26030 - Woman And Social Sciences

Learning outcomes

The student possesses specific knowledge of social sciences within a feminist perspective.

Course contents

The course deals with the issues of multiculturalism and cultural relativism in a predominantly philosophical perspective (in particular theoretical and moral). The topics covered in the course are included in four main areas. These are: a) fundamental concepts of theoretical philosophy (truth, knowledge, spekticism, relativism) and moral (normative ethics and metaethics); b) multiculturalism, interculturalism, rights; c) objectivity and relativism (theories of moral objectivity and relativism; d) multiculturalism, feminism and the role of women. The module of prof. Artosi will mainly deal with the themes of theoretical philosophy and relativism, while that of prof. Bongiovanni will mainly refer to moral philosophy and the problem of objectivity. Multiculturalism/interculturalism and feminism will be addressed in specific lessons within the two modules.

At the beginning of the course the syllabus of the lessons will be distributed.

Readings/Bibliography

The students that will attend the lectures have to prepare 2 books. They will choose one book in the part A. and one in the part B.

The students that will not attend the lectures have to study 3 books. They will choose one book in the part A and one in the part B. They will choose freely the third book.

A. (Theoretical philosophy, multiculturalism, rights, relativism)

S. Benhabib, The rights of others, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

S. Benhabib, The claims of culture, Princeton University Press, 2002.

P. Boghossian, Fear of Knowledge, Oxford: Clarendon, 2006

A. Buchanan, The Heart of Human Rights, Oxford University Press, 2014.

T. Cantle, Interculturalism. The new era of cohesione and diversity, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012.

C. Geertz, The interpretation of cultures, New York 1973.

J. Kristeva, Strangers to Ourselves, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

W. Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship. A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights, Clarendon Press, 1995.

D. Marconi. Per la verità. Relativismo e filosofia, Torino, Einaudi, 2007.

A. Musgrave, Common Sense, Science and Scepticism. A Historical Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993.

J. Margolis, The Truth about relativism, Oxford (UK) - Cambridge (Usa), Blackwell, 1981.

J. Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights, Blackwell, 2008.

J. Nickel, Human Rights, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/rights-human/

M. Nussbaum, Cultivating Humanity, 1997.

J. Rawls, The Law of Peoples, Harvard University Press, 2001

J. Raz, Multiculturalism: a Liberal Perspective, in “Dissent”, 1994.

F. Remotti, Contro natura, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008.

M. Sahlins, The Western Illusion of Human Nature, University of Chicago Press, 2008.

A. Sen, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006.

B. de Sousa Santos, Toward a multicultural Conception oh Human Rights, in “Sociologia del diritto”, 1/1997.

B.de Sousa Santos, Epistemologies of the South. Justice against epistemicide, London, Boulder, 2014.

Ch. Taylor, Multiculturalism, Princeton University Press 1994.

B. (Moral philosophy, objectivity, multiculturalism and feminism)

C. Bagnoli (ed.), Constructivism in Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

C. Bagnoli, Constructivism in Metaethics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/constructivism-metaethics/

S. Blackburn, Ruling Passions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

J. Dancy, Ethics without Principles, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

R. Dworkin, Justice for Hedgehogs, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknapp Press of Harvard University Press, 2011.

A. Fischer, Metaethics. An Introduction, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011

J. Habermas, Truth and Justification, Cambridge, Mass.: The Mit Press, 2003.

J. Habermas, The Inclusion of Others, Cambridge, Mass.: The Mit Press, 1998.

M. Nussbaum, Creating Capabilities, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 2013.

S.M. Okin, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? ed. by J. Cohen, M. Howard, M.C. Nussbaum. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

H. Putnam, Ethics Without Ontology, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press, 2004.

J. Rawls, Kantian Constructivism in Moral Theory: “The Journal of Philosophy”, n. 9, vol. 77, 1980.

W.D. Ross, The Right and the Good, Oxford: Clarendon, 2002 (Ed. by Philip Stratton-Lake).

M. Sandel, Justice. What’s the right thing to do, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.

R. Shafer-Landau, Moral Realism. A Defence, Oxford: Clarendon, 2003.

S. Street, Constructivism about Reasons, in "Oxford Studies in Metaethics" 3, 2008.

J. Tronto, Caring Democracy, New York: New York University Press

Teaching methods

The teaching is delivered on the basis of lectures that will be aimed not only at analyzing the topics of the course, but also at stimulating discussion and critical intervention by the students. The teaching materials and bibliographical indications on the various issues provided by the professors will contribute to fostering learning by the students.

Assessment methods

Student performance will be assessed through a final oral exam..

The oral exam will be aimed at examining not only the student's knowledge of the key points of the texts chosen for the exam, but also to evaluate their argumentative capacity and the understanding of the various theoretical issues addressed.

Teaching tools

The teaching materials (slides, syllabus of the arguments, specific bibliographies, arguments of discussion) will be available on the site https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/giorgiobongiovanni

 

Office hours

See the website of Giorgio Bongiovanni