PL 136 - SYLLABUS FALL 2004

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Week 1�Introduction

W, Sep. 8�Philosophy and the Post-War era

Readings:

Russell, "The Value of Philosophy" (R)

Week 2�The Moral Question of the Bomb

M, Sep. 13�Background--moral questions and the rules of war

W, Sep. 15�Hiroshima and nuclear deterrence

Readings:

Walzer, Preface; Chs. 2, 3, 16

Rawls, "Hiroshima: 50 Years Later" (R)

Week 3�"Evil" Totalitarianism

M Sep. 20�1984

W Sep. 22�The world of 1984

Readings:

Orwell, 1984

Week 4�Humanistic Marxism

M. Sep. 27�Marxism and the human condition

W. Sep. 29��Marx: labor, private property, production

Readings:

Fromm, pp. v-x; 1-69; 93-109; 127 (2), (3)

Weeks 5-6-7-8�The Meaning of Life, Meaninglessness, Post-War Despair

M. Oct. 4�Existentialism

W. Oct. 6�Freedom

Readings:

Sartre, pp. 9-51, 52-60

M. Oct. 11� Absurdity and the traveling man

W. Oct. 13� The Loman family

Readings:

Miller, Death of a Salesman

M. Oct. 18� No class - mid-semester break

W. Oct. 20� MIDSEMESTER EXAM

M. Oct. 25� Meursault and Sisyphus

W. Oct. 27��� The Stranger

Readings:

Camus, The Stranger; "The Myth of Sisyphus" (R)

Weeks 9-10�Law, Authority, and the Individual

M. Nov. 1� Justice and the sources of legal obligation

W. Nov. 3� When is breaking the Law "justified"?

M. Nov. 8 � What do we owe to each other (if anything)?

W. Nov. 10�� Selfishness

Readings:

King, �Letter from Birmingham Jail� (R)

Rawls, "Legal Obligation and the Duty of Fair Play " (R)

Rawls, " The Justification of Civil Disobedience" (R)

Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, 1, 3, 4, 12, 14

Week 11����Law and Social Change

M. Nov. 15� How can laws change society?

W. Nov. 17� Sex discrimination as an example

Readings:

Civil Rights Act (1964); Title IX Higher Education Amendments (1972) (R)

Virginia Black, �The Erosion of Legal Principles in the Creation of Legal Policies� (R)

Jane English, �Sex Equality in Sports� (R)

Weeks 12-13 �� Just and Unjust Wars

M. Nov. 22�� The crime of war; The rules of war

W. Nov. 24�� No class -Thanksgiving break

M Nov. 29������ The justification of victory

W. Dec. 1� The moral status of noncombatants; guerrilla wars

Readings:

Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, Chs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 19 (pp. 309-16)

Week 14 ��"Good" Totalitarianism

M. Dec. 6� Walden Two and the science of behavior

W. Dec. 8�Utopia

Reading:

Skinner, Walden Two

FINAL EXAM

USEFUL WEB SITES:

On plagiarism:

http://www.colby.edu/library/research/instruction/plagstudents.shtml

Online philosophy encyclopedia:

http://www.rep.routledge.com