POL506 Study of Human Rights

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 9 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jan Holzer, Ph.D.
Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 U41
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to: distinguish between ancient and modern natural right and natural law tradition; understand the the origins and the development of the concept of human (subjective, natural) rights; interpret main watersheds in the history of human rights and interpret legal development in the Eastern Europe; distinguish between different schools of legal theory in their relation to the concept of human rights; understand and explain main issues of jurisprudence concerning human rights (human dignity, liberty, equality, discrimination); interpret crucial decisions of Czech Constitutional Court on the basis of Czech legal system; consider current critiques of rights talk or attacks on the very notion of rights
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to Human Rights Studies
  • I. Part – Genesis and Development of Human Rights
  • 2. Ancient and Moderns. Premodern Sources of Modern Legal Concepts. Literature: Wolterstorff, Nicholas 2007. Justice: Rights and Wrongs. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 21-43
  • 3. Origin of the Subjective (Natural) Rights. Literature: Oakley, Francis 2005. Natural Law, Laws of Nature, Natural Rights: Continuity And Discontinuity in the History of Ideas. London: Continuum, 87-109, Tierney, Brian 1997. The Idea of Natural Rights: Studies on Natural Rights, Natural Law, and Church Law 1150 – 1625. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 43- 58.
  • 4. Development of Liberal Tradition of Rights (From Hobbes Through Enlightment to Nineteen Century). Literature: Edmundson, William A. 2004. An Introduction to Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 15-40, 61-85.
  • 5. Nacism and Universal Declaration of Human Rights: from the Dominance od Legal Positivism to Renaissance of Natural Law. Literature: Glendon, Mary Ann 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Paperback). New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 173-191, 235-241. Constitutional Court Judgment File no. Pl. ÚS 14/94, N 14/3 SbNU 73, web page: http://nalus.usoud.cz.
  • 6. Legal Transformation in Eastern Europe. What is Law? Arguments in Czech Legal Discourse. Literature: Constitutional Court Judgment File no. sp. zn. Pl. ÚS 19/93, N 1/1 SbNU 1, web page: http://nalus.usoud.cz. Wagnerová, Eliška 2009. „Základní práva“. In: Bobek, Michal, Molek, Pavel, Šimíček, Vojtěch (eds.) 2009. Komunistické právo v Československu – Kapitoly z dějin bezpráví. Brno: MPÚ MU, 330-363.
  • II. part – Current Debates on Human Rights. Big Issues of Jurisprudence.
  • 7. Natural Law and Legal Positivism - Current Debates. Literature: Murphy, Mark C. 2007. Philosophy of Law. The Fundamentals. Oxford: Blackwell, 14-45.
  • 8. Reading Weak.
  • 9. Human Dignity in Legal Discourse. What is Man? Literatura: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). On-line text: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=410&invol=113
  • 10. Liberty and Equality. Dicrimination and Law. Literature: Kühn, Zdeněk 2006. „Diskriminace v teoretickém a srovnávacím kontextu.“ In: Rovnost a diskriminace. Eds. Michal Bobek, Pavla Boučková, Zdeněk Kühn. Praha: C.H. Beck, 33-68. Mahlmann, Matthias 2006. „The Antinomy of Freedom and Equality.“ In: Abuse: The Dark Side of Fundamentals Rights. Ed. Andras Sajó. Utrecht: Eleven International Publishing, 217-232.
  • 11. Universalism versus Particularism: Cultural Relativity of Human Rights ? Literature: Glendon, Mary Ann 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Paperback). New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 221-233. Habermas, Jürgen 2008. „K legitimizaci prostřednictvím lidských práv.“ In: Interkulturní dialog o lidských právech. Západní, islámské a konfuciánské perspektivy. Ed. Marek Hrubec. Praha: Filosofia, 113-133 (21 stran).
  • 12. Rights Talk: Dark Side of Human Rights. Diskurs lidských práv: temné stránky lidských práv. Literature: Glendon, Mary Ann 1991. Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse. New York: Free Press, ix-xiii, 1-17 (23 stran).
  • 13. Conclusion and test.
Literature
  • Edmundson, William A. 2004. An introduction to rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Glendon, Mary Ann 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Paperback). New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.
  • Murphy, Mark C. 2007. Philosophy of Law. The Fundamentals. Oxford: Blackwell.
Teaching methods
theoretical preparation, lectures, seminary essay
Assessment methods
Essay in the run of the semestr; written test, at least 60 % points
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2010/POL506