Not without difficulties, various attempts are made to turn human rights into an indispensable point of reference for the evaluation of both the moral and the juridical legitimacy of the global political and economic order. However, unresolved theoretical issues regarding the justification and conceptualization of human rights challenge our comprehension of the matter. The course belongs to the disciplinary domain of political philosophy. Its general purpose is twofold: on the one hand, it sheds light on the ongoing philosophical debates on the unresolved theoretical issues surrounding the notion of human rights; on the other hand, it provides knowledge of how contemporary political philosophy deals with human rights. In particular, the course seeks to secure understanding of the ties between human rights, social justice, and liberal-democracy through the “theory of recognition” by Axel Honneth and the critical revision of “political liberalism” by Alessandro Ferrara. During the course, students will be required to read texts, discuss their content, and develop personal opinions as a means to critically exercise their learning and communication skills.
teacher profile teaching materials
- Human rights in the philosophical perspective: ontology and epistemology in the theory of human rights
- Problems and relativity of the concept of "human rights"
- Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life
- Freedom, justice as fairness and the ethics of democratic discourse: Rawls, Habermas and the challenges of libertarianism and the postmodern feminist critique
- Conceptions of autonomy and vulnerability in Honneth
- The psychological foundation of fundamental rights' fruition
– The Hegelian roots of the struggles for recognition: the social "fabric of justice" and the moral grammar of social conflicts
- The right to freedom and the social foundation of democratic ethical life
- The reasons for the existence of legal and moral freedom and their pathologies respectively
- Social freedom and the three registers of the ‘We’ of personal relationships
- Recognition and and free market: the sphere of consumption, the labour market and environmental sustainability
- Democracy and fundamental rights: the open society and pluralism
2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015)
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
4) Appunti distribuiti in classe dal docente su John Rawls e Robert Nozick
EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS (9 ECTS) -
1) HONNETH, Axel, "Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life", translated by J. Ganahl, Polity Press, Cambridge 2014 (ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-6943-4)[from page 1 to 255]
2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015) .
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS (6 ECTS) -
1) HONNETH, Axel, "Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life", translated by J. Ganahl, Polity Press, Cambridge 2014 (ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-6943-4)[from page 1 to 176]
2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015)
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
Programme
CONTENT OF THE PROGRAMME- Human rights in the philosophical perspective: ontology and epistemology in the theory of human rights
- Problems and relativity of the concept of "human rights"
- Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life
- Freedom, justice as fairness and the ethics of democratic discourse: Rawls, Habermas and the challenges of libertarianism and the postmodern feminist critique
- Conceptions of autonomy and vulnerability in Honneth
- The psychological foundation of fundamental rights' fruition
– The Hegelian roots of the struggles for recognition: the social "fabric of justice" and the moral grammar of social conflicts
- The right to freedom and the social foundation of democratic ethical life
- The reasons for the existence of legal and moral freedom and their pathologies respectively
- Social freedom and the three registers of the ‘We’ of personal relationships
- Recognition and and free market: the sphere of consumption, the labour market and environmental sustainability
- Democracy and fundamental rights: the open society and pluralism
Core Documentation
1) HONNETH, Axel, "Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life", translated by J. Ganahl, Polity Press, Cambridge 2014 (ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-6943-4)2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015)
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
4) Appunti distribuiti in classe dal docente su John Rawls e Robert Nozick
EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS (9 ECTS) -
1) HONNETH, Axel, "Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life", translated by J. Ganahl, Polity Press, Cambridge 2014 (ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-6943-4)[from page 1 to 255]
2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015) .
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS (6 ECTS) -
1) HONNETH, Axel, "Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life", translated by J. Ganahl, Polity Press, Cambridge 2014 (ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-6943-4)[from page 1 to 176]
2) LIAO, Matthew S., "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life" (2015)
3) GRIFFIN, James, "The Relativity and Ethno-centricity of Human Rights" (2008)
Reference Bibliography
R. Cruft, S.M. Liao, and M. Renzo, "Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights", Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015 M.R. Ishay (ed.), "The Human Rights Reader", Routledge, New York-Abingdon 2007Attendance
Class-attendance is mandatory.Type of evaluation
The course comprises three tests in total: two written and one oral. The two written tests will take place in class. 1) The first written test (20% of the final grade) consists in a multiple choice test based on the reading materials specifically indicated at the beginning of the course by the teacher. 2) The second written test (20% of the final grade) consists in a multiple choice test based on the reading materials indicated at the beginning of the course by the teacher. 3) The third test consists in an oral exam (60% of the final grade). The criteria on the basis of which all three tests will be evaluated are: 1) descriptive and defining ability; 2) argumentative ability; 3) critical and evaluative ability.