Ethics and Social Justice

Fall 2006

 

Professor Martinez-Saenz

Office: Hollenbeck 301

Phone: 937 327 7847

Web page: http://userpages.wittenberg.edu/mmartinezsaenz/

e-mail: mmartinezsaenz@wittenberg.edu

 

Required Texts

Jonathan Glover Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century

Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman

John Rawls Justice as Fairness

 

Course Description

The (apparent) integration of world markets, world political systems and world cultures is being praised by some and denounced by others. In this class we will consider a variety of perspectives related to social justice issues both in a domestic context and in an international context. In order to gain an appreciation of the topics discussed by ethicists concerned with social justice issues our reading and viewing selections will address a wide range of topics including but not limited to the following: Is poverty expanding or diminishing? Is education a public good?  What does “humanity” have to do with any of this? Students will be expected to write three short critical essays, take a midterm exam and a final exam. There will also be short answer quizzes given weekly on the reading assignments. In this class students will be expected to engage in dialogue with me and with each other.

 

Goals and Objectives:

By taking this class, students should 1) gain a basic understanding of some social justice issues 2) gain a greater understanding of the competing ideas and the context in which those ideas developed 3) gain a greater appreciation of the diverse world around them and a greater understanding of the extent to which ideas shape our understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit 4) improve their written and oral communication skills, and hone their critical and analytical skills (such as the ability to distinguish between fact and interpretation) and finally 5) nurture intellectual curiosity and skepticism and enjoy having a supportive audience with which to share ideas.

General Education Credit

Religious and Philosophical Inquiry: Students should gain an understanding of how central questions about reality, knowledge and value are pursued in religious and/or philosophical traditions.

For my take on the importance of philosophical inquiry and critical thinking generally see http://userpages.wittenberg.edu/mmartinezsaenz/Administrative/Whystudyphilosophy.htm

This semester might be a good time to think about meeting your Community Service Requirement. The type of issues and the kinds of conversations we will be having during the semester will, I hope, challenge you to think more deeply about the importance of service.

Community Service: Students should gain an understanding of the role, responsibility and challenge of service in community life through participation, experience and reflection.

4256     CMSV   100 01    Community Service              0.00     
MANDATORY Orientation:
Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2006 5:00-6:15 p.m.
Requirements for CMSV 100:
1) Orientation, 2) 27 hours of direct service (20 hour minimum at 1 site), 3) Mid-term reflection, 4) Final reflection essay, verified service-log and evaluations.

 

Course Requirements:

1.                          Attendance, Participation and Quizzes 25%: This class will not be exclusively a lecture class.  While I will lecture, at least half of the class will be devoted to discussion. This means that students ought to be prepared to discuss the readings, the films or the general topics assigned for the day.  Since participation is an integral part of this class, attendance is required.  Unannounced quizzes will be given periodically to determine if and what students are reading.  These quizzes will require a very short answer to a question related specifically to the text.  If you have not read the assignment for the day please do not try to make up some nonsense.  It will serve you better in the long run to acknowledge your mistake and perform better the next time.

2.                          Critical Reflection Papers (2-3 pages) 25%: grade: Following Adam Smith one of the implicit ideas being thought about this semester, is the role that sympathetic awareness might play in our lives as we try to make sense of the world we inhabit. As Adam Smith reminded us in Theory of Moral Sentiments that “Sympathy originates in the imagination, which alone can make us enter into the sensations of others. … It is only by imagining ourselves in his position, by changing places with him in fancy, by thinking what our own sensations would be in the same plight, that we come to feel what he endures, and to shudder at the mere thought of the agonies be feels…..” With this in mind you will have to write three short papers on the following assignments that tell the reader 1) what you learned about the world, 2) what you learned about others, and 3) what you learned about yourself. There are four options, but you need only pick three. If you do all four I will drop the lowest grade..

a.       Bus Route for a day: You can pick up bus route information at Springfield City Area Transit (SCAT) 100 Jefferson Street

OR the Public Library

b.      Visit the Heritage Center of Clark County (no cost, but donations accepted)

117 South Fountain Ave http://www.heritagecenter.us/museum.cfm

c.       Religious Service (not your own) for a day. You can find the different “Houses of Worship” at http://www4.wittenberg.edu/administration/chapel/worshiphouses.html

d.      Your choice, but be sure to stretch yourself.

 

Due Dates: Papers are due in class.

1st Paper:  September 29, 2006

2nd Paper: November 17, 2006

3rd Paper: December 6, 2006

 

3.                          Mid-term exam 20%: An in class exam will be given on October 13, 2006.  I will explain the format of the exam during the first class session.

4.                          Final Exam 30%: An in class final will be given on December 13, 2006 from 12:00 -3:00 PM..  I will explain the format of the final exam during the first class session.

Course Schedule/Outline

 

8/21       Introduction

1st day Exercise

8/23       Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed Chapter 2

http://www.marxists.org/subject/education/freire/pedagogy/ch02.htm

8/25    Martha Nussbaum “Liberal Education and the Global Community” Liberal Education Winter 2004 http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-wi04/le-wi04index.cfm

 

8/28       Wittenberg’s Mission and Values Statement

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/about/mission.html

8/30    Robert T. Jones“Liberal Education for the Twenty-first Century: Business Expectations” Liberal Education Spring 2005, Volume 91, Number 2

http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-sp05/le-sp05index.cfm

Identity Exercise

9/1         Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman

 

Nietzche’s Challenge

9/4         Labor Day: NO CLASS

9/6         Jonathan Glover Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century pp. 1-44

Einstein Reflection

9/8         continued

 

9/11       Bible Luke 10:37 “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” AND

               Bible Matthew 25:31-46 “Jesus Tells About the Final Judgment”

9/13    Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation “False Promises,” “Epilogue” and “Appendix” E-Reserve                  

9/15       Exercise:  TBA

 

Living Wage: Problem?

9/18       John Rawls Justice as Fairness pp. 1-38

9/20       continued

9/22       Guest Speaker: Karen Reynolds, Director Career Center

 

9/25       John Rawls Justice as Fairness pp. 80-89

9/27    Charles Mills Racial Contract E-Reserve

9/29    Guest Speaker: Marlo Fox

                Reading: “"Using the Hidden Rules of Class to Create Sustainable Communities”

            http://www.ahaprocess.com/Downloads.html

 

 

10/2       Barbara Ehrenreich Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America E-Reserve

               Minimum Wage Exercise

10/4       1st Paper Due: Exercise and Reflection

10/6       TBA

 

Positive Duties versus Negative Duties: Public Education as a Public Good

10/9       Robert Nozick Anarchy, State, and Utopia E-Reserve  (pp. 149-164)

10/11     continued

10/ 13    MIDTERM

 

10/16     FALL BREAK

10/18     John Rawls Justice as Fairness pp. 39-77

10/20     Robert Nozick Anarchy, State, and Utopia E-Reserve  (pp.183-204)

 

10/23     F.A. Hayek Road to Serfdom E-Reserve (pp. 28-48)

10/ 25    continued

               Exercise: Welcome to the Terror Dome

10/27     No Class

 

Human Rights: Absolutist, Universalist or Skeptic

10/30     Discussion of Hotel Rwanda

11/1       Jonathan Glover Humanity ‘Tribalism” pp. 119-152

Biography Exercise

11/3       Glover continued

              

 

11/6       Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

11/8    Thomas Pogge World Poverty and Human Rights “Human Flourishing and Universal Justice” E-Reserve

11/10     Pogge continued

               Narrative Exercise

 

11/13     Jonathan Glover Humanity

               “On the Recent Moral History of Humanity” pp. 401-414.

11/15     Margaret Walker Moral Contexts “Human Conditions” E-Reserve

11/17  2nd Paper Due and Reflection

 

11/20  NO CLASS

11/22  NO CLASS

 

Moral Universals and a Core Curriculum

 

11/27     Kwasi Wiredu Cultural Universals and Particulars “Are there cultural universals?”

               E-Reserve (pp. 21-33)

11/29      Chandra Talpade Mohanty Feminism without Borders “Under Western Eyes Revisited:     Feminist Solidarity through anti-capitalist Struggles” E-Reserve (pp. 221-251)

12/1       Exercise: TBA

 

12/4       Martha Nussbaum Cultivating Humanity “The New Liberal Education” E-Reserve         

               (pp. 293-301)

12/6       3rd Paper Due and Reflection