The course is taught in the third year of the degree, which is the intermediate period of the program when the student has already adapted to the new context. Its objectives are to support the development of a personal educational pathway, consolidate intellectual work skills, promote self-discovery in terms of personal preferences and future professional projection, strengthen personal growth, and, ultimately, open up complementary learning resources and opportunities. Regarding learning outcomes, the course aims for the student to become familiar with contemporary theories of justice and the debates linked to them, through problems that can be addressed reflectively and critically. Justice, democracy, and human rights are key concepts for understanding and critically assessing the current social, political, and economic reality.
UNIT 1. ITINERARIES OF JUSTICE. DEMOCRACY AND LIBERALISM IN THE DEMOLIBERAL ORDER
Justice
Democracy
Liberalism
Recap
UNIT 2. WHAT IS JUSTICE?
Introduction
Hans Kelsen
Recap
UNIT 3. THE RADICAL DEMOCRACY OF THE OPEN SOCIETY
Introduction
Isaiah Berlin
Karl Popper
Recap
UNIT 4. THE CATEGORIES OF THE POLITICAL AND ANTIDEMOCRATIC IMPULSES
Introduction
Carl Schmitt
Ernst Jünger
Recap
UNIT 5. THEORY OF THE MINIMAL STATE
Introduction
Robert Nozick
Murray Rothbard
Other proposals: from Agorism to "Primitive Future"
Recap
UNIT 6. THE EVOLUTION OF DEMOCRACY
Introduction
Friedrich Hayek
Recap
UNIT 7. THEORIES OF JUSTICE AFTER RAWLS
Introduction
Critical views and recent contributions
Michael Walzer, Amartya Sen, Jon Elster
Nancy Fraser, Martha Nussbaum
Recap
UNIT 8. HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLOBAL JUSTICE
Introduction: Foundations and history
Human Rights
Global Justice
Recap
UNIT 9. RELATIONSHIP AND DESCRIPTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Introduction
National scope
International scope
Recap
UNIT 10. INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS
Introduction
Regional scope
International scope
Recap
The course will combine two types of activities aimed at acquiring knowledge and developing competencies for students.
Lectures: The professor will provide a series of explanations to present the main theoretical content of the course, focusing on the issues, concepts, positions, and arguments of the authors being studied. The lecture is not incompatible with student participation, as they will be asked to demonstrate their understanding of the topics discussed and to offer well-argued positions on them.
Practical activities and/or debate: Each session of the course will include a part dedicated solely to debate and student reflection. During this time, students will be required to critically comment on a political issue, identify the philosophical problem it raises, relate it to the authors studied, and provide a reasoned position. These activities may be based on current news, a specific problem statement, or a philosophical text to analyze. These will allow students to regularly practice comprehension, analysis, and argumentation skills, which will also be essential for other evaluation activities.
In order to be evaluated in the ordinary exam session, all activities subject to evaluation must have been completed. Evaluated activities must be submitted on the dates specified by the teacher. If, for any reason duly justified and communicated to the teacher, the activities could not be submitted within the established period, they may be submitted before the date of the final exam, so that the teacher can assess them. However, in this case, the teacher will not be obliged to provide feedback on those activities.
On the other hand, students have the right to take the final written exam even if they have not submitted all the other evaluated activities. However, the final grade for the course will only be calculated if all activities have been submitted, in accordance with the evaluation criteria and weightings established in this course guide. If any activity subject to evaluation has not been submitted or completed, the final grade will be recorded as "Not Submitted" in the official transcript for this exam session.
EXTRAORDINARY EXAM SESSION
The evaluation criteria are the same as in the ordinary session, so all the activities considered for evaluation during the course must be submitted. The grades for previously completed activities (including the final written exam) will be retained, pending the completion of any outstanding tasks. The same weighting criteria as in the ordinary evaluation will apply to this session. This policy applies only within the current academic year; therefore, if the student does not pass the extraordinary session, re-enrolling in the course will require repeating the full subject.
Participation and quality of contributions in class: 15%
Written test on the mandatory course reading: 30%
Personal reflective essay: 15%
Final exam text comentary, theoretical content, and critical reflexion: 40%
ARISTÓTELES: Moral a Nicómaco, Espasa Calpe (Colección Austral), 9ª ed., 1996
BARRY, B.: Teorías de la justicia, Gedisa, 1995
GARGARELLA, R.: Las teorías de la justicia después de Rawls. Un breve manual de filosofía política, Paidós, 1999
RAWLS, J.: Teoría de la justicia, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1979
BUENO OCHOA, L.: «Itinerarios de la justicia», en Cuadernos Electrónicos de Filosofía del Derecho, núm. 24 (2011), 21 pp.
. «Democracia y liberalismo en el orbe demoliberal», en Miscelánea Comillas, vol. 71, núm. 139 (2013), pp. 485-492.
. «Notas sobre Agorismo y Emprendetoriado», en Revista ICADE, núm. 77 (2009), pp. 319-340.
GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ, J. M.: La mirada de la justicia, Antonio Machado Libros, 2016
SANDEL, M.: Justicia. ¿Hacemos lo que debemos?, Debate, 2011
SEN, A.: La idea de la justicia, Taurus, 2010