Syllabus/achievement requirements

Achievement Requirements

Knowledge:

The students will have good knowledge of:

• The concept of rights and its role in normative reasoning in moral and political philosophy
• Different ways of justifying human rights
• Different philosophical approaches to the concept of human rights, and the debate over these approaches
• Questions concerning the legitimacy of human rights and the international human rights system
• Different debates in the philosophy of human right, notably concerning the conflict of rights, the feasibility of human rights, gender and human rights and the relation between human rights and relativism

Skills and general competence:

The students are expected to be able to:

• Critically relate to and discuss, both orally and in writing, current debates in the philosophy of human rights
• Write an essay with a clear argumentative structure which critically and analytically discusses questions in the philosophy of human rights

Literature

Introductory literature

James Nickel 2007: Making Sense of Human Rights, 2nd Edition. Malden, MA, Blackwell Publishing

Main literature

Books:

• Charles Beitz 2009, The Idea of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, (212 pages) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oslo/detail.action?docID=472202
• Shue, H. (1996). Basic rights : Subsistence, affluence, and U.S. foreign policy (2nd ed.). Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Ch 1-4 (95 pages)

Articles/ book chapters:

Articles and extracts from books marked with an asterisk (*) are available in a compilation of texts (kompendium) which can be purchased from Akademika Jus bookstore located next to the the faculty building of Domus Juridica). Also available online here.

• Buchanan, Allen 2013, The Heart of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, ch 2 + 5: 50-84,; 173-223 (85 pages) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199325382.001.0001/acprof-9780199325382
• Buchanan, Allen 2015, ¡°Why International Legal Human Rights?¡± in  Rowan Cruft, S. Matthew Liao, and Massimo Renzo eds. Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, 2015: 244-262 (19 pages) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.001.0001/acprof-9780199688623-chapter-14
• Feinberg, Joel,. "The Nature and Value of Rights." The Journal of Value Inquiry 4, no. 4 (1970): 243-60. (18 pages) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00137935
• Gilabert, Pablo. "THE FEASIBILITY OF BASIC SOCIOECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS: A CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION." The Philosophical Quarterly 59, no. 237 (2009): 659-681 (23 p) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9213.2008.590.x
• James Griffin, 2009, On Human Rights, Oxford University Press, ch. 2-3 (53 pages) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238781.001.0001/acprof-9780199238781
• Hart, H.L.A. 1979 (a)  ¡°Utilitarianism and natural rights¡±,  Tulane Law Review, Vol. 53, Issue 3 , pp. 663-680 (17 p) https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=true&handle=hein.journals/tulr53&div=30&start_page=663&collection=journals&set_as_cursor=11&men_tab=srchresults
• Kamm, F.M. (2007) Intricate Ethics, chapter 8 section C: 262-275 (14 p) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.001.0001/acprof-9780195189698
• Luban, David ¡°Human Rights Pragmatism and Human Dignity¡±, in  Rowan Cruft, S. Matthew Liao, and Massimo Renzo eds. Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, 2015: 263-278 (16 pages) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.001.0001/acprof-9780199688623-chapter-15
• Hardin, Russell. Morality within the Limits of Reason. Chicago, Ill: U of Chicago, 1988, chapter 1, ¡ì 5 and chapter 3, ¡ì 16, pp: 14-18 + 77-83 (15 p).*
• Mill, John Stuart, 1861. Utilitarianism, ch. 5 (20 p). Several editions can be used, see for example: https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/mill-the-collected-works-of-john-stuart-mill-volume-x-essays-on-ethics-religion-and-society
• Nussbaum, M. (1999). Sex & social justice. New York: Oxford University Press. Introduction and chapter 1. 1 (52 pages) TO BE MADE AVAILABLE
• O¡¯Neill, Onora .¡°Women¡¯s rights, whose obligations?¡± in O'Neill, Onora. Bounds of Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 97-112. (16 p) *
• O¡¯Neill, Onora. ¡°Justice, Gender and International Boundaries¡± in British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct., 1990), pp. 439-459 (20 p) https://www.jstor.org/stable/193805?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Okin, Susan Moller. "Feminism, Women's Human Rights, and Cultural Differences." Hypatia 13, no. 2 (1998): 32-52. (21 p) https://www.jstor.org/stable/3810636?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Raz, Joseph 2010, ¡°Human Rights without Foundations¡±, In J. Tasioulas & S. Besson (eds.), The Philosophy of International Law. Oxford University Press (2010),: 321-337  (17 pages)*
• Raz, Joseph. (1988). The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Clarendon. Ch. 7. p. 165-192, (28 pages) https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0198248075.001.0001/acprof-9780198248071
• Waldron, Jeremy. "Rights in Conflict." Ethics 99, no. 3 (1989): 503-19. (17 pages) https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086%2F293094
• Wenar, Leif. "The Nature of Rights." Philosophy & Public Affairs 33.3 (2005): 223-52. Web. (31 p) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2005.00032.x

Main literature: 791 pages

Supporting literature

• Buchanan Allen 2013, The Heart of Human Rights, Oxford University Press; the parts of the book not on the reading list https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199325382.001.0001/acprof-9780199325382
• Cohen, Joshua. 2004, ¡°Minimalism About Human Rights: The Most We Can Hope For?¡±, The Journal of Political Philosophy 12 (2): 190-213 (24 p) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2004.00197.x
• Griffin, James 2009, On Human Rights, Oxford University Press? the parts of the book not on the reading list https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238781.001.0001/acprof-9780199238781
• Hardin, Russell. Morality within the Limits of Reason. Chicago, Ill: U of Chicago, 1988, chapters 1, 3 and 4
• Hart, H. L. A. "Are There Any Natural Rights?" The Philosophical Review 64, no. 2 (1955): 175-91. (17 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/2182586?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Hart, H. L. A. "Between Utility and Rights." Columbia Law Review 79, no. 5 (1979 b): 828-46. (19 p) https://www.jstor.org/stable/1121909?sid=primo&origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Kamm, F.M. (2007) Intricate Ethics, chapters 7-9 https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.001.0001/acprof-9780195189698
• Lafont, Cristina. "Sovereignty and the International Protection of Human Rights." Journal of Political Philosophy 24, no. 4 (2016): 427-45. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/jopp.12086
• Liao, S. Matthew and Etinson, Adam 2012: "Political and Naturalistic Conceptions of Human Rights: A False Polemic?", Journal of Moral Philosophy, Volume 9, Issue 3, pages 327 ¨C 352 https://brill.com/view/journals/jmp/9/3/article-p327_3.xml
• Matthew Liao, S. "Human Rights as Fundamental Conditions for a Good Life." Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. Oxford UP, 2015. Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, Chapter 3. Web. https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.001.0001/acprof-9780199688623-chapter-4
• Mackie, J. L. "CAN THERE BE A RIGHT©\BASED MORAL THEORY?" Midwest Studies In Philosophy 3, no. 1 (1978): 350-59 (10 pages) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-4975.1978.tb00366.x
• Raz, Joseph. (1988). The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Clarendon. Ch. 8 https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0198248075.001.0001/acprof-9780198248071
• Shue, H. (1996). Basic rights : Subsistence, affluence, and U.S. foreign policy (2nd ed.). Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press? the parts of the book not on the reading list
• Tasioulas, John. "Towards a Philosophy of Human Rights." Current Legal Problems 65 (2012): 1-30. https://academic.oup.com/clp/article/65/1/1/356892
• Teson, Fernando R. "International Human Rights and Cultural Relativism." Virginia Journal of International Law 25, no. 4 (1985): 869-898. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?lname=&public=false&collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/vajint25&men_hide=false&men_tab=toc&kind=&page=869
• Sen, Amartya. "Elements of a Theory of Human Rights." Philosophy & Public Affairs 32.4 (2004): 315-56. Web. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557992?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Tasioulas, John 2017, ¡°Exiting the hall of mirrors. Morality and law in human rights¡± in Campbell, Tom D., and Kylie Bourne. London: Routledge, 2018. (16 p) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2915307