Political philosophy and the European Union

Teacher(s)

Arens Nicolas;

Language

English

Main themes

The central themes of political philosophy 'justice and democracy' have traditionally been treated at the level of the nation state and, more recently, at the level of the world as a whole. The course will focus on the specific issues they raise at the level of this intermediate entity of an unprecedented nature that is now called the European Union, including the interpretation and role to be given in this context to nationalism and patriotism, competitiveness and security, freedom and solidarity.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	The course aims to stimulate and feed rigorous and relevant normative thinking about the future of the European Union, its purpose, scope and institutions, by relating philosophical theories of justice and democracy to the down-to-earth challenges Europe faces in today's world.

Content

The course focuses on the theoretical and philosophical issues that are applied to the current European integration. The political, social, economic and juridical process of coming together that has been happening in Europe for the last decades raises both classical and unprecedented issues. The political philosophy has the ability, on the one hand, to put into perspective the novelty of the European integration and, on the other hand, to conceptualized what the European experience provides as hitherto unseen. The course will open with general thoughts regarding whether political philosophy applied directly to the European integration or “speaks from outside” of the EU. Then, six themes will be developed over two sessions each. Every theme will be firstly discussed from a text of a classic author or an author remoted from our present (eg. Hobbes, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Madison, Tocqueville, Kant, Marx, Benda, Hayek, etc.). The subsequent class will discuss a text written by a contemporary author (eg. Weiler, Habermas, Nicolaïdis, Fabbrini, Bellamy, Eriksen, Sangiovanni, Van Parijs, Spector, Manent, Ferry, etc.).
The list of themes and debated authors is as follows (authors are indicative):

1. Sovereignty: Hobbes, Kant ; Walker, Verellen, Nicolaïdis
2. Constitution and federation: FP, Montesquieu; Elazar, Habermas, Fabbrini
3. Democracy: Tocqueville, Rousseau; Miller, Manent, Ferry, Bellamy, Follesdal, Nicolaïdis.
4. Citizenship and identity: FP, anti-FP, Benda; Bellamy, Baubock, Balibar, Weiler
5. Cosmopolitanism: Kant; Cheneval, Brown, Eriksen
6. Solidarity: Marx, Hayek ; Sangiovanni, de Schutter, Van Parijs

Teaching methods

The first course will be introduced by the professor. The different themes will be shortly outlined. For subsequent classes, each student is required to select and present a text that s.he will be accountable for. Prior to each class, all other students should read the text and post a theme- or text-related question on the designated forum. In-class, following the students’ presentation and the discussion of the themes and the students’ question, the professor will provide additional knowledge and theorical perspectives.

Evaluation methods

The breakdown of students’ grade will be as follows: attendance and class participation (20%), Presentation of the text (30%), written essay on a selected subject (50%). The essay is due for the first day of the exam session.
Given that this is a political theory course, and that political theory depends fundamentally on the formulation of ideas, the creativity of intelligences and the definition of language as a function of a relationship to reality, and therefore according to a criterion of veracity, the use of artificial intelligence software is strictly forbidden and quite simply makes no sense in the context of the expected work.

Bibliography

Mandatory and suggested readings will be communicated at the first class.
Les lectures obligatoires et suggérées seront communiquées au premier cours.

Faculty or entity

> EURO