The readings for the full term are given below. If we get behind in the syllabus I will adjust the readings for particular days; so check back with this page whenever you are unsure about the readings for participation. Due dates for various assignments are given in bold; click on the assignments--near the time when they are due--for more information on how to write the various topics. The mostly Tuesday asterisks in the second column indicate when a participation reflection is due. The participation reflections are best done by email.
 

Aug. 23	Tues.	Course introduction, requirements, and general concepts
Aug. 25	Thurs.	Contrast between power and ethics (general discussion)
Aug. 30	Tues.*	First Participation Questions Due (on asterisked days) The implications of power politics (about three weeks), starting with: Hobbes, "On the Natural Condition of Mankind" (file, click on) or check Google for Leviathan or Hobbes, chapter 13 and 4 parag. of chap. 14.
Sept. 1	Thurs.	Class discussion: Is social contract ethics a bona fide metaethical system?
Sept. 6	Tues.*	Nozick, "The State of Nature" and entitlement (pdf file)
Sept. 8	Thurs.	Kissinger, "The Moral Foundations of Foreign Policy" (pdf file)
Sept. 13	Tues.*	(Catching up with Kissinger and the national interest in oil)
Sept. 15	Thurs.	Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (pdf file) plus a film on "Plan Colombia."
Sept. 20	Tues.*	Walzer, Arguing about War, "Emergency Ethics," pp. 33-50
Sept. 22	Thurs.	One-Page Paper Due on the Implications of a U.S. Foreign Policy Based on Power without Ethics (see homepage on one-page papers for information on writing this paper.) Kunkel, "Hiroshima and Recent Nuclear Policies" (pdf file), and The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) [handout]
Sept. 27	Tues.*	Looking at the ethics of just war doctrine: Kunkel, "Just War" (pdf file)
Sept. 29	Thurs.	Walzer, pp. 3-32.
Oct. 4	Tues.	Walzer, pp. 85-98 (on the Gulf War of 1991) plus information on midterm test (also click on "test" on my homepage).
Oct. 6	Thurs.	Midterm Test
Oct. 11	Tues.	[Mid-term break--no class]

 

Oct. 13	Thurs.	Kunkel, "Applying Morality to the Economic Sanctions on Iraq" (pdf file)
Oct. 18	Tues.*	Iraqi sanctions cont., [test returned Oct. 13 or 18], plus notes on consequentialism
Oct. 20	Thurs.	Rewrite of first one-page paper due Walzer, 67-81, and 99-103 on humanitarian intervention
Oct. 25	Tues.*	Walzer, 51-66, and 130-142 on terrorism and 9/11
Oct. 27	Thurs.	One-Page Paper on Should Enemy Civilian Lives Be Protected? This paper will compare the Iraqi sanctions, 9/11, and two ethical systems (see homepage on one-page papers for information on writing this paper.) Swazo, "Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Humanity" (pdf file)

 

Nov. 1	Tues.*	MERIP, "Primer on Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict" (click MERIP and  then click on "Primer" in left column; read main parts)
(Nov. 3	Thurs.	no class--Dr. Kunkel is away at a conference of peace philosophers)
Nov. 8	Tues.	Walzer, "The intifada and the Green Line," pp. 104-112, and Walzer, "The Four Wars of israel/Palestine," pp. 113-129"
Nov. 10	Thurs.	Gaddis, "A Grand Strategy of Transformation" (pdf file, leading up to the Iraqi War)
Nov. 15	Tues.*	Walzer, "Five [Essays] on Iraq", pp. 143-168
Nov. 17	Thurs.	Four-Page Paper (50 points) due on the Morality of Iraq War (2003) or the Israeli-Palestine  War after Oslo (see homepage on four-page paper for information on writing this paper) Gruzalski, Gandhi, pp. 1-24
Nov.	Tues.	Walzer, "Governing the Globe," pp. 171-191
(Nov.	Thurs.	no class--Thanksgiving break--have an enjoyable holiday!)
Nov. 29	Tues.	Rewrite of second one-page paper due Gruzalski, pp. 33-52
Dec. 1	Thurs.*	Last participation reflection due course evaluation, plus Gruzalski, pp. 54-80
Dec. 6	Tues.	Finish Gandhi, and review for final test

Final test on second half of term: Monday, Dec. 12 at 2:30 p.m.