photocopied form will be provided throughout the course of the semester.

EXAMS
Course participants will be required to complete 4 take-home exams based upon the assigned readings and class lectures and discussions. Late exams will not be accepted except in cases of genuine, proven, and dire emergencies. Failure to hand in any one of these four exams on time without such an accepted excuse will result in a failing grade for the course. PLEASE TAKE THIS VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY. I DETEST FAILING STUDENTS BUT WILL INDEED DO SO WHEN, IN MY JUDGMENT, DOING SO IS WARRANTED BY CLASS POLICY AND/OR INADEQUATE PERFORMANCE.

EXAM SCHEDULE
First exam-- handed out on Februrary 10th and due at McCook 313 by 2:40 on February 17th. (This means that this exam is due during Midsession but, as you all know by now, Midsession is not a vacation and students are expected to be on campus doing work assigned in their classes.)
Second exam--handed out on March 2nd and due in class on March 9th.
Third exam--handed out on Maruch 30th and due in class on April 6th,
Fourth exam--handed out on in class on April 28th and due at McCook 313 by 4:00 PM on May 8th.

Because your exams are take-home in nature, your answers are not only expected to be accurate and to display your understanding of the readings and lectures, they are also expected to be well-written in all respects.
You can see from the schedule above that you won’t have all that much time between when the exam is handed out and when it is due. Hence, you will have great difficulty doing well on these exams if you do not keep up with the readings.

Partial Schedule of Reading Assignments

For 1/20 read “The Nature and Value of Rights” by Joel Feinberg and “Human Rights and Civil Rights” by Rex Martin. Both essays are from The Philosophy of Human Rights edited by Morton E. Winston. Photocopies of both will be provided in class.

For 1/25 read “The Concept of Human Rights,” chapter 1 of Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice by Jack Donnelly, “The Nature of (Human) Rights: ‘Having’ A Human Right,” chapter 2 of The Concept of Human Rights by Jack Donnelly, and “Human Dignity as a Normative Concept” by Oscar Schacter from Human Rights Law edited by Philip Alston.

For 1/27 read, from The Human Rights Reader, “”Liberalism and Human Rights: A Necessary Connection,” p. 268; “Five Fables About Human Rights,” p. 233; “Gay/Justice: Millian Arguments for Gay Rights,” p. 247; “Human Rights, Rationality, and Sentimentality,” p. 263; and pp. 407 - 421.

For 2/1 read pp. 73 - 127 of The Human Rights Reader.

For 2/3 read pp. 127 - 173 of The Human Rights Reader.

For 2/22 and 2/24 read section III of The Human Rights Reader.

For 2/29 read section V of The Human Rights Reader.

For 3/9 read essays 1 through 7 of section VI of The Human Rights Reader.

For 3/14 read essays 8 through 14 of section VI of The Human Rights Reader.

For 3/16 read essays 8 through 14 of section VI of The Human Rights Reader.

For 3/28 read chapters 1 and 2 of Basic Rights.

For 3/30 read chapters 3 and 4 of Basic Rights.

For 4/4 read chapter 5 and 6 of Basic Rights.

The second take-home exam will be given out in class on 3/28 and due in class on 4/6.

I have made another adjustment to the grading weights of your 3 take-home exams. ( Remember that we reduced the number of take-home exams from 4 to 3.) The highest of your 3 grades will be worth 50% of yoru final grade. While the next highest will be worth 30% and the lowest worth 20%.