rofessor M|chae| I.

Sande|
narvard Un|vers|ty
Updated March 21 2014

L1nICAL kLASCNING 22x: IUS1ICL
1hls course ls an lnLroducLlon Lo moral and pollLlcal phllosophy. lL explores classlcal and
conLemporary Lheorles of [usLlce, and applles Lhese Lheorles Lo conLemporary legal and pollLlcal
conLroversles. 1oplcs lnclude afflrmaLlve acLlon, lncome dlsLrlbuLlon, same-sex marrlage, Lhe role of
markeLs, debaLes abouL rlghLs (human rlghLs and properLy rlghLs), argumenLs for and agalnsL
equallLy, dllemmas of loyalLy ln publlc and prlvaLe llfe. 1he course lnvlLes sLudenLs Lo sub[ecL Lhelr
own vlews on Lhese conLroversles Lo crlLlcal examlnaLlon. 1he prlnclpal readlngs are LexLs by
ArlsLoLle, !ohn Locke, lmmanuel kanL, !ohn SLuarL Mlll, and !ohn 8awls. We also read some
conLemporary courL cases and arLlcles abouL pollLlcal lssues LhaL ralse phllosophlcal quesLlons.
Course |ectures, read|ngs, se|f-tests, and d|scuss|on
1o geL Lhe mosL ouL of Lhe course, sLudenLs are encouraged Lo waLch Lhe lecLures, Lo do as much of
Lhe readlng as Llme and lnLeresL permlL, and Lo parLlclpaLe ln Lhe onllne class dlscusslons. SLudenLs
are also encouraged Lo assess Lhelr progress by Laklng Lhe ungraded self-LesLs LhaL follow each
lecLure.
Cha||eng|ng your op|n|ons and deve|op|ng your mora| reason|ng
Lach week, sLudenLs are lnvlLed Lo offer Lhelr vlews on Lhe moral dllemmas dlscussed ln class by
respondlng Lo a poll quesLlon. Cnce you submlL your answer Lo a poll quesLlon, you wlll be able Lo
see how your answer compares wlLh Lhe responses offered by oLher parLlclpanLs ln Lhe course. ?ou
wlll also be presenLed wlLh a challenge Lo Lhe vlew you have endorsed. See lf you can offer a
persuaslve reply Lo Lhe challenge, and Lhen read Lhe replles offered by oLhers.



CCUkSL CU1LINL

LecLure 1 - uolng Lhe 8lghL 1hlng 8elease daLe: Aprll 8
LecLure 2 - 1he LlfeboaL Case 8elease daLe: Aprll 8

LecLure 3 - uLlllLarlanlsm: !eremy 8enLham 8elease daLe: Aprll 13
LecLure 4 - uLlllLarlanlsm: !.S. Mlll 8elease daLe: Aprll 13
Culz 1 8elease daLe: Aprll 13

LecLure 3 - LlberLarlanlsm: lree-markeL phllosophy 8elease daLe: Aprll 22
LecLure 6 - LlberLarlanlsm: uo we own ourselves? 8elease daLe: Aprll 22

LecLure 7 - !ohn Locke: roperLy rlghLs 8elease daLe: Aprll 29
LecLure 8 - !ohn Locke: lndlvldual rlghLs and ma[orlLy rule 8elease daLe: Aprll 29

LecLure 9 - MarkeLs and Morals: MlllLary servlce 8elease daLe: May 6
LecLure 10 - MarkeLs and Morals: SurrogaLe moLherhood 8elease daLe: May 6
Culz 2 8elease daLe: May 6

LecLure 11 - lmmanuel kanL: WhaL ls freedom? 8elease daLe: May 13
LecLure 12 - lmmanuel kanL: 1he supreme prlnclple of morallLy 8elease daLe: May 13

LecLure 13 - lmmanuel kanL: A lesson ln lylng 8elease daLe: May 20
LecLure 14 - 1he MorallLy of ConsenL 8elease daLe: May 20
Culz 3 8elease daLe: May 20

LecLure 13 - !ohn 8awls: 1he case for equallLy 8elease daLe: May 27
LecLure 16 - ulsLrlbuLlve !usLlce: Who deserves whaL? 8elease daLe: May 27
Culz 4 8elease daLe: May 27


LecLure 17 - Argulng AfflrmaLlve AcLlon 8elease daLe: !une 3
LecLure 18 - ArlsLoLle: !usLlce and vlrLue 8elease daLe: !une 3

LecLure 19 - ArlsLoLle: 1he good clLlzen 8elease daLe: !une 10
LecLure 20 - ArlsLoLle: lreedom vs. flL 8elease daLe: !une 10
Culz 3 8elease daLe: !une 10

LecLure 21 - !usLlce, CommunlLy, and Membershlp 8elease daLe: !une 17
LecLure 22 - ullemmas of LoyalLy 8elease daLe: !une 17

LecLure 23 - uebaLlng Same-Sex Marrlage 8elease daLe: !une 24
LecLure 24 - Concluslon: !usLlce and Lhe good llfe 8elease daLe: !une 24
llnal Lxam 8elease daLe: !une 24

All graded work (Lhe flve qulzzes [3 each] and Lhe flnal exam[73]) musL be compleLed by !uly 13Lh
aL 7 pm Lu1 (LasLern uayllghL 1lme) (whlch ls Lhe same as 23:00 u1C (CoordlnaLed unlversal 1lme)).

Use for ersona||zat|on and edagog|ca| Improvements

Cur goal ls Lo provlde currenL and fuLure vlslLors wlLh Lhe besL posslble educaLlonal experlence. 1o
furLher Lhls goal, we someLlmes presenL dlfferenL users wlLh dlfferenL verslons of course maLerlals
and sofLware. We do Lhls Lo personallze Lhe experlence Lo Lhe lndlvldual learner (assess Lhe learner's
level of ablllLy and learnlng sLyle, and presenL maLerlals besL sulLed Lo Lhe learner), Lo evaluaLe Lhe
effecLlveness of our course maLerlals, Lo lmprove our undersLandlng of Lhe learnlng process and Lo
oLherwlse lmprove Lhe effecLlveness of our offerlngs. We may publlsh or oLherwlse publlclze resulLs
from Lhls process, buL, unless oLherwlse permlLLed under Lhls rlvacy ollcy, Lhose publlcaLlons or
publlc dlsclosures wlll noL lnclude ersonal lnformaLlon. lease refer Lo Lhe rlvacy ollcy for
addlLlonal deLalls on how we handle Lhose lLems once recelved by us (hLLps://www.edx.org/edx-
prlvacy-pollcy).