Philosophy 167 Homepage Spring 2008
Contemporary Political Philosophy
Professor Richard Arneson

SYLLABUS. This introductory handout contains information about the course not duplicated on this page.

Arneson's office hours: Tuesdays 12-1 and Thursdays 2-3 in HSS 8057.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE.
This schedule mainly contains links to handouts and course readings not
in the course texts. For the required readings for each class, see the Syllabus.

Week 1. March 31-April 6.
MON: Lecture 1 notes.
WED: R. Arneson, "The Principle of Fairness and Free-Rider Problems." Handout: "The Principle of Fairness."

Week 2. April 7-13.

Week 3. April 14-20.
MON: Lecture notes, Rawls, chapters 1 & 2.
WED: Lecture notes, "Some Rawlsian Ideas."
FRI: Notes, Rawls, the original position.

Week 4. April 21-27.
WED: Midterm takehome exam. This will also be passed out in class. Notes, Rawls, chapter 4.
FRI: Notes, Rawls, chapter 5, distributive shares.

Week 5. April 28-May 4.
MON: Midterm take-home exam due in class. John Rawls, "Justice as Fairness, Political Not Metaphysical."
WED: Michael Blake, "Distributive Justice, State Coercion, and Autonomy."
FRI: Thomas Nagel, "The Problem of Global Justice."

Week 6. May 5-11.
MON: Reading: G. A. Cohen, "Where the Action Is: On the Site of Distributive Justice."
WED; WRITING ASSIGNMENT (due May 28). Tips on writing a philosophy paper.
Another version: Tips on writing a philosophy paper.
FRI: Notes, Nozick, Chapter 7, Part I.

Week 7. May 12-18.
FRI: NOTE: NO CLASS FRIDAY. Makeup classes Monday 5-6 and Wednesday 6-7 next week. Reading: Amartya Sen, "Rights and Agency" (only sections 1-4 of this essay are required). Also Sen, "Equality of Capacity." Notes, Sen versus Nozick.

Week 8. May 19-25.
MON: Reading: Peter Railton, "Locke, Stock, and Peril: Natural Property Rights, Pollution, and Risk." Further recommended reading: R. Arneson, "The Shape of Lockean Rights." Makeup class on Amartya Sen readings: Monday 5-6, Philosophy Department Library, 8025 Humanities & Social Sciences Bldg., Muir Campus.
WED: Repeat of Monday's makeup class, 6-7 p.m., Philosophy Department Library, 8025 Humanities & Social Sciences Bldg. (NE corner, 8th floor), Muir Campus.
FRI: Notes on Priority, Equality, Sufficiency. Also: Notes, Dworkin on Justice.

Week 9. May 26-June 1.
MON: Memorial Day. No Class.
WED: Writing assignment due in class.
FRI: Reading: Elizabeth Anderson, "What Is the Point of Equality?"; also Samuel Scheffler," Choice, Circumstance, and the Value of Equality." Lecture notes on "Dworkin and Critics". Further recommended reading: R. Arneson, "Luck Egalitarianism and Prioritarianism"; also Arneson, "Luck Egalitarianism Interpreted and Defended."

Week 10. June 2-8.
MON: Reading: Thomas Christiano, "Democracy as Equality."
WED: Reading: Jeremy Waldron, "The Core of the Case against Judicial Review."
THUR: Review session, Philosophy Department Library, 8025 HSS, Thursday 5-6 p.m.
Review session is repeated Friday, June 6, 3-4 p.m., in Philosophy Department Library.
FRI: Reading: Allen Buchanan, "Theories of Secession"; also Kit Wellman, "A Defense of Secession and Political Self-Determination."

Advance information on final exam.

Short-answer questions from 2005 final exam.167FINALSHORTqs2005.pdf

FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, June 11, 11:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m., in York Hall 4080A (our regular clasroom).
Please be aware, a golf tournament is being held at Torrey Pines Golf Course during final exam week. Some traffic delays near the campus may be expected. You are responsible for showing up at the final exam on time.