Philosophy and moral philosophy

Teacher(s)

Lafosse Juliette; Roux Jeanne-Marie;

Language

French

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The course “Philosophy and moral philosophy” aims at giving law and political science students theoretical benchmarks and keys to comprenhension in order to enable them to find their way in the history of philosophy, understand its evolution and major issues and find the reflexive, conceptual and critical resources necessary to question not only some of the big challenges of our times, but also certain principles and notions they are being taught in other courses (freedom, justice, State, subject, responsibility, democracy, power, truth etc.) Four skills are being honed during classes and will be evaluated during the exam: 1) Mastery of concept and capacity to define the major philosophical notions 2) Comparison of the different types of philosophical thought through the analysis of the divergence and/or convergence of their respective arguments 3) Textual commentary allowing the interpretation of textual elements in the light of the notions and theory taught in class 4) Critical distantiation from the taught doctrines on the basis of a short essay developing one of the following points a) internal criticism of an author seen in class b) external criticism or c) practical application of a philosophical doctrine seen in class

Content

In the first term, the course will retrace a historical and topical genesis of western practical philosophical thought from the Ancients to the Moderns, by showing the evolution not only of the guiding principles and key concepts of this thought, but also of the gradual differentiation between ethical or moral normativity on the one hand, and other normative domains like law and polity, on the other hand.
The guiding theme of this genesis will be the concept of freedom that will be examined in its metaphysical, theological, anthropological, ethical and political dimensions. By reading some of the major authors of the western philosophical tradition, we will reconstruct the specific coherence, the forces and the limits of their practical thought. We will pay attention to the forms of reasoning and the arguments that are developed, and see how problems give place to new theories and how theories generate new problems.
During the spring term, we will focus on a specific topic: the philosophy of Justice. The course will be a critical and practical introduction to the three fundamental activities of Justice which are also expected from any citizen living in a democracy: thinking, deliberating and judging. Our starting point will be the analysis of a film: 12 Angry Men (Sydney Lumet, 1957). This fiction describes a jury’s deliberation related to a criminal trial and the implications of the American Jury Duty. It will lead us to study different theories of Justice (especially social Justice with John Rawls and Amartya Sen) and philosophical insight about the relationship between citizens and Justice : actors and/or spectators ? (Tocqueville, Hume, Nussbaum). We will learn about the importance of differential comparison in order to deconstruct any kind of prejudice and stereotype, as well as to elaborate one’s own personal and critical position. We will therefore compare and contrast the Continental philosophical and legal cultures with those of the English-language communities.

Teaching methods

Lecture.

Evaluation methods

Written or oral examination.

Other information

In the first term, lecture notes will be provided. Each course will be supported by a powerpoint presentation. In the second term, a book will be used as a support. It will be published in February 2018: Sophie Klimis: Penser, délibérer, juger : pour une philosophie de la justice en acte(s), Bruxelles, de Boeck, 2018.

Bibliography

Faculty or entity

DRTB