PHIL 338A: READING ASSIGNMENTS

Except for the first day, readings should be done before the class meeting for which they are due. Reading assignments are taken from the following sources: (1) Required Text: Patrick Hayden, ed., The Philosophy of Human Rights, available for purchase at the University Book Store. (2) Optional Text: Talbott, Which Rights Should Be Universal?, available for purchase at the University Book Store. The readings from the Talbott text are also available in Volume 2 of the course reader. So you have a choice to purchase the Talbott text or Volume 2 of the course reader. Don't purchase both. (3) Course Readers (Readers I, II, and III), available for purchase at the University Book Store. Everyone should purchase Reader Volumes 1 and III. Those who don't purchase the optional Talbott text should purchase Reader Volume II. Unfortunately, page numbers were omitted from Reader III. Please number them manually. The page numbers in Reader III continue the numbering of Reader I. The first page of Reader III is page 84 and the last page is page 121. (4) Electronic Reserve (URL: http://www.lib.washington.edu/services/course/).

Week #1 (Sept. 25): Introduction

Reading Assignment: (1) Talbott, Which Rights Should be Universal?, Chaps. 1-2. [READER II, pp. 3-38 (plus endnotes), also available on E-RESERVE]

Week #2 (Sept. 30 - Oct. 3): Rights: Negative, Positive, and Hybrids

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE IN SECTION ON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1.

Reading Assignment:

For Tuesday: (1) U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Text pp. 353-358.

(2) Joel Feinberg, "The Nature and Value of Rights", Text pp. 174-186.

(3) Maurice Cranston, "Human Rights, Real and Supposed", Text pp. 163-173.

For Thursday: (4) Henry Shue, Basic Rights, pp. 22-40. [READER I, pp. 3-12]

(5) Martha C. Nussbaum, "Capabilities and Human Rights", Text pp. 212-240.

(6) Amartya Sen, "Development as Freedom", pp. 168-187 and notes on pp. 330-335. READER III, pp. pp. 92-101 [and notes].

If you are interested in finding out more about Nussbaum and Sen, I recommend the following video interviews (If you access this document on the PHIL 338 Web site, you can copy and paste the Web addresses rather than trying to type them):

Nussbaum: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1489004289964352741&q=Conversations+with+History+nussbaum&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Sen: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4061364752771125692&q=Conversations+with+History+sen&total=55&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Week #3 (Oct. 7-10): Theories of Rights

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE IN SECTION ON WED., OCT. 8.

Reading Assignment:

For Tuesday: (1) John Locke, "The Second Treatise of Government", Text pp. 71-79.

(2) John Stuart Mill, "Utilitarianism" and "On Liberty", Text pp. 136-146.

For Thursday: (3) John Rawls, Political Liberalism (excerpts from "Fundamental Ideas" and "The Basic Structure as a Subject"), pp. 15-28 and 271-278. [READER I, pp. 23-35]

Week #4 (Oct. 14-17): Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #3 POSTED ON GO-POST SITE FOR YOUR SECTION BY MIDNIGHT ON TUESDAY, OCT. 14.

Reading Assignment:

For Tuesday: (1) American Anthropological Association (1947), "Statement on Human Rights" [READER I, pp. 13-15].

(2) Talbott, Chaps. 3-4. [READER II, pp. 39-86 (plus endnotes)]

(3) American Anthropological Association (1999) "Declaration on Anthropology and Human Rights"

[READER III, pp. 86-87].

Week #5, Part I (Oct. 21--22): Subjective or Objective Universality of Rights?

Reading Assignment: (1) Charles Taylor, ""A World Consensus on Human Rights?", Text pp. 409-422.

(2) Kwasi Wiredu, "An Akan Perspective on Human Rights", Text pp. 298-314.

(3) Dalai Lama, "Human Rights and Universal Responsibility", Text pp. 291-297.

Week #5, Part II (Oct. 23-24): Women's Rights

MIDTERM REVIEW IN SECTION ON FRIDAY, OCT. 24.

Reading Assignment: (1) Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im, "Human Rights in the Muslim World", Text pp. 315-335.

(2) Jan Goodwin, Price of Honor, pp. 43-45, 56-57, 113-116, and 263-270. [READER I, pp. 36-46]

(3) Mary Wollstonecraft, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", Text pp. 101-108.

Week #6 (Oct. 28-31): More on Women's Rights

MIDTERM REVIEW IN LECTURE ON TUESDAY, OCT. 28.

MIDTERM EXAM IN SECTION ON WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29

Reading Assignment: For Tuesday; (1) Talbott, Chapter 5 [READER II, pp. 87-112 (plus endnotes)]

(2) Molly Melching, "You Are an African Woman" speech given at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, November 16, 2000. [READER III, pp. 88-91].

(3) Yael Tamir, "Hands Off Clitoridectomy", Boston Review (1996), pp. 21-22. [READER I, pp. 16-17]

(4) Martha Nussbaum, Jessica Neuwirth, Frances Kamm, and Robert P. George (correspondence), and Yael Tamir (replies), in Boston Review (October-November 1996), pp. 28-32. [READER I, pp. 18-22]

For Thursday: (5) Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, pp. 194-203, 210-225, and notes on pp. 335-343. [READER III, pp. 102-114 (plus endnotes)]

(6) U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), Text pp. 660-668.

Week #7, Part I (Nov. 4-5) Feminist Criticisms of Rights

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #4 DUE IN SECTION ON WED., NOV. 5.

Reading Assignment: (1) Catharine A. MacKinnon, "Rape, Genocide, and Women's Human Rights", Text pp. 526-542.

(2) Arati Rao, "Right in the Home: Feminist Theoretical Perspectives on International Human Rights", Text pp. 505-525. [Note that in the second full paragraph on p. 511, "saneness" should be "sameness"; in the paragraph after the Pateman quote on p. 515, "lights" should be "rights".]

Week #7, Part II (Nov. 6-7): Robust Group Rights?

Reading Assignment: (1) African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Text pp. 359-366.

(2) Draft U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1994), Text pp. 652-657.

(3) James Crawford, "The Rights of Peoples: 'Peoples' or 'Governments'?", Text pp. 427-444.

(4) Will Kymlicka, "The Good, the Bad, and the Intolerable: Minority Group Rights", Text pp. 445-461.

Week #8 and Week #9, Part I (Nov. 12-14 and 18-19): Gay and Lesbian Rights

NO CLASS ON TUESDAY, NOV. 11.

FINAL PROJECT TOPIC APPROVED BY TA BY THE END OF SECTION ON FRIDAY, NOV. 14.

Reading Assignment: (1) Jack Donnelly, "Non-Discrimination and Sexual Orientation", Text pp. 547-573.

(2) Martha C. Nussbaum, "Lesbian and Gay Rights", Text pp. 574-596.

Week #9, Part II (Nov. 20-21): International Enforcement of Human Rights

Reading Assignment: (1) Jamie Mayerfeld, "Who Shall Judge?: The United States, the International Criminal Court, and the Global Enforcement of Human Rights." [READER I, pp. 47-83]

(2) 10-16-2002 U.S. Restates Objections to International Criminal Court.  [READER III, pp. 84-85]

Week #10 (Nov. 25-26) and Week #11 (Dec. 2-5) Objections and Conclusion

DRAFT OF FINAL PROJECT POSTED ON PEER REVIEW BY MIDNIGHT ON MONDAY, NOV. 24.

COMMENT ON TWO DRAFT FINAL PROJECTS IN PEER REVIEW BY MIDNIGHT ON WED., NOV. 26.

NO CLASS ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, NOV. 27-28.

FINAL EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS ON TUESDAY, DEC. 2.

FINAL PROJECTS DUE IN SECTION ON WED., DEC. 3.

COURSE EVALUATION IN LECTURE ON THURSDAY, DEC. 4.

Reading Assignment: (1) Edmund Burke, "Reflections on the Revolution in France", Text pp. 88-94.

(2) Karl Marx, "On the Jewish Question", Text pp. 126-135.

(3) Richard Rorty, "Human Rights, Rationality, and Sentimentality", Text pp. 241-257.

(4) Talbott, Excerpts from Chaps. 8 and 9. [READER II, pp. 166-173, 178-180, and 184-188].