PLEASE NOTE this is a sample reading list for the 2015-16 academic
year – precise seminar content may change from year to year.
Lectures
Week 1. Introduction: Being Social
The first lecture introduces the module aims, core themes, and organisation. There is no
required reading and no seminar for this week. For background reading, see the list of relevant
texts listed above. Also see:
Relevant empirical writings:
Baumeister, R. et al (1995), ‘The Need to Belong’, Psychological Bulletin, 117,
497-529.
1.
2.
Cacioppo, J. T. et al (2008), Loneliness. W. W. Norton & Company.
3.
Decety, J. et al (2011), Handbook of Social Neuroscience. Oxford.
Haney, C. (2003), ‘Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and “Supermax”
Confinement’, Crime & Delinquency, 49: 124-156.
4.
5.
Putnam, Robert (2000) Bowling Alone. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Qualter, Pamela et al (2013), ‘Trajectories of Loneliness during Childhood and
Adolescence: Predictors and health outcomes’, The Journal of Adolescence: Special Issue
on Loneliness, 36, 1283-1293.
6.
7.
Seligman, M. (2011) Flourish. Random House.
Turkle, Sherry (2011), Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology
and Less From Each Other. New York: Basic Books.
8.
Harris, R. et al (2013), ‘Loneliness Trajectories from Middle Childhood to PreAdolescence: Impact on Perceived Health and Sleep Disturbance’, Journal of
Adolescence, Issue on Loneliness, 36, 1295-1304.
9.
Web videos:
Turkle, Sherry (2012), ‘Connected, but alone?’ TED talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry turkle alone together?language=en
1.
Cacioppo, John, ‘The Lethality of Loneliness’ TEDx talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0hxl03JoA0
2.
Week 2. Social Human Rights
Required Reading
1. Jones, Peter (1994), Rights. Palgrave Macmillan, ch 1.
2.
Nickel, J. (2007), Making Sense of Human Rights, 2nd ed. Blackwell, chs 1-3, 9.
Brownlee, Kimberley (2013), ‘The Human Right Against Social Deprivation’,
Philosophical Quarterly 63: 251, 199-222.
3.
Questions
1.
Do we have any distinctly social rights? If so, why and what are they? If not, why
not?
Do we have rights not to be denied minimally decent human contact? Would
such a right be conditional on good behaviour?
2.
Further Reading
1.
Nickel, J. (2005), ‘Poverty and Human Rights’, Philos Quart, 55: 220, 385-402.
2.
O’Neill, Onora. (2005), ‘The Dark Side of Human Rights’, Int Aff, 81: 2, 427439.
Ashford, Elizabeth. (2007), ‘The Duties Imposed by the Human Right to Basic
Necessities’, UNESCO Volume I: Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right. T. Pogge (ed.),
Oxford, 183-218.
3.
Brownlee, Kimberley (forthcoming), ‘Social Contribution Injustice’, Proceedings
of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume. (pdf to be provided).
4.
Shue, H. (1996), Basic Rights: Subsistence, Affluence, and US Foreign Policy, 2nd
edition. Princeton.
5.
Cordelli Chiara (2015),‘Justice as Fairness and Relational Resources’, Journal of
Political Philosophy 23, 86-110.
6.
7.
Brock, Gillian (1998), ‘Morally Important Needs’, Philosophia, 26, 1-2, 165178.
Reader, Soran, and Gillian Brock (2004), 'Needs, Moral Demands, and Moral
Theory', Utilitas, 16: 3, 251-266.
8.
9.
Geuss, R. (2001), History and Illusion in Politics. Cambridge.
10.
Griffin, J. (2008), On Human Rights. Oxford.
Barry, B. (2002), 'Social Exclusion, Social Isolation, and the Distribution of
Income' in Understanding Social Exclusion. Phil Agulnik, John Hills (eds.), Oxford.
11.
12.
Ignatieff, M. (1984/2001), The Needs of Strangers. Picador.
Podcast
1. Brownlee, Kimberley (2015), ‘Social Deprivation’, Philosophy Bites:
http://www.philosophybites.com
Web Video
1. Brownlee, Kimberley (2014), ‘The Human Right against Social Deprivation’, Public Lecture,
Castan Centre for Human Rights, Melbourne,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew8ayAX9BK4
Week 3. The Right to be Loved?
Required Reading
Liao, S. M. (2006), 'The Right of Children to be Loved', Journal of Political
Philosophy, 14: 4, 420–440.
1.
Cowden, M., 2012. ‘What’s love got to do with it? Why a child does not have a
right to be loved.’ Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 15 (3),
325–345.
2.
Questions
1.
Do children have rights?
If they have rights, do they have a right to be loved? If they do, is it a human
right? If not, why not?
2.
3.
Does everyone have a right to be loved?
Further Reading
Liao, S. M (2012), ‘Why Children Need to be Loved’, Critical Review of
International Social and Political Philosophy. (reply to Cowden)
1.
2.
Liao, S. M. (Dec 2015), The Right to be Loved. Oxford.
Swift, Adam, and Brighouse, Harry (2014), Family Values: The Ethics of ParentChild Relationships. Princeton.
3.
Empirical Work
1.
Ornish D. (1998), Love & Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy.
HarperCollins.
Reference texts
Archard, David (2014), ‘Children’s Rights’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights-children/
1.
Bennett, Helm (2013), ‘Love’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/love/
2.
Podcast
1. Swift, Adam (2014), ‘Ethics Matters in the Family’, LSE Public Lecture:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2014/11/20141113t1830vWT.aspx
Week 4. Freedom of Intimate Association
Required Reading
Lomasky, L. (2008), ‘The Paradox of Association’ Social Philosophy and Policy,
25, 182-200.
1.
Brownlee, K. (2014), ‘Freedom of Association: It’s Not What You Think’ Oxford J
Legal Stud, doi:10.1093/ojls/gqu018.
2.
Questions
1.
Do we have a right to choose the society most acceptable to us?
May we be compelled to associate with others? If so, when and why? If not,
why not?
2.
Further Reading
1. Anderson, E. (2010), The Imperative of Integration. Princeton.
Brownlee, K. (2015a), ‘Ethical Dilemmas of Sociability’, Utilitas (2015),
doi:10.1017/S0953820815000175.
2.
3.
Raz, J. (1986), The Morality of Freedom. Oxford, Part III.
4.
Mill, J.S. On Liberty (various editions).
Gutmann, A. (ed.) Freedom of Association (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1998), 3-32. See selected chapters in this collection.
5.
Week 5. Freedom of Collective Association
Required Reading
1.
Fine, Sarah. (2010), ‘Freedom of Association Is Not the Answer’ Ethics 210, 338-
356.
Wellman, C. H. (2008) ‘Immigration and Freedom of Association’, Ethics, 119,
109-141
2.
Shiffrin, Seana (2005), ‘What Is Really Wrong With Compelled Association?’,
Northwestern Law Review, 99, 839-888.
3.
Questions
What are the limits, if any, of our freedom to be exclusive in our collective
associations?
1.
2.
What are the parameters of, and grounds for, our freedoms of assembly?
Does a state have a right of self-determination to exclude immigrants? Would
such a right trump immigrants’ rights not to be harmed?
3.
Further Reading
a.
1.
Roberts v. United States Jaycees 468 U.S. 609, 618 (1984).
2.
Special issue on freedom of association, Social Philosophy and Policy, 2 (2008).
Alexander, Larry, ‘What is Freedom of Association, and What is its
Denial?’, Social Philosophy and Policy, 2 (2008), 1-21.
Special issue on freedom of association, Minnesota Law Review, 85 (2001).
a. Farber, Daniel, ‘Speaking in the First Person Plural’, Minnesota Law
Review, 85 (2001), 1483-1514.
3.
4.
Bedi, Sonu, ‘Expressive Exclusion’, Journal of Moral Philosophy, 7 (2010), 427-40.
Gutmann, Amy (ed.) Freedom of Association (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1998), 3-32. See selected chapters in this collection.
5.
Linder, Douglas, ‘Freedom of Association after Roberts v. United States Jaycees’,
Michigan Law Review, 82 (1984), 1878-1903.
6.
Marshall, William, ‘Discrimination and the Right of Association’, Northwestern
University Law Review, 81 (1986), 68-105.
7.
McKinnon, Catriona, ‘Exclusion Rules and Self-Respect’, The Journal of Value
Inquiry, 34 (2000), 491-505.
8.
9.
Mill, J.S. On Liberty (various editions).
White, Stuart, ‘Freedom of Association and the Right to Exclude’, Journal of
Political Philosophy, 5 (1997), 373-391.
10.
Week 6. Reading Week: no lecture or seminars
Week 7. Autonomy
Required Reading
Friedman, Marilyn, ‘Autonomy, Social Disruption, and Women’ in MacKenzie, C.
and Stoljar, N. (eds.) Relational Autonomy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 3551.
1.
2.
Raz, J. (1986), The Morality of Freedom. Oxford, chs 14, 15.
3.
Buss, Sarah (2005), “Valuing Autonomy and Respecting Persons:
Manipulation, Seduction, and the Basis of Moral Constraints”, Ethics 11(5): 195–135.
Questions
1.
What does autonomy mean? What does autonomy require?
What kinds of conditions and forms of treatment interfere with or undermine
autonomy?
2.
Can we be autonomous in the absence of other people? Do we need others to
be autonomous?
3.
Further Reading
MacKenzie, C. and Stoljar, N. (eds.) Relational Autonomy (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2010), 35-51.
1.
Oshana, Marina, ‘Personal Autonomy and Society’, Journal of Social Philosophy,
29 (1998), 81-102.
2.
Taylor, Charles, Sources of The Self: The Making of the Modern Identity
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989). (Chapters 10 and 11.)
3.
4.
Westlund, Andrea, ‘Rethinking Relational Autonomy’, Hypatia, 24 (2009), 26-49.
Buss, S. (1994), “Autonomy Reconsidered”, in Midwest Studies in Philosophy XIX,
P.A. French, T.A. Uehling and H.K. Wettstein, (eds.), Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, pp. 95–121.
5.
Reference Text
1.
Stoljar, Natalie, ‘Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy’ Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-autonomy/
Social Virtues
Week 8. Social Conditions for Flourishing
Required Reading
1.
Brock, G. (1998), ‘Morally Important Needs’, Philosophia, 26, 1-2, 165-178.
2.
Raz, J. (2004), ‘The Role of Well-being’, Philos Perspectives, 18, 269-94.
3.
Annas, Julia (2011), Intelligent Virtue. Oxford, chs 1-3, 8-9.
Questions
1.
What social pre-conditions, if any, are there for human flourishing?
2.
What is the relation between social needs and social goods?
3.
Is it virtuous to be sociable? If so, what does sociability involve?
Further Readings
Buss, S. (1999), ‘Appearing Respectful: The Moral Significance of Manners’,
Ethics 109: 4, 795-826.
1.
Sherman, N. (2005), ‘Of Manners and Morals’, British Journal of Educational
Studies, 53: 3, 272-289.
2.
3.
Stohr, K. (2011), On Manners. Routledge.
4.
Tomasi, J. (1991), 'Individual Rights and Community Virtues', Ethics, 101: 3, 521-
536.
Nussbaum, M. (2000), Women and Human Development: The Capabilities
Approach. Cambridge.
5.
Baumeister, R. et al (1995), ‘The Need to Belong’, Psychological Bulletin, 117,
497-529.
6.
7.
Griffin, J. (1986), Well-being. Oxford.
8.
Sen, A. et al (eds.) (1993), The Quality of Life. Oxford.
9.
Wiggins, D. (1987), Needs, Values, Truth. Oxford.
10.
Wolff, J. and de Shalit, A. (2007), Disadvantage. Oxford.
11.
Seligman, M. (2011) Flourish. Random House.
Web video:
1. Needleman, J. (2007), ‘Why Can’t We be Good?’, Authors@Google Lecture
Series, 30 April 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcpQr9ohaww
Reference Text:
1. Hursthouse, Rosalind (2012), ‘Virtue Ethics’, Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue/
Week 9. The Ethics of Care
Required Reading
Held, Virginia (2006), The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global. Oxford:
chs 3, 5.
1.
Engster, Daniel (2007), The Heart of Justice: Care Ethics and Political Theory.
Oxford, chs, 1, 3, 5.
2.
Noddings, N. (1988), ‘An Ethic of Caring and Its Implications for Instructional
Arrangements’, American Journal of Education, 96, 215-30.
3.
Questions
Should we reject the traditional moral language of rights, duties, autonomy, and
justice and adopt instead a language of care?
1.
2.
What are the core ideas of the ethics of care? How credible are they?
Further Readings
Held, V. (2015), ‘Care and Rights’ in R. Cruft et al (eds), Philosophical
Foundations of Human Rights. Oxford.
1.
Kittay, E. F. (1999), Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency.
Routledge.
2.
Goodin, Robert, Protecting the Vulnerable: A Reanalysis of Our Social
Responsibilities (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985).
3.
Social Policies
Week 10. Segregation and Social Surrogates
Required Readings
Brownlee, K. (2012), ‘Social Deprivation and Criminal Justice’ in Rethinking Criminal
Legal Theory, edited by F. Tanguay-Renaud et al, Hart.
1.
Sparrow, R., and Sparrow, L. (2006), ‘In the hands of machines? The future of aged
care.’ Minds and Machines 16: 141-161, May.
2.
Sparrow, R. (2002), ‘The march of the robot dogs.’ Ethics and Information
Technology 4(4): 305-318.
3.
Questions
What ethical issues are raised by institutional segregation such as medical
quarantine, isolated dentention, and solitary confinement?
1.
2.
Could we defensibly replace social contact with robots and virtual worlds?
Further Reading
Lisa Guenther, Solitary Confinement: Social Death and Its Afterlives, University of
Minnesota Press, 2013.
1.
Coulson, M. et al (2012), ‘Real feelings for virtual people: Emotional attachments
and interpersonal attraction in video games’, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1: 3, 176184.
2.
Dias, J. et al (2013), ‘I Want to Be Your Friend: Establishing Relations with
Emotionally Intelligent Agents,’ Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on
Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2013), 777-784.
3.
4.
Arrigo, B. A., et al (2008), ‘The Psychological Effects of Solitary
Confinement on Prisoners in Supermax Units’, Int J Offender Ther, 52:6, 622640.
Haney, C. (2003), ‘Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and “Supermax”
Confinement’, Crime & Delinquency, 49: 124-156.
5.
Fox, J. et al (2012), ‘Physiological Responses to Virtual Selves and Virtual Others’ in
Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 5: 1, 69-72.
6.
Kanea, H. et al (2012),’Mere presence is not enough: Responsive support in a virtual
world’, The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48:1, 37–44.
7.
Schönbrodt, F. D. et al (2012), ‘Attachment Dynamics in a Virtual World’, J Pers, 80:
2, 429-63.
8.
Reports
Amnesty International (2012), The Edge of Endurance. Amnesty International
Publications.
1.
Shalev, S. (2008), Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement. Nuffield Foundation
Report: http://www.solitaryconfinement.org/uploads/sourcebook_web.pdf.
2.
Popular Media
1.
Gawande, A. (2009), ‘Hellhole’, New Yorker, 30 March 2009.
Bauer, S. (2012), ‘Solitary in Iran Nearly Broke Me. Then I Went Inside America's
Prisons.’ Mother Jones, November/December 2012.
2.
Ackerman, B. et al (2011), ‘Private Manning’s Humiliation’, New York Review of
Books, 28 April 2011.
3.
Pilkington, E. (2012), ‘Bradley Manning's treatment was cruel and inhuman, UN
torture chief rules’, The Guardian, 12 March 2012:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/12/bradley-manning-cruel-inhumantreatment-un
4.
LA Times Editorial Board (2013), ‘Solitary Isn’t the Solution’ in Los Angeles Times, 28
March 2013.
5.