PHIL350 - Distant Suffering and the Needs of Strangers: The Ethics of Humanitarianism

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Academic Year 2000/2001

Distant Suffering and the Needs of Strangers: The Ethics of Humanitarianism
PHIL 350 SP

Contemporary humanitarianism is premised on the belief that acute human suffering demands a response reaching across international boundaries. What are the grounds for this belief, and what does it entail? This seminar explores what responses are owed to persons facing famine, natural disaster, ethnic conflict, or persecution by their national governments. In particular, we will consider ethical questions posed by recent crises in Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan and elsewhere. Ideas such as cosmopolitanism, the sovereign nation-state, human rights and genocide are taking on radically new dimensions in the post-Cold War world. In the contemporary context of globalization, burgeoning ethnic conflicts and new kinds of warfare, how should we assess our ethical obligations with respect to the needs and suffering of distant strangers? Topics to be discussed include theories of moral obligation to others; issues of patriotism versus cosmopolitanism; theories of state sovereignty, international right and the ethic s of intervention; ethical dimensions of current types of response to humanitarian crises (i.e., armed intervention, war crimes tribunals, famine relief); the problem of "'dirty hands"' and unintended consequences in interventions; and the ways in which ethical responses are shaped by media depictions of distant suffering. These issues will be discussed with reference to case studies of recent humanitarian crises and interventions. Students will be expected to learn about and keep abreast of current international affairs and to read current on-line journalism as assigned.

MAJOR READINGS

News items, articles, and books such as:
Philip Gourevitch, WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES
Stanley Hoffman, THE ETHICS AND POLITICS OF HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION
Michael Ignatieff, THE WARRIOR'S HONOR: ETHNIC WAR AND THE MODERN CONSCIENCE
Jonathan Moore, ed., HARD CHOICES: MORAL DILEMMAS IN HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION
Martha Nussbaum, FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY: DEBATING THE LIMITS OF PATRIOTISM
T. Weiss and C. Collins, HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES AND INTERVENTION

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly response papers (1-2 pp.), midterm paper (5-8 pp.), final paper (12-15 pp.)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This is an advanced undergraduate seminar, hence students must have sufficient background in ethics and/or political philosophy to be capable of participating in high-level discussion.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS PHIL Grading Mode: Graded

Prerequisites: PHIL212 OR GOVT338 OR GOVT339

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Brender,Natalie Gail

Times: .M..... 07:00PM-10:00PM; Location: RUSLSEM

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 15)

SR. major: 6 Jr. major: 5

SR. non-major: 3 Jr. non-major: 2 SO: X FR: X

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Ethical Reasoning, Writing

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001