Human Rights, Ethics, and Public Policy
Philosophy 6290
Spring Semester 2017
Meetings: M, W 6:10-8:00 pm
Place: Rome Hall 561
Dr. Robert Paul Churchill
Introduction: This is a graduate seminar deigned for students in either the M.A. in
Philosophy or the M.A. in Philosophy and Social Policy. It is open to graduate students
in Columbian College, the Elliott School, and the National Law Center. Advanced
undergraduate students may also take the seminar but only with the advance approval of
the professor.
Background Preparation: No prior knowledge of human rights, ethics, or public policy
is required; however, seminar members must be willing to adapt to the expectations for
the successful reading of, discussion of, and reasoning about the required texts and
related subjects. It is also expected that students will make diligent efforts to follow
seminar discussions and to acquire on their own background information that may be
necessary. Everyone should feel free to introduce questions at sessions, no matter how
fundamental they may seem. When preparing assignments outside of class, issues relating
to points not understood can be addressed easily by relying on readily available resources
online such as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, or by consulting with the
professor.
Objectives: The seminar has two main focal points: The first is an intensive examination
of theoretical, conceptual, ethical, logical, and practical aspects of human rights, with a
special emphasis on the ethical justification of human rights and the identification and
defense of universal human rights. Two contemporary, leading texts will be read and
studied for this purpose: On Human Rights by James Griffin, a leading representative of
the naturalist tradition, and Charles Beitz’s The Idea of Human Rights, a leading
representative of the political conception of human rights.
The second focal point relates to the application of human rights logic and norms
in the formulation and implementation of domestic and international public policies. It is
not possible to focus on the application of all aspects of human rights, as there is an
extremely extensive literature on this subject. Consequently, the seminar will take up the
various ways in which possible solutions to two primary and contemporary global
problems are informed by reasoning about human rights, as well as how the failure to
justifiably resolve these problems will result in serious violations of human rights. The
two critical ethical and policy issues concern immigration and climate change, and we
will study Debating the Ethics of Immigration by Christopher Wellman and Philip Cole
as well as Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection by Henry Shue.
Structure and Organization: As a graduate seminar, it is expected that all participants—
faculty and registered students—will contribute to the generation of knowledge in the
seminar. Consequently, everyone must make it a priority to attend every session, to come
having prepared assignments in advance, to participate regularly at sessions, and to
contribute by presenting at seminar meetings. Each of us will take turns preparing a
designated reading assignment for presentation as an argument analysis at a seminar
meeting. The assignment will require preparing a written document to be distributed
electronically and in advance of the session date, an oral reprise of the document at the
meeting, and service as a discussion leader for the seminar meeting. (See Requirements
below for further details.)
As seminar chair, I will present the first argument analysis to model the
procedure. In addition, directions for the preparation of the document will be available in
Blackboard as well as rubrics for evaluating the argument analysis, the argument paper,
the position paper, and your roles as oral presenter and discussant leader.
Although it is typical in graduate seminars to require a research paper (of sorts),
this seminar will not. A single semester is an inadequate period of time to begin and
complete a research paper, especially for seminar participants with no prior familiarity
with ethical issues or human rights theories. In addition, the objectives of this seminar
emphasize analyzing arguments and defending policy recommendations. Hence, in lieu of
a research project, students will be required to complete two 10 to12-page papers on
subjects and issues studied in the seminar or on closely related subjects. (See the
Requirements section below.)
The first paper, to be due about mid-term, will require that you make a
comparative argument in favor of one theory or justification of human rights against
another. This argument paper will require both familiarity with the ideas and arguments
of Griffin and Beitz, but also an additional philosopher on human rights. Well in advance
of the due date for the paper, you will receive a list of additional books and brief
summaries of the arguments of each. Thus you will be required to familiarize yourself
with the central arguments of one additional theorist—either in the naturalist or the
political tradition—and argue for the relative strengths or weaknesses of this author’s
position in comparison and contrast with either Griffin or Beitz’s central argument(s).
The second paper, due at the close of the semester, will involve a different kind of
activity. Designed as a position paper, the second assignment will require you to present
your arguments for policy recommendations in connection with either the problem of
climate justice or immigration, and to show how your recommendations draw upon and
are supported by human rights theories. Thus your second paper will reflect your
understanding of and agreement with either Henry Shue’s arguments on climate justice or
arguments debated by Chris Wellman and Philip Cole on immigration, plus a
demonstration of how your recommendations would be supported by one defensible
theoretical position on human rights, whether that of Griffin or Beitz, or some other
theorist.
It is anticipated that completing both writing assignments well will provide
seminar participants with a platform for vigorous and in-depth pursuit of either
philosophical issues or public policy problems relating to human rights through a variety
of venues: an independent Readings and Research course, an M.A. thesis, a paper for
presentation at an academic conference, a submission to a journal, a internal analysis of
campaign efforts at a major NGO, etc.
Requirements: The major “deliverable” requirements are as follows along with their
relative weights in determining the seminar grade:
1) Argument Analysis: A written argument analysis must be prepared for a class session
as assigned. The Presenter must prepare the written document of approximately 3-5
single-spaced pages two calendar days in advance of the session and distribute via email.
(Documents may be distributed as email attachments through Blackboard). Should a
Presenter have questions or difficulties in preparing the Argument Analysis he or she
may contact me for assistance. Contribution to course grade: 10%
2) Oral Presentation: On the date assigned, the presenter of an argument analysis must
provide an overview of the main points of the Argument Analysis at the seminar session.
The overview should take no more than 15-20 minutes total. The remainder of a 50
minute session will be devoted to serving as a discussion leader by responding at length
to questions posed about the reading assignments for the date as well as the Argument
Analysis, as well as calling on members present for their views. During this period the
professor or seminar chair, will serve as a member of the discussion group. Contribution
to course grade: 10%
3) Argument Paper: The argument paper, as described above, is to be 10-12 doublespaced pages in length. It will be due on the date indicated on the forthcoming Schedule
of Assignments. Contribution to course grade: 35%
4) Position Paper: The position paper, as described above, is to be 10-12 double-spaced
pages in length. It will be due on the date indicated on the forthcoming Schedule of
Assignments. Contribution to course grade: 35%
5) Participation: It is critically important that all seminar participants attend always, that
members contribute to the mission of engaged “ownership” by maintaining an interested,
attentive, engaged, and supportive attitude; that assigned readings be prepared in
advance; that members participate ably at sessions; and that members discharge
responsibilities as presenters or discussants on the panels near the end of the seminar.
Included in calculating the value of participation will be: attendance without excused
absence, engagement and attitude, quality of oral contributions during sessions, quality of
participation on the panel, and finally, self-assessment (See Evaluation below).
Contribution to course grade: 10%
Evaluation: Rubrics for each of the graded assignments will be available in Blackboard.
Be sure to consult the evaluative guidelines for an assignment before undertaking it.
Rubrics may vary significantly from one assignment to the next. Evaluation of your two
papers will be non-standard in higher education but designed to enable students to take
more responsibility for their own learning. Following your submission of each of your
papers, and after notification from me that I have read and assessed a paper, you will be
required to submit to me your own evaluation of each of your papers, using the stated
Rubric, along with a grade and a justification. You will do this before you are informed
of my grade on your paper. If your grade and the one I would assign are roughly within
the same boundaries, that is, we do not disagree by more than a plus or minus, and I agree
with your self-assessment, then you will receive the higher of the two grades. If your
grade and the one I would assign are not roughly within the same boundaries, then you
and I will confer to discuss the differences in evaluation and, following the conference, I
will assign the warranted grade.
Please note that whatever final grade is assigned for a paper, all papers will be
returned with extensive comments by me. In addition, self-evaluation cannot be extended
to the argument analysis, oral presentation, and participation, although I will be happy to
discuss student concerns on evaluation of such work, as well as the papers.
Collaborative Efforts within the Learning Community: We will a collaborative group of
co-learners, exploring subjects together, but also working to promote the learning of each
other. To this end, I am asking all members of the seminar to designate two (2) hours per
week when they will be willing to be available for consultation or assistance on behalf of
other members of the community. Consults of meetings can be held in person, on Skype,
or virtually via the Discussion Board or the Blog Tool that will be activated for our
course in Blackboard. Availability times must be between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm any
day(s) of the week, and may be used for any course-related work: discussing issues,
seeking advice or assistance, asking or answering questions, arranging meetings, brain
storming, reading sections of drafts, etc.
Assistance should be available on a “first come, first served” basis and
respondents will retain the right to defer requests to others should they find it impossible
to respond for any reason. In addition, respondents (those asked for help) need not
provide assistance beyond the designated two hours per week, unless done so on a
voluntary basis. Assistance from me or another seminar member on a paper, even if
significant, will not be considered a violation of the University Code of Academic
Integrity, provided it involves neither plagiarism nor misrepresentation of one’s work.
(Assistance from other’s used within the paper can be cited as a personal interview might
cited, for example.)
Each student should assume responsibility for alerting me should they be having
difficulty in the seminar or encountering extra-curricular difficulties that may
compromise their work in the course. It will be our shared objective to enable everyone
to have the best possible learning experience
Texts:
Charles R. Beitz, The Idea of Human Rights (Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 2011)
James Griffin, On Human Rights (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
2009)
Henry Shue, Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protection (Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press, 2016)
Christopher Heath Wellman and Philip Cole, Debating the Ethics of Immigration (Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011)
Schedule of Assignments (Forthcoming):