Syllabus
GLOBAL POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY - JPM040
ETCS: 5 credits
Prerequisites: None
Taught in WINTER Semester
Lecturer: Dr Janusz Salamon
Time: MONDAY, 15.30-16.50 (including lectures and seminars - see details below)
PLACE: Jinonice, classroom C520
CONTACTS:
Email: janusz.salamon at fsv.cuni.cz
Office hours: Monday, 12.30-14.00 & Tuesday, 14:00-15:30 (3 Tuesdays per month) at office 514 (Floor 5) in Jinonice also at other times ONLINE after appointment at https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/4572739330
COURSE CHARACTERISTICS:
The course is designed specifically for students of MA in International Politics and Economics with the aim to enable all students - both those who did their undergraduate studies in political science and those he did not - to explore the key problems of political philosophy in a global context. Thus while for the students who are newcomers to political theory all issues discussed in the course of the semester will be new, for those who have studied political philosophy the approach to the foundational questions of political philosophy will be different from what they already know. The global dimension of the course will consists in bringing to the picture of contemporary political philosophy - which is usually dominated entirely by contributions of Western political thinkers - complementary perspectives of East Asian (predominantly Chinese) and Islamic political traditions. It is hoped that this course will serve as a basis for a truly global and inter-cultural approach to the study of other areas of political science which IEPS students will pursue in the next semesters of their degree programme.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Class 1 Global Political Anthropology or How Diverse Views of Human Nature Influence Political Traditions
Class 2 Various Conceptions of Liberty and Variety of Liberalism
Class 3 Various Conceptions of Equality and Variety of Egalitarianism
Class 4 Justification of Political Obligation / Political Authority East and West
Class 5 Diverse Expressions of Solidarity in Various Political Traditions
Class 6 Communitarianism and Conservatism in the West
Class 7 Russian Conservatism
Class 8 Political Philosophy of India's 'Hindutva' Movement
Class 9 Confucian Political Thought
Class 10 Confucian Political Tradition and Individual Rights
Class 11 Islamic Political Thought
Class 12 Islamic Political Tradition and Individual Rights
LITERATURE:
The class readings will be always available for download at the present course webpage in the SIS:
The lecture readings will be taken mainly from the following books (available at the library of the Faculty of Social Sciences in Jinonice):
Risse M., Global Political Philosophy, Palgrave, 2012.
Goodin, R. E., P. Pettit, T. Pogge (eds), A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, Blackwell, 2007.
Simon, R. L., Guide to Social and Political Philosophy, Blackwell, 2002.
Christiano, T., J. Christman (eds), Contemporary Debates in Political Philosophy, Blackwell, 2009.
Matravers, D., J. Pike, Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, Routledge, 2003.
Goodin, R. E., P. Pettit, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, Blackwell, 1997.
Bird, C., An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Murray, A. R. M., Introduction to Political Philosophy, Routledge, 2010.
FINAL WRITTEN EXAM
At the Final Exam you will have 180 minutes to your disposal. Students will be asked to select FOUR topics in accordance with their preference topics from a list of 6-7 topics (related to the main problems of global ethics explored in the class reading and in the classroom), and to "DISCUSS" (in a form of short essays: at least ca. 3 pages per topic) relevant issues showing both the familiarity with the material explored in the course of the semester, and the ability to think critically about such issues. Thus critical assessment of the theories and arguments - as opposed to mere memorisation - will be encouraged and rewarded.
FINAL ESSAY
The Final Essay, between 1800 and 2000 words in length, will be devoted to a topic chosen by the student from a list of topics provided by the lecturer. The essay topics will focus on the APPLIED global ethics, giving the students opportunity to apply various theoretical frameworks in ethics to the real-life global challenges, such as environmental protection, mass migration, global poverty or new forms of military conflict. A more detailed essay instruction will be provided in the middle of the semester (once the students accumulate a sufficient amount of knowledge to be able to start working on your essay effectively.) Since various students will take their exam at different times (choosing one of the three exam dates that will be published in the SIS in due course), the deadline for the submission of the essay will be 48 hours before YOUR exam. The exam is compulsory for all student who wish to get a pass grade. Thus despite the fact that the Final Exam accounts for up to 60% of the grade, students who will take the written exam but will fail to submit their essay will be failed.
COURSE GRADING:
Final essay (ca. 2000 words) 40%
Final Exam 60%
Total 100%
GRADING SCALE:
A = 91-100 % – excellent
B = 81-90 % – very good
C = 71-80 % – good
D = 61-70 % – satisfactory
E = 51-60 % – minimal pass
F = 0-50 % – fail