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Academic Year 2003/2004

The Idea of Being Free: Morality, Existentialism, Politics, Equality
GOVT 394 SP

We all want to be free. Or do we? What is it we want to be free from and free to when we want to be free? And do we really have a choice, or are we bound to be free? Do we want to be free from the deterministic laws of nature and could we, if we wanted to? Do we want to be free from the demands of morality and the laws of the state? Or can we, on the contrary, be free only under the laws of morality and the state? Is freedom acting in accordance with reason or being free from reason? And what about the relationship between freedom and equality, do they contradict or rather presuppose each other? In this course we will examine questions such as these on the basis of texts from the fields of philosophy, political theory, theology and literature.

MAJOR READINGS

Luther, ¿The Freedom of a Christian Man¿
Dostoevsky, ¿The Grand Inquisitor¿
Kant, THE GROUNDING OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS
Christine Korsgaard, THE SOURCES OF NORMATIVITY
EXISTENTIALISM: FROM DOSTOEVSKY TO SARTRE, ed. W. Kaufmann (texts by Kierkegaard and Sartre)
Liberty, ed. D. Miller (texts by Berlin, Taylor, Arendt, Hayek)
P.F. Strawson, ¿Freedom and Resentment¿
Pettit, REPUBLICANISM: A THEORY OF FREEDOM AND GOVERNMENT
Parijs, REAL FREEDOM FOR ALL: WHAT (IF ANYTHING) CAN JUSTIFY CAPITALISM?
Amartya Sen, DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

It is strongly recommended that students have some background in social or political theory or philosophy -- from Govt., Soc., Hist., Philos., Rel., CSS, or COL.
The readings listed above are examples of the kinds of texts that will be used. Final selection of texts has not yet been made. Please check with instructor for more up-to-date information.

Spaces during drop/add will first be filled from the electronic wait list.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA GOVT    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Rostboll,Christian F.   
Times: ..T.... 01:10PM-04:00PM;     Location: PAC413
Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 12)
SR. major: 3   Jr. major: 3
SR. non-major: 3   Jr. non-major: 3   SO: X   FR: X

Special Attributes:
Curricular Renewal:    Ethical Reasoning, Writing
Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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