Sylabus
JPB854 PPE CLASSICS: MORALITY, RATIONLITY, MARKETS AND JUSTICE (4 ETCS)
TIME and PLACE: see the list of lectures below
ABOUT THE LECTURER:
This course will be taught by Prof. JULIAN FINK, the director of our sister-PPE programme at the University of Bayreuth with which we have a Double Degree agreement. Consequently, the aim of this course is to give you (primarily, FIRST YEAR PPE STUDENTS) a taste what do they study at the University of Bayreuth in order to help you to decide whether to join the Double Degree and move to Bayreuth in Germany after your third semester in Prague and end up with two separate BA diplomas: one from Charles University, the other from the University of Bayreuth. (The first year PPE students will have to decide whether to opt for Double Degree by the end of Year 1 of their studies, i.e. in September. For this reason, we plan that Prof. Fink will be coming every year in Spring to help the PPE students to make up their mind.)
SCHEDULE:
The course will be taught in a block, over few days, namely:
Thursday, 11.04: Teaching day 1: Session 1&2: from 15:30 to 18:30 - CLASSROOM C123 in JINONICE
Friday, 12.04.: Teaching day 2: Session 3&4: 15:30 to 18:30 - CLASSROOM C420 in JINONICE
Monday, 15.04. Teaching day 3: Session 5: 8:00 to 10:50 in - CLASSROOM C316 (in place of 'CLASSICS of Political Philosophy')
The CONTENT of the course:
Lecture 1: The Instability of Moral Intuitions: The Trolley Problem (80 min)
Lecture 2: Individual vs Collective Rationality: The Prisoners Dilemma (80 min)
Lecture 3: Two Theories of Individual Rationality: Self-interest, Coherence & Utility (80min)
Lecture 4: Markets and Morality: The Role of Market Failure (80min)
Lecture 5: Questions, Comments & Answers (80 min)
Lecture 6: Justice and the Veil of Ignorance: The Original Position (80 min)
ASSESSMENT will be solely on the basis of a FINAL ESSAY
LENGTH of the final essay: 1500 words (without bibliography)
DEADLINE for submission of the essay: by June 20th if the grade is to be published before the summer break, OR by August 15th if the grade is to be published in Semester.
Final Essay TOPICS (choose one and "discuss"):
(1) Is there a fundamental moral difference between actively causing harm and merely allowing harm to occur? How does this relate to the trolley problem?
(2) Does rationality require you to be coherent or does it require you to maximize your self-interest?
(3) Are managers under an obligation to avoid market failures?
(4) Rawls argues that justice requires us to prioritize the interests of the least advantaged members of society. How does Rawls defend this principle of justice? What are the implications of this principle for the distribution of resources in society, and how might it shape our understanding of political and economic institutions?
(5) Can a democracy be illiberal? What is wrong (if anything) with an illiberal democracy?
More detailed comments about the essay will be provided by Prof. Julian Fink in class.
Should you have any questions, please, contact: janusz.salamon@fsv.cuni.cz as the "guarantor" of this course and the Double Degree Coordinator to whom you should director all questions, should you be interested in applying for the Bayreuth-Prague PPE Double Degree.