SYLLABUS
    
This is an honors research seminar.  It focuses on both the philosophical theory of justice in distribution and on the differential quality of performance with regard to justice of the developed democratic nations.  Students will be expected to do two a major paper that will include both a theoretical part (the student’s own theory of justice in distribution) and an evaluative part regarding a policy or polity with regard to distributive justice.  A draft of the first part of this project will be due at the middle of the term.  There will be no final exam.

Class Hours: Wednesdays: 3:30-6pm

My OFFICE HOURS: Tues & Weds: 1:30-2:45 or call for an appointment. Office is Tydings 1140B.

    Students will explore how to evaluate (and analyse) the subject of distributive justice.  The seminar pushes students to integrate the normative theory of social justice (a branch of both ethics and political philosophy), the philosophy of knowledge, and some matters of policy evaluation.  Evaluation of policy must begin with some understanding of the problems: the facts.  But it also needs the philosophical examination of what's right.  To do this, we look at an important public policy problem: "What is distributive justice, and how do the social policies of the modern democratic states stack up?"  We begin by pursuing the characteristics of the distribution of income and wealth in a few democracies.  Along the way, we consider what one can expect to find in the way of distributional patterns in a democratic setting.  This is followed by the views and definitions of distributive justice among contemporary philosophers.  Various empirical approaches to the understanding of distributive justice will also be considered.  
    Thus, the beginning of the seminar is concerned with the empirical and ethical nature of distributive justice.  It will culminate in the development of a personal theory of distributive justice, which will be shared among, and evaluated by, class members.
    In the second half of the course students will be involved in presenting and critiquing each others (team) research which will involve both the evaluation (empirical and ethical) of an economic distributive problem in the United States or elsewhere related to public policy and a personal theory of distributive justice.
    The small course size should allow us to engage in dialogue, and a number of aspects of this course will emphasize this.  First, because this is not a lecture course, students will be expected to participate in discussion, and this participation will count toward one's grade.  All reading is to be done before the class for which it is assigned to insure informed discussion.  There may be at any time, a pop quiz (each worth 25 points) if the reading does not appear adequately prepared for class.  We will employ email and probably a chat room to enhance dialogue.  The chat room, Xx, should enable students to continue, and even to generate the arguments outside of class.
    Prerequisites for the course are GVPT 100 and 241 (although they can be waived for good reason) and membership in an honors program.