International Morality between Ethical Ideals and Reality - JTM290

• Title: International Morality between Ethical Ideals and Reality
• Czech title: Mezinárodní morálka mezi etickými ideály a realitou
• Guaranteed by: Department of European Studies (23-KZS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / 20 (15)
• Min. number of students: 5
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Additional information: http://The teaching takes place in room 219!! Not 209.
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: prof. Pierre Allan; Zuzana Krulichová, M.A.
• Teacher(s): prof. Pierre Allan; Zuzana Krulichová, M.A.
• Class: Courses for incoming students

Annotation

Last update: Zuzana Krulichová, M.A. (29.09.2023)

Course outline

International morality: does such a thing really exist ? Aren’t nation-states — even democratic ones — ‘cold monsters’ primarily interested in their own power and security ? The answer to both questions is a positive one. Between ethical ideals and realist considerations, not only NGOs, but states, too, act ethically at times. Why ? When ? How ? This course shall discuss these issues and, based on my research, examine an alternative to the liberal Human Rights agenda.

You can find the full syllabus attached.

This is a block course, available for master students or advanced undergraduates (who should discuss enrolment with the teaching assistant).
Six teaching sessions, always 9:00 to 12:00:
1. Thursday October 5th, 2023
2. Thursday October 12th
3. Thursday November 2nd
4. Thursday November 9th
5. Thursday November 23rd
6. Thursday December 7th
Non-compulsory Q & A session: Tuesday December 12th
Oral exam date: Thursday December 14th, 2023

In case of any questions, please, contact Zuzana Krulichová.

Aim of the course

Last update: Zuzana Krulichová, M.A. (07.09.2023)

Teaching goals: students will become familiar with concepts and theories helping them to develop their own thoughts about the realities, challenges, and impediments of international morality. They will be encouraged to think deeper about their personal moral ideals and critically evaluate philosophers' thoughts. They will learn how some of these thinkers themselves applied their ethical ideals and what their stories tell us about the nature of moral reasoning and that of ethical behavior.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Bc. Sára Lochmanová (05.10.2023)

Class attendance and participation: attendance is mandatory, with one unexcused absence tolerated. Questions, criticisms, and class discussions will be encouraged. Evaluation: 25% of final grade (25 points maximum). 

Final exam (75 points maximum): oral exam with all documents allowed, given on Thursday 14 December 2023, between 9:10 until 13.00 if not beyond, depending on logistical imperatives (to be discussed with students). The form of the exam is a 15 minute individual oral exam with 15 minutes of individual preparation just before; students will be allowed to consult their course documents (course slides, required readings, personal notes.) 

Grades: 100 points maximum. A: 100-91 points; B: 90-81 points; C: 80-71 points; D: 70-61 points; E: 60-51 points; F: 50-0 points.

More in SMĚRNICE S_SO_002: Organizace zkouškových termínů, kontrol studia a užívání klasifikace A–F na FSV UK.

Literature

Last update: Zuzana Krulichová, M.A. (23.09.2023)

Required readings  (NB: one or two supplementary readings will be given out during the semester)

The texts are highly important for the final exam. However, there is no set obligation to read certain texts to certain classes. You can read them independently during the semester and prepare to build on them during the final exam. However, during the classes and presentations, it will be explained how those texts relate to the topic at hand. If you wish to prepare for the first class, you can start reading GANDHI, ASMA, WEBER, THUCYDIDES, HOBBES, OREND (in that order). 

Pierre Allan (2006, 2008), "Measuring International Ethics: A Moral Scale of War, Peace, Justice, and Global Care," in Pierre Allan and Alexis Keller (eds.), What is a Just Peace ?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 90-129. 

Pierre Allan & Alexis Keller (2012), "Is a Just Peace Possible Without Thin and Thick Recognition ?", in Thomas Lindemann & Erik Ringmar (eds.), The Struggle for Recognition in International Politics, Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, pp. 71-84. 

Stephen T. Asma (2013), Against Fairness, Chicago: Chicago University Press, (Chapter 1 “Even Jesus Had a Favorite”, pp. 1-20/notes 171-3; Chapter 5 “The Circle of Favors: Global Perspectives”, pp. 99-114/notes 187-90; Chapter 7 “Because You're Mine, I Walk the Line”, pp. 151-170/notes 193-6). 

Michael W. Doyle (2006), "One World, Many Peoples: International Justice in John Rawls's The Law Of Peoples," Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 4/No. 1, pp. 109-120. 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1938), "If I were a Czech", in Harijan, October 15. 

Carol Gilligan (1982, 1993), In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 24-45, 62-3, 100-5. 

Thomas Hobbes (1651), Leviathan, New York: Norton, 1997 (chapter 13: "Of the Natural Condition of Mankind, as concerning their Felicity, and Misery", pp. 68-72.) 

Immanuel Kant (1795), On Perpetual Peace, extracts (pp. 11-24 & 29-33.) 

Hans Küng (1997), A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics, London: SCM Press, (chapter 4: "A Global Ethic as a Foundation for Global Society", pp. 91-113.) 

Chenyang Li (1994), "The Confucian Concept of Jen and the Feminist Ethics of Care: A Comparative Study", Hypathia, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 70-89. 

Robert W. McElroy (1992), Morality and American Foreign Policy: The Role of Ethics in International Affairs, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (Chapter 1: "The Debate on Morality and International Relations", pp. 3-29.) 

Brian Orend (2006), The Morality of War, Petersborough, Ontario: Broadview Press (Chapter 1: "A Sweeping History of Just War Theory", pp. 9-30) 

John Rawls (1999), The Law of Peoples, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, (chapter 9.3 "Kazanistan: A Decent Hierarchical People", pp. 75-8.) 

Thucydides (431 BC), The Peloponnesian War, extracts (Pericles' funeral oration & Melian dialogue, 9 pp.) 

Michael Walzer (1994), Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, (Chapter 1: "Moral Minimalism", pp. 1-19; Chapter 4: "Justice and Tribalism: Minimal Morality In International Politics", pp. 63-83.) 

Max Weber (1919), "Politics as a Vocation", in The Vocation Lectures, Indianapolis: IN: Hackett Publishing Co., pp. 22-end.

Teaching methods

Last update: Zuzana Krulichová, M.A. (30.09.2023)

Six teaching sessions, always 9:00 to 12:00: 

1. Thursday October 5th, 2023 

2. Thursday October 12th

3. Thursday November 2nd

4. Thursday November 9th

5. Thursday November 23rd

6. Thursday December 7th

Non-compulsory Q & A session: Tuesday December 12th 

Oral exam date: Thursday December 14th, 2023

 

Teaching assistant (contact for any communication): Zuzana Krulichová, [e-mail]

Syllabus

Last update: Zuzana Krulichová, M.A. (07.09.2023)

You can find the whole syllabus attached.