Go to current week in current schedule
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Date |
Topics,
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M, 1/9 |
Introduction to the Course
Introduction to the course and
student introductions. Overview of some of the main
ethical issues to be explored in this course and relation to the current war. |
Consult
the resource below if you need a review of basic ethical concepts and
theories. Introduction to Ethics
(background for this course) This
material is for my basic Ethics course, so some of the introductory material
is referring to that course. HTML
version (You may find this useful
for using links from the table of contents or using search function even
after you have hard copy.) |
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W, 1/11 |
First Responses to 9/11
Some contrasting views of the
significance of September 11 and the "war on terrorism." |
First responses to 9/11 (Word file)
(Best
for printing out. |
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F, 1/13 |
Morality and war
Walzer's Preface is interesting as a clue to his (somewhat unusual)
method. Can we make moral judgments
about issues of war? In |
Main reading: Walzer, PREFACE and CHAPTER 1 Study aids:
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W, 1/18 and |
Who is the enemy and why do they hate us?Is this a "religious
war" and, if so, what are the warring parties? Is it an issue of Islam
or of certain trends in all religions? Or is there a hatred of Bonus assignment (helpful for later assignment 3 below)
Optional: Finish discussion of Chapter 1
(from last Friday) |
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M, 1/23 |
Just War and Rules IN War
MAIN TOPIC FOR CLASS
DISCUSSION: Introduction to the two main question in the ethics of war: 1) which wars are just? 2) what conduct is acceptable
in any war, just or unjust? These two chapters in Walzer
introduce these topics. As Walzer says, chapter 2 anticipates the more
detailed treatment in PART 2 (chapters 4-7) and chapter 3 anticipates the
more detailed treatment in PART 3 (chapters 8-11). Discussion
Questions for Walzer through chapter 3 (same as at 1/13 above) |
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W, 1/25 and |
Ethics of nationalism
This is a very important
chapter in Walzer because it sets out his view of why nations have rights on
the analogy of individuals having rights in a society. It is because nations
have a right to exist that aggression is a moral crime. Since the extent and limits of
nationalism is a central moral problem, we will be referring often to
Walzer's analysis here. It is relevant to conflicts such as the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Indian-Pakistani conflict, and others. Walzer - chapter 4: the legalist paradigm
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M, 1/30 |
When is it morally acceptable or preferred to adjust to powerWe discussed the last part
of Walzer, chapter 4, relating his criteria for appeasement to issues in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. |
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W, 2/1 No class F, 2/3 (but we might also consider banking some free Fridays for the later in the term when we feel most pressured) |
Striking First: The Morality of Preemptive WarWhen is it morally
acceptable to strike first? How would Walzer's criteria apply to the |
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M, 2/6 and |
Finish discussion applying Walzer to
Interventions
Walzer, rest of chapter 6, plus these links: The password to ERes is available on the CTools site (or ask me) |
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F, 2/10 |
Luban vs. Walzer on national sovereignty
versus intervention to protect human rights
Finish discussion of chapter 6, then:
Above articles also distributed in class Wednesday, 2/8 ASSIGNMENT 4: draft due Monday in class; final copy due (wanted) Wednesday. (Since I originally said Friday, Ill accept it Friday without penalty.) |
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W, 2/15 |
Late change of plans: Prof.
Stockton had emergency and needs to postpone lecture to Friday. We
will discuss: >
Luban vs Walzer (continued) >"Clash
of Civilizations" and the Cartoon Controversy READING/LISTENING: BBC panel on cartoons (mp3)
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F, 2/17 |
Guest
lecture on Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prof. Ronald Stockton
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M, 2/20 and |
Ethics
and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Discussion on Prof. Stocktons talk and my essay (reading for today) (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~elias/zionism.final.htm) Also available via CTools, Resources. ASSIGNMENT 5 (final accepted until Wednesday): Type up one interesting line of thought in relation to the essay, Zionism, Nationalism, and Morality. Cite page numbers from the essay. The line of thought can be a criticism, an elaboration, a connection to Walzer and the ethics of nationalism, etc. Be prepared to share it with the class. Standard: 10 points. For extra points (bonus credit): develop a line of thought for each of the three main sections of the essay; i.e., the treatment of each of the 3 criticisms of Zionism or, in place of one of them, a response to the very last section of the essay. "Clash
of Civilizations" and the Cartoon Controversy READING/LISTENING: Probably
some additional articles ASSIGNMENT 6: Taking into account the assigned material, respond to this question: what do you regard as the most important lesson to be drawn from the cartoon controversy? You may want to find other articles. Attach them or include web addresses. |
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M, 3/6 |
What are the legitimate
ENDS of a just war? What
should be the goal of our intervention in Iraq? In war on terrorism? Walzer,
chapter 7: What are the legitimate ends
of a war? Consider:
how does this apply to our current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq |
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What
are the limits of what one may do in a just war? Is terrorism ever justified? Or torture of suspected terrorists? |
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W, 3/8 |
Rights and utility and the treatment of civilians READING:
Walzer, chapter 8 and chapter 9 to page 143. |
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F, 3/10 |
READING:
Walzer, chapter 9, pp. 144-159. (See study guide above) How much risk must soldiers take upon themselves to prevent harming innocent civilians? Walzers notion of due care. (Should we be proud that no American soldiers died during our intervention in Kosovo?) |
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M, 3/13 |
Midterm
test. Study guide. |
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