political science 404/ 511                                                           

 

         RECOGNITION  &  IDENTITY  in  FEMINISM  & MULTICULTURALISM:

 

                                                 Nussbaum,  Taylor, &  Kymlicka

 

 

Don Carmichael                                                                                                  Tues evenings,   6-9 pm  

Phone: 492‑5390                                                                                                   First Term,  1999-2000  

e-mail: Don.Carmichael@ualberta.ca

 

 

 

 

                                                                Course Outline

 

This course will be a seminar on some issues of recognition and identity in feminism and multiculturalism --- drawing particularly on some recent works by Martha Nussbaum, Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka..

 

The course will be conducted as a seminar.  Students will be expected to contribute actively in discussions and the seminar will be organized around the presentation of student papers.

 

Two short seminar papers (5‑7 pp) will be required during the term, plus a somewhat longer paper at the end of the term.  There will be ample choice of topics for all essays. Students will also be expected to prepare brief digests (1‑2 pp) of the major readings each week.  (This may be replaced by pop quizzes)

 

 

Grades*       Essays: (3 @ equal weight)           80%

Commentary                               10%

Oral contributions                        10%

 

*The reading digests ‑‑ which must be submitted each week before the seminar ‑‑ will be graded only as satisfactory/ unsatisfactory.   But they are a necessity and marks will be deducted from the final grade (up to two stanines) for missing digests.

 

 

Graduate Students:   The course will be taught as a combined undergraduate (411) and graduate (511) course.  Graduate students will not be expected to do extra work: they will be expected to do the same work better.

 

 

Texts             Kymlicka,   Multicultural Citizenship

Taylor,    Multiculturalism (Ed gutmann) 

Supplementary Readings for Political Science 404/511 (a course pack)

 

 

Office Hours:   Wednesday afternoons (2:15 - 4:00) and by appointment

 


 

 

Essay Requirements

 

All essays should be terse, analytical, and "positional" ‑‑ arguing a definite thesis in relation to some aspect of the readings.  Students are encouraged to develop their own views in these essays ‑‑ eg, by contesting a specific claim made in the readings, or by arguing a rival thesis on the topic, or (in certain cases) by writing a critical response to a fellow student in the seminar.  The only requirement is that the  essay argue a specific and explicitly stated thesis  ("In this essay I will argue that... ")

 

 

 

 

                                                         TOPICS & READINGS  

 

The readings listed below are required for each date. Recommended Readings for various topics are listed at the end, along with contact numbers for members of the seminar.

 

 

Sept 21 B Nussbaum 1: Judging other Cultures, Judging other Persons

 

Nussbaum, AJudging Other Cultures@  (Readings, pp 151-156)

Nussbaum - Wolf, AHuman Capabilities, Female Human Beings@  (Readings, 123-150)

Nussbaum, AWhether from Reason or Prejudice@  (Readings, pp 206-214)

 

 

Sept 28 B Nussbaum 2: Feminism and Liberalism

 

Nussbaum, AEquity and Mercy@  (Readings, pp 157-178)

Nussbaum, AConstructing Love, Desire and Care@  (Readings, pp 179-190)

Nussbaum, AThe Feminist Critique of Liberalism@  (Readings, pp 191-205)

 

 

Oct.  5  B  Nussbaum 3:  Feminism, Aristotle and Philosophy

 

Nussbaum - Lutz,  AEmotions and Women=s Capabilities@  (Readings, pp 85-105)

Nussbaum - Hurley, ANon-Relative Virtues@  (Readings, pp 106-122)

 

 

Oct. 12 B  Taylor 1: The Politics of Recognition

 

Multiculturalism, pp 25-103 (Taylor + comments by Wolf, Rockefeller and Walzer)

 

 

Oct. 19 B  Taylor 2: Other Perspectives

 

Multiculturalism, pp3-23 (Gutmann), and pp 107-163 (Habermas, Appiah)

Nussbaum, APatriotism and Cosmopolitanism@  (Readings, pp 1-8)

Response by Putnam, AMust We Choose?@   (Readings, pp 9-12)

 


 

Oct.  26 B Taylor 3: Philosophical Foundations

 

Taylor, Sources of The Self  chs 1-2   (Readings, pp 26-41)

Hegel, AMaster-Servant Dialectic@ (to be distributed)

 

 

Nov.  2 B   Taylor 4: The Conflicts of Modernity

 

Taylor, Sources of The Self  ch 25  (Readings, pp 42-55)

Taylor, AAtomism@   (Readings, pp 13-25)

Hegel, AMaster-Servant Dialectic@ (cont=d)

 

 

Nov.  9 B   Kymlicka 1: Multiculturalism

 

Kymlicka,  Multicultural Citizenship, chs 1-3    

 

 

Nov 16  --  Kymlicka 2: Liberalism and Multiculturalism

 

Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, chs 4-5

 

 

 

Nov  23 B  Kymlicka 3: Justice and Minorities

 

Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, chs 6-8

 

 

Nov. 30 B  Kymlicka 4: Is Multiculturalism Areally@ a good Thing?

 

Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, chs 9-10

Okin, AIs Multiculturalism Bad for Women?@  (Readings, pp  73-82)

Kymlicka, ALiberal Complacencies@   (Readings, pp  83-84)

 

 

Dec.  7 B   Nussbaum - Taylor

 

Taylor, AExplanation and Practical Reason@  (Readings, pp 56-67)

Nussbaum, Commentary   (Readings, pp 68-72)

 

 

 

Monday, Dec. 13th : Final Paper due

 

 

 

                                SOME RECOMMENDED READINGS  BY TOPIC

 


Taylor:

 

"The New 'Public Order': Within and Above" by Joseph Baldacchino [A review of Taylor's Sources of the Self ]

A Review of Taylor's The Ethics of Authenticity , by Michael Novak (First Things, May 1993)

Don't Think for Yourself Unless You Can by Alan Ryan (a review of The Ethics of Authenticity, NYTBR, September 27, 1992)

A Review of Taylor's Multiculturalism and the "Politics of  Recognition" , by Edward T. Oakes (First Things, April 1993)

Giroux, Henry A , ANational identity and the politics of multiculturalism@, 1995.

http://www.sil.org/humanities/politics/NatIdent.htm

John Kekes, "The Incompatibility of Liberalism and Pluralism," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2 (April, 1992)

 

 

Hegel: Master Servant Dialectic

 

Kojeve, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel

Taylor, Hegel

 

 

Kymlicka

 

Will Kymlicka, Liberalism, Community and Culture

The Rights of Minority Cultures, edited by Will Kymlicka.

Will Kymlicka=s Homepage: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/~philform/news14.htm

Kymlicka, Citizenship, Democracy and Ethnocultural Diversity Newsletter: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/~philform/news14.htm

Kymlicka, ABuilding a modern, pluralist, distinct society in Quebec@: Will Kymlicka's comments on the american debate about Multiculturalism: http://www.mri.gouv.qc.ca/la_bibliotheque/willkym_an.html

Margaret Moore (ed.), National Self-Determination and Secession

Margaret Moore, AThe Limits of Liberal Nationalism," in Brendan O'Leary and George Schopflin (eds.), Understanding Nationalism

Margaret Moore, "On National Self-Determination," Political Studies (vol. 45, no. 5, December 1997).

Margaret Moore,  "Political Liberalism and Cultural Diversity," Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence (vol. VIII, no. 2, July 1995), 297-310.

John Tomasi, "Kymlicka, Liberalism, and Respect for Cultural Minorities," Ethics, Vol. 105, No. 3 (April, 1995), pp. 580-603.

 

 

multiculturalism & identity politics

 

Ben Agger, Cultural Studies as Critical Theory

Larry Blum, "Philosophy and the Values of a Multicultural Community," in Teaching Philosophy, Vol. 14, No. 2 (June, 1991),  pp. 127-34.

Campus Wars: Multiculturalism and The Politics of Difference, ed John Arthur and Amy Shapiro

Henry Giroux, ACurriculum, multiculturalism and the politics of identity@, Nassp Bulletin, Dec 1992.


 

ethnic and cultural diversity

 

Philosophical Forum, Vol. IX, Nos. 2-3 (Winter-Spring, 1977-78): "Philosophy and the Black Experience,"

Philosophical Forum, Vol. XXIV, Nos. 1-3 (Fall-Spring, 1992-93): "African-American Perspectives and Philosophical Traditions,".

Notes on Gender, >>Race,== Ethnicity, as Sources of >>Identity==," The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 87, No. 10 (October, 1990), pp. 493-99 and the commentaries by Lugones and Wartenberg.

 Social Theory and the Politics of Identity, edited by Craig Calhoun

 Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race, by Amy Gutmann and K. Anthony Appiah

 

 

moral conflict and the plurality of moral values

 

Bernard Williams, "Conflicts of Values," Moral Luck, pp. 71-82

Thomas Nagel, "The Fragmentation of Value," Mortal Questions, pp. 128-41.

Stuart Hampshire, "Morality and Conflict," Morality and Conflict,  pp. 140-70.

Steven Lukes, "Making Sense of Moral Conflict," Liberalism and the Moral Life, edited by Nancy L. Rosenblum, pp. 127-42.

John Kekes, "Pluralism and Conflict in Morality," The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. 26 (1992), pp. 37-50.

James D. Wallace, Moral Relevance and Moral Conflict

Richard W. Miller,  Moral Differences: Truth, Justice and Conscience in a World of Conflict

Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson, Democracy and Disagreement