POLb1153 Contemporary Challenges and Political Thought

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Sylvie Bláhová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Bc. Tereza Křepelová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Ján Tomaštík (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Supplier department: Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 10:00–11:40 P21a
Prerequisites
Ability to read scholarly text in English; willingness to participate in in-class discussions.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 16 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The offered course aims to guide students through several selected problems of political thinking, which co-form the framework of current theoretical and practical discussions about politics. We will deal with the way in which modern political (or political-philosophical) terminology is reshaped, through which we describe, understand and evaluate the political reality around us. But we will also look at the answers of political thought to current questions brought about by both political reality and the development of academic debates.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, the student will be able to: understand the distinction between concepts, conceptions, and theories, distinguish between individual theories of the legitimacy of political authority, understand the topic of sovereignty and debates regarding states of emergency, specify the terms liberalism, perfectionism and paternalism, know the basics of the just war theory, orientate in the foundations of debate about political emotions.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction 2. Methodology of political philosophy: How to think about politics? 3. The problem of the state and its authority. State Legitimacy and the Challenge of Anarchism 4. The problem of the state and its authority II. The concept of sovereignty and the challenge of states of emergency 5. Liberalism and perfectionism 6. Freedom and the Challenge of Paternalism; a project of libertarian paternalism 7. Human rights and the challenge of their justification 8. Human rights of the global poor 9. The call of a just war 10. Debate 1 – Right to life versus freedom of decision. Euthanasia - Clash of the Titans 11. Challenge for political thinking: political emotions 11. Debate 2 - the state and the support of art? 13. Political philosophy and political science: Two sides of the same coin?
Literature
    required literature
  • Tasioulas, John 2015. On the Foundations of Human Rights. In Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. Eds. Rowan Cruft, Matthew Liao a Massimo Renzo. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 45-70.
  • Krause, S. R., 2008. Civil Passions: Moral Sentimentalism and Democratic Deliberation. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton UP, 1–26.
  • Pogge, Thomas 2008. Uznávána i porušována mezinárodním právem: lidská práva globálních chudých, in: Marek Hrubec, ed., Sociální kritika v éře globalizace. Praha, Filosofia, s. 179–237.
  • Dworkin, Gerald 1972. Paternalism. The Monist, vol. 56, no. 1, 64-84.
  • Nussbaum, M. C., 2013. Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice. Cambridge and London: Belknap Press, 378–397.
  • Larmore, Charles. 1990. Political Liberalism. Political Theory 18 (3), 339-518.
  • List, Christian et Valentini, Laura 2016. Methodology of political theory. In: Cappelen, Herman, Tamar Gendler a John Hawthorne. The Oxford handbook of philosophical methodology. Oxford: Oxford UP, 525–553.
  • Belling, Vojtěch 2019. Eroze státnosti a krize suverenity v éře postnacionálního vládnutí. Brno: CDK, 247-276
  • Walzer, Michael 2019. Spravedlivé a nespravedlivé války. Praha: Academia, 70-146.
  • George, Robert P. 1993. Individual Rights and Collective Interests. Making Men Moral, Oxford: Oxford UP, 83-109.
  • Petrov, Jan 2020. The COVID-19 emergency in the age of executive aggrandizement: what role for legislative and judicial checks? The Theory and Practice of Legislation, vol. 8, no. 1-2, 71-92.
  • Thaler, Richard H., Sunstein, Cass R. 2010. Nudge (šťouch): jak postrčit lidi k lepšímu rozhodování o zdraví, majetku a štěstí. Zlín: Kniha Zlín, 11-25, 241-257.
  • Swift, Adam and White, Stuart 2008. Political theory, social science, and real politics. In David Leopold & Marc Stears (eds.), Political Theory: Methods and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford UP, 49-69.
  • WENDT, Fabian. Authority. First published. Cambridge: Polity, 2018, 131 stran. ISBN 9781509516988. info
    not specified
  • Hapla, Martin 2020. Teorie lidských práv. In: Filosofie práva. Ed. Tomáš Sobek a Martin Hapla. Brno: Nugis Finem Publishing, 337-364.
Teaching methods
The teaching method will be short lectures followed by seminar discussions (the two parts will not be always strictly separated). Students are encouraged to actively participate by posing questions of clarification and bringing up topics for discussion. They are expected to read the assigned reading(s) for each seminar carefully and prepare their own comments and questions, even if they do not submit a position paper for a given topic. • • Sumary: lectures • in-class discussions • debate contests • reading and analysis of texts (position papers)
Assessment methods
The requirement for successful completion of the course is activity in class, participation in one discussion, writing three preparations and a final group presentation/position paper.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Teacher's information
The literature will be more specifically described in the syllabus in the IS study materials.
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