After taking this course, the student will

- gain an understanding of the role of religious ethics in modern social and political ethics
- be able to contextualize the evolution of ethical thought in intellectual history
- grasp the complexities of the dialectic between ethics and critical thought in modernity
- acquire a conceptual and critical vocabulary that will assist you in all your studies of peace and conflict from the point of view of philosophy, society and culture

In this course, after reviewing core theoretical ideas about peace and conflict, we will approach the study of peace ethics from a critical point of view in the context of modern thought. Ideas about rationality, autonomy and justice, and about society, autonomy and conflict, have all contributed to our understanding of freedom and justice, but how is this to be translated into a contemporary vision of peace with justice? We will explore and discuss key authors who have grappled with the question of rationality and ethics with reference to social, political and cultural life. We will focus in particular on the question of religious conflict in the public sphere, but we will also consider the issue of hospitality. We will thereby gain a sense of philosophical thought and practice as we critically explore the underlying conceptual dynamics of a peace ethics adapted to the complexity of contemporary life.

Please contact the teacher responsible.

1)      Class Attendance and Participation: 40%

Group or Pair Work & Presentation: 30%
Total: 40%
Note: This part of the course is demanding and requires a willingness and a sense of personal research initiative to engage with philosophical writing/methodology and participate actively in class. Students will identify, analyse and synthesize the philosophical writings which will be presented and analysed during each seminar.

This section of the assessment will thus require the following activities:
a) students must choose and prepare their readings each week from the theme presented in view of group discussion
b) one formal group presentation will be graded for each student, in addition to that student’s weekly participation in the informal group/pair presentations. Each student will be required to prepare an outline for their formal presentation (each student will be graded separately)

2)      Research Essay: 60% (required length: 3500-4000 words)

This will consist in answering a set question. Scholarly sources used in the course and located in the library must be referenced.

Students are also required to observe class ethics in order to facilitate the best learning environment possible and foster a congenial learning atmosphere for the whole group. These include:

1) Students are expected to attend all classes
2) Please arrive on time for class
3) Please do not chat in class
4) Please switch off cell phones before class
5) Please do not walk in and out when classes are in session
6) Regarding absences: Under exceptional circumstances, an absence can be justified.

Habermas, Jürgen, On the Pragmatics of Social Interaction: Preliminary Studies in the Theory of Communicative Action, trans. Barbara Fultner, MIT Press, 2002

Habermas, Jürgen, Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action, MIT Press, 2001

Habermas, Jürgen and Joseph Ratzinger, Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006

Habermas, Jürgen, Judith Butler, and Charles Taylor, The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, NY: Columbia University Press, 2011

Innerarity, Daniel, The Transformation of Politics: Governing in the Age of Complex Societies, Brussels: Peter Lang, 2012

Innerarity, Daniel, The Future and its Enemies. In Defense of Political Hope, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012

Jeong, H-W, Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis, L.A.: Sage, 2008

Lederach, J.P., Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation across Cultures, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995

Souillac, Geneviève, A Study in Transborder Ethics. Justice, Citizenship, Civility, Brussels: Peter Lang, 2012

Webel, C., and J.  Galtung (eds), Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies, London: Routledge, 2007