Harvard - Moral Reasoning About Social Protest -ERsyllabusF13updated

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Moral Reasoning about Social Protest - Fall 2013

Meets MW11am in Emerson 105

Prof. Siegel [email protected]. Office: 317 Emerson.

Office hours: after class (find me at the podium) or send me an email to set up an appointment.

I am also usually in my office in the mornings before class.Head TF: Paul Marcucilli <[email protected]>

Sections

Sections will be held at these times:

M 10-11am, Emerson 310, James Bondarchuk

M 2-3pm, Emerson 318; Michael Rabenberg

T, 5-6pm, Emerson 318; Javier Caride

W 12-1pm,Emerson 106; Aleksy Tarasenko-Struc

W 4-5pm, Emerson 307; Javier Caride

Th 10-11am, Boylston G-07; Aleksy Tarasenko-Struc

Th 11-12pm, Robinson 106; James Bondarchuk

Th 3-4pm, Emerson 307; Paul Marcucilli

F 12-1pm, Emerson 106; James Bondarchuk

Course Description

What kinds of social protest are justified, and when are they justified? In assessing

whether an act of protest is justified, what kinds of considerations are relevant? Is all illegality

criminal, or is there a difference between "civil" and "criminal" disobedience? Do "civil

disobedients" belong to a political community in a way that "criminal" disobedients do not? Doesviolence ever, or always, make a case of protest unjustified? Does violence ever, or always,

include property damage?

How one answers these questions will depend on one's views about the political contexts

in which protest occurs. For example, if what the political authorities demand or allow is not

itself justifiable, this may affect your assessment of the protest against it. So that we may deepen

our consideration of social protest, we will consider some basic questions about the nature of

political association. What is political authority? How, if at all, can it, and should it, differ from

the arbitrary exercise of power? Can political authority ever be justified? If so, what are its

proper functions, and what are the proper functions of the state?

We will consider these questions by studying the texts of Plato, Hobbes, Wolff, Marx,

Rawls, and other philosophers, and by considering several cases of protest in North America.

Examples to be considered include the efforts, from the mid-1990's to the present, of the Los

Angeles Bus Riders' Union, the Harvard Living Wage Campaign of 2001-02, and the 6-day long

Attica prison revolt of 1971.

Course requirements: Two 4-5 page papers, in-class midterm, final exam, section participation,

attendance in lectures. You cannot pass the course without doing all of the written work .



Texts

Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates, Hackett Publishing

T. Hobbes, Leviathan, Hackett Publishing

R. P. Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism, Univ. of California Press, 1998 edition

R. Tucker, ed., The Marx-Engels Reader , 2nd edition, Norton PublishingOther readings are password-protected on the course site.

All texts, books and films alike, will be on reserve in Lamont Library.

Films We will be screening one film during the semester : “Ghosts of Attica” will be shown at

8pm on Thursday November 7th in Science Center D. You should reserve this time slot now, as

this screening is required.

Reading Schedule By each date listed, you should have read the texts listed next to it.

Sep 4 Introduction

Sep 9 Wall Street Journal Editors, “Just Wages”

A. Offner, “A History of the Harvard Living Wage Campaign” and “The

Campaign Discusses its Strategy”

Crimson editorials about the Living Wage Campaign

Harvard Worker’s Center, “Outsourcing, its Discontents, and some Solutions”

In-class movie: “Occupation”

Sep 11 J. Rachels, Ethical Egoism

Guest Speaker: Chloe Maxmin

Sep 16 No additional readings

September 16: Sections begin (you’ll receive your section assignment by email)

Sep 18 H. Bedau, “Civil Disobedience and Personal Responsibility for Injustice”

J. Rawls, “The Justification of Civil Disobedience”

Recommended: “Final Report of the U. S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence”

Sep 23 D. Lyons, "Moral Judgment, Historical Reality, and Civil Disobedience"

Sep 25 Guest speaker: David Lyons, Professor of Philosophy and Law, Boston University



Paper 1 Due: Friday September 27th, 11pm (electronic submission)

Sep 30 T. Hobbes, Leviathan Book 1, chapters 6,8,11, 13-16

Oct 2 T. Hobbes, Leviathan Book 2, chapters 17-21, 27-29

Oct 7 M. Walzer, "The Obligation to Die for the State"

Oct 9 No additional readings

[October 14 No class – Columbus Day]

Oct 16 R. Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism, both Prefaces, Chapter 1

Oct 21 R. Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism, chapters 2.1, 2.2, and 3

Oct 23 R. Wolff, In Defense of Anarchism, chapters 2.1, 2.2, and 3

Oct 28 In-class midterm

Oct 30 Plato, Apology and Crito

Nov 4 Nozick, Selections from Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Nov 6 A Time to Die. Both prefaces, chapter 1-4, Chronology of Events,

Appendices 1, 2 and 4. (The appendices are authored by The Inmates of AtticaPrison, 1971.

Film Screening: “Ghosts of Attica”, Thursday November 7th, 8pm. Science

Center D.

Nov 11 In-class video. Eyes on the Prize: A Nation of Law?

Nov 13 Bus Riders Union – in-class video

Nov 18 Bus Riders UnionK. Marx, Wage-Labor and Capital” (MER 203-217)

Nov 20 K. Marx, “ Capital, vol. 1, chapter 1, sections 1,2,4 (MER 302-213, 319-329)

B. Ehrenreich, “Nickled and Dimed”

T. Meager and S. Travers, “Low Wages, Strong Backs”

B. Hamper, selection from Rivethead



Paper 2 Due Friday 22nd (submit it electronically by 11pm)

Nov 25 K. Marx , “Manifesto of the Communist Party” (MER 473-500)

Website: Supplements to readings by Marx

Dec 2 G. A. Cohen, "The Structure of Proletarian Unfreedom"

Dec 4 No additional readings

Course policies and guidelines

Attendance Discussing the texts with other who have read them is one of the best ways toexplore the questions this course aims to introduce. For this reason, attendance in both lecture

and section is mandatory.

Written Work Papers must be handed in on time. If you need an extension, you must ask your

section leader at least one day before the paper is due. Late papers will be docked one-third of a

letter grade for each day overdue (e.g., A to A- if the paper is one day overdue.) Students who

are completing senior theses this semester will be allowed an extension on one of the papers.

This extension must be arranged with your section leader well in advance of the due-date of that

assignment.

Once your papers have been returned to you with comments, you are encouraged to discuss these

comments with the grader. The first of the two 4-5 page papers may be rewritten once to try for ahigher grade, so long as the rewritten version is submitted one week after the original was

returned to you. The adjusted grade will take into account both the original grade and the amount

of effort and success involved in the revision process. Include a copy of the original paper with

the grader's comments when you submit the rewrite.

Please submit papers electronically. Your section leaders will let you know the best format for

submission.

Final Exam: The Final Exam will consist of three questions, selected from a list of ten essay

questions that will be distributed toward the end of the semester. Once you have the questions,the best way to prepare for the final exam is to think through and write out answers for each of

the questions on the list.

Instead of having a seated exam coordinated by the Registrar, the exam will be a take-home

format, but it must be written and submitted on Thursday December 12th. On Thursday

morning, the three questions selected from among the ten will be sent to you by email, and the

exam will be due that afternoon. More details will be given later in the semester.



Collaboration

Philosophy lives in conversation. You will learn more philosophy by talking over the

texts and issues in the class with other people including your classmates. Discussion of

the paper topics is encouraged. But you must write your own text. You are also

encouraged to talk through the ten final exam questions before you get the threethat will constitute your exam. Once you get your three exam questions, collaboration

is not allowed.

Grades The breakdown for grades is as follows. Papers: 20% each; Midterm Exam: 20%;

Section Participation: 20%; Final Exam: 20%.

Harvard - Moral Reasoning About Social Protest -ERsyllabusF13updated

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