Module SGIA3641: The Theory and Ethics of Political Violence.

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3641: The Theory and Ethics of Political Violence.

Prerequisites

• • Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The aim of lectures and seminars is to explore the following inter-related concerns:
• 1) The theme of violence in political theory, both historically and as a live concern in current thinking.
• 2) The paradigmatic cases of supposedly ‘legitimate’ violence defended by political theorists and commonly invoked in public debates about force: rule, revolution, war, and self-defence.
• 3) The nature and ethical limits of violence as used in resisting political oppression.
• 4) The nature and ethical limits of violence as used in the service of justice, security, and defence by states.

Content

• This is a course in normative political theory and political ethics. Students engage in critical debate with classic and recent arguments about violence and the political purposes for which it may legitimately be used. ‘Political violence’ is understood in a broad sense, encompassing violence by the state and violence against the state, i.e. rule, war, rebellion, and terrorism.
• On some accounts, violence is not only common in political life, but essential to it. Politics is about power, power is about violence, and therefore politics is really inseparable from the violent application of force. Others reject this view, arguing that it reflects a basic misunderstanding of violence, of power, and of politics itself. Both views have their representative philosophers and both too are reflected in the public square.
• Where should citizens and philosophers stand on these matters? Is the resort to violence permissible in some political circumstances? Or, to put it another way, is a commitment to strictly nonviolent politics justifiable?
• Some illustrative examples of questions to be examined:
• • What is ‘violence’? Is it just one thing or might the word mean different things in different contexts? What, if anything, is morally distinctive about violence (as compared, for instance, with other social evils: injustice, oppression, domination, exclusion, discrimination)?
• • What political values, if any, can justify the use of violence and under what circumstances? For instance, is it possible to justify killing for freedom?
• • Is violence an essential part of politics or something alien to it?
• • Is nonviolent politics possible?
• • What beliefs motivate the idea that violence is a necessary and legitimate part of political life? Are these beliefs defensible?
• • What is ‘terrorism’? Is it distinct from other uses of violence such as 'freedom fighting' or conventional war?
• • Is the use of terrorism ever morally permissible or excusable?
• • Are there any circumstances in which armed resistance to a ruling regime and revolution are permissible?
• • Is torture always and everywhere an illegitimate form of violence? If so, in what ways is it worse than legitimate forms?

Learning Outcomes

• During the course of the module, students will gain detailed knowledge and understanding of
• the key debates on the ethics of political violence and the theme of violence in contemporary political theory.
• the underlying empirical and conceptual assumptions that drive theories about legitimate violence.
• the most important general theories of ethics and their applications to political action.
• the methods of analytical ethics and political philosophy and their applications to historical and hypothetical cases.
• historical texts and traditions having a bearing on violence in politics.

• Students taking the course will have…
• Learnt how to use ethical theories and concepts drawing on utilitarianism and consequentialist ethics, deontology and non-consequentialist ethics, and mixed theories such as dirty hands theory.
• Gained a capacity for informed critical reflection on the relationships between political action and moral responsibility.
• Gained expertise on a wide variety of views in contemporary and historical political thought on the course themes.
• Learnt how to write careful analytical pieces on the philosophical issues raised by political violence in formats suited to both scholarly debate and online – public-facing – publication (i.e. philosophical blogging).
• Developed skills in both applying principles derived from ethics and normative political theory to cases and using cases (hypotheticals / historical examples) to build and develop moral, legal, and political theory

• Students engaging with the course will enhance key skills including:
• Their ability to develop research topics and projects independently.
• Their use of logic and reasoning skills.
• Their rhetorical skills in presenting argument orally and in written forms.
• Their ability to identify and make judicious use of different kinds of source.
• Their ability to plan and complete written assignments.
• Their ability to compose written arguments in an accessible way suitable for interventions in public debate.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching takes the form of paired lectures and tutorials alongside written material supplied by the lecturer to help guide critical reading:
• 1. Lectures: Each lecture offers an account of a key conceptual and / or normative problem from political ethics and political theory. It shows how that problem has been encountered historically and in current debate and how it may addressed from a variety of different perspectives in the literature. This material is used to suggest lines of argument for the students to take up and debate in their tutorial groups.
• 2. Tutorials: Tutorials help students to focus in live debate on issues mapped out in the lecture, typically with reference to positions taken in texts by influential authors or to historical or hypothetical cases in which theories and principles are illustrated.
• 3. Written Materials: To prepare for both the lecture and tutorial, students are introduced to the readings for each pair a week in advance. They receive a written introduction to the set texts guiding them in what to look out for and which questions to think about while they read.
• Formative Assessment:
• • Formative assessment is by 1500-word essay. This will enable students to develop and gain feedback on the skills that the methods used in this module require. The topic for the essay should be chosen from the list of prescribed questions and should be on a topic other than the one the student will choose for their larger summative assessment.
• Summative Assessment:
• Summative assessment takes the form of two pieces of writing: 1. 800-1000-word ‘blog’ article modelled on pieces published in The Conversation, The Stockholm Ethical War Blog, or Zocalo Public Square. (25%) 2. 3000-word research essay either on a prescribed topic or on a question agreed in discussion with the convenor. (75%)

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1500 word essay

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University