Huron University College
Department of Philosophy

Ethics
Topic: “Social Justice and Social Identity”
Philosophy 362E

Instructor: Steve D'Arcy
E-mail Address: sdarcy@uwo.ca
Telephone: (519) 438-7224 ext. 606
Office Hours: Mondays and Thursdays 3pm to 4pm, Room A303 (HUC)
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Course Description

Theories of social justice attempt to articulate what it means to treat all citizens as equals.  For many years, after the publication in 1971 of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice, this problem was taken by most philosophers to be interchangeable with the problem of fairness in the distribution of the benefits and burdens of social co-operation, that is, distributive justice.  In recent years, however, the notion of equality, as a requirement of social justice, has been construed more broadly, to encompass other matters, including due recognition of cultural and gender differences, the right of citizens to be protected from laws and social policies that effectively humiliate them, and the importance of universal access to the conditions needed to sustain a sense of self-respect.  In the first term, we look at several of the major contributions to the debate over distributive justice; in the second term we turn our attention to more recent interpretations that give as much importance to questions of social identity as they do to economic distribution.

Course Readings

1.	John Rawls. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001). Available at the Bookstore.
2.	Course Pack for Philosophy 362E.  Available at INPRINT, U.C.C. (not at the Bookstore).
3.	Prior to the second term, a second Course Pack will be made available at INPRINT.

Course Requirements

1. First Term Test
Worth 20% of final grade
Written in class, October 22, 2003

2. First Term Minor Essay
Worth 20% of final grade
Due on December 1, 2003; 3% per weekday lateness penalty
Between 5 and 6 pages, double-spaced

3. Second Term Major Essay
Worth 30% of final grade
Due on March 1, 2004; 3% per weekday lateness penalty
Between 8 and 10 pages, double-spaced and typed 

4. Final Examination
Worth 30% of final grade
Written as scheduled in the year-end examination period
A Note on Plagiarism:
All students are responsible for understanding the nature of plagiarism, and preventing its occurrence in work submitted by them.  Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another writer's words or ideas.  Whenever you make use of the words and/or ideas of another writer, this must be explicitly acknowledged and documented in an academically appropriate format.  If you are unsure about how to avoid plagiarism, consult the instructor.  Plagiarism may result in the imposition of scholastic discipline, up to and including expulsion from the University.  Please note that electronic (and other) plagiarism detection methods will be used in this course.

Further Notes: 
•	This Outline is subject to change, given sufficient prior notice.  
•	Each student is responsible for ensuring that he or she has successfully completed all course prerequisites and has not taken any antirequisite course.  Lack of prerequisites may not be used as a basis of appeal.  If you are not eligible for a course, you may be removed from it at any time, and you will receive no fee adjustment.  These decisions cannot be appealed.
•	The following web site directs students to resources related to the course:  geocities.com/s_j_darcy

Ethics: Social Justice and Social Identity

Tentative Reading Schedule:

First Term: Theories of Distributive Justice
September 8, 10: Introduction to the course
September 15, 17: Karl Marx, “Critique of the Gotha Progamme”
September 22, 24: John Rawls, “A Kantian Conception of Equality”
Sept. 29; Oct. 1, 6, 8, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29; Nov. 3, 5: John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A 
Restatement
November 10, 12: Robert Nozick, “Distributive Justice” (from Anarchy, State, and Utopia)
November 17, 19: Michael Walzer, “Complex Equality”
November 24, 26: Ronald Dworkin, “What Justice Isn’t”
December 1, 3: Susan Okin, “Political Liberalism, Gender and Justice”

Second Term: Social Justice and Social Identity
January 5, 7: Introduction to the second term
January 12, 14: Ian Hacking, “Making Up People”
January 19, 21: W.E.B. DuBois, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”
January 26, 28: Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Febrary 2, 4: Howard McGary, “Physical Violence, Psychological Violence, and Racial
Oppression" 
Febrary 9, 11: Marilyn Frye, “Sexism”; Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A
Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s 
Studies”
February 16, 18: Iris Marion Young, “Displacing the Distributive Paradigm”
February 23-27: <no classes>
March 1, 3: Avishai Margalit, The Decent Society [excerpt]
March 8, 10: Avishai Margalit, “Decent Equality and Freedom”
March 15, 17: Charles Taylor, “The Politics of Recognition”
March 22, 24: Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Identity, Authenticity, Survival: Multicultural Societies
and Social Reproduction”
March 29, 31: Nancy Fraser, “From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice….” 
April 5, 7: Nancy Fraser, “Rethinking Recognition”