THE ETHICS OF RIGHTS, GENDER and GLOBAL JUSTICE: EAST & WEST Purushottama Bilimoria (Visiting Assoc Professor, UC-B) Class times Mon – Wed 4.00 - 5.30 Wheeler 110 Email: [email protected] (cell; ok for sms; 631 335 1366) Office Hours: Mon-Wed 12
noon
to
2
PM.
EVANS

239
 
 GSI
(TA)
Joe
Palmieri,
office
hours
:

Wed
1.30
–
3.30
(Café
Milano:
2522
Bancroft
Way)
 Email:
[email protected]


The course focuses on major founding insights, principles and practical explication of the ethics of rights and ideas on justice, both in Western and Eastern traditions and inbetween (Hellenistic, Indian, Chinese, South-east Asia, Postcolonial). In part the course examines the foundational theories in morality for cultural values, religious beliefs and practices, law, justice and human rights, and ecological attitudes, as these have developed from classical to contemporary times. Following a survey of key Western moral systems, including ideas of justice and liberalism, and their critiques (Kant, Mills, Williams, Cavell, Nussbaum, Sen), the course critically engages Hindu, Buddhist-Jaina (Dharma) ethics, and their responses to the subcontinent’s moral, social and legal challenges. Similar issues are examined in the context of the dynastic and Confucian vs Daoist debates in Chinese texts. In terms of structure, the theoretical part of the course will map the formative impact of competing ethical theories that have determined the culture, or have in turn been criticized and transformed in their respective intellectual histories. The latter part will center on practical moral issues, particularly the dialectics of caste/class hierarchy versus autonomy of the individual, despotic governance vs democratic/liberal processes, rights trumping rites (duties), patriarchy vs gender justice, virtues vs instrumentalism, normativity vs intuition, as well as bioethical, animal and environmental issues. How the cultures of East & West, comparatively, have meet these challenges amidst diversity and plurality of communities, moral ideals, legal systems and practices is a question that will also inform the inquiry. There are two-and-half text-books (mandatory) for this course: Textbooks: 1. Amartya Sen (2009) The Ideas of Justice Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, of Harvard University Press. (in Cal Textbooks, around $29) 2. Indian Ethics Vol I Classical and Contemporary Challenges, P. Bilimoria, J Prabhu, R. Sharma, (Oxford University Press, 2008/Asghtae 2007) (Out of stock and print-run)

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3. Vol II, Gender Ecology Justice (selected essays) (under preparation) Items 2 & 3 WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE in PDF form ON CD-ROM, (distributed in class and from T A (Joe). The Reader compilation will draw essays from these works (among others): Theories of Rights (New York: Oxford Uni Press 1984) edited Jeremy Waldron. Ronald Dworkin's Taking Rights Seriously (Cambridge: Harvard Uni Press 1977), Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State & Utopia (New York: Basic Books 1974), John Rawls A Theory of Justice (Cambridge: Harvard Uni Press 1971), Alan Gewirth Human Rights (Chicago: Uni of Chicago Press 1982), Joel Feinberg Rights, Justice & the Bounds of Liberty (Princeton: Princeton Uni Press 1980 Richard Tuck Natural Rights Theories: Their Origin & Development (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 1979) is a comprehensive introduction to the classical literature. Peter Junger 1995 Why The Buddha Has No Rights. Michael Cook lucid Commanding Right & Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 2001), Micheline Ishay, The History of Human Rights (Berkeley: Uni of California Press 2004) Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Washington: Brookings Institution Press 1990) edited by Abdullahi An-Nai'm & Francis Deng. In Defence of Animals (New York: Blackwell 1985) edited by Peter Singer, Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (Cambridge: Harvard Uni Press 2006) by Martha Nussbaum. Do Animals Have Rights (London: Icon 2005) by Alison Hillsmay Same-Sex Marriage: The Cultural Politics of Love and Law (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 2006) by Kathleen Hull ‘Is Adhikara good enough for Rights’ by P Bilimoria, in Indian Ethics I (see below) There will be more material posted on Bspace from time to time. Keeping looking.

Other Recommended Texts (in Reserve Library): 1. Amartya Sen, Elements of a Theory of Human Rights, 2. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Nai’m ed., Human Rights in Cross-cultural Perspectives: a quest for consensus (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1992) 3. 4. Indian Ethics, vol I Classical to Contemporary Challenges, (P Bilimoria, J Prabhu, R Sharma). UK: Ashgate 2007; OUP 2008 (also available on CD-Rom, Sophia Inc)

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5. Kim-chong Chong, Sor-hoon Tan, and C. L. Ten, editors. The Moral Circle and the Self: Chinese and Western Approaches. Chicago and La Salle: Open Court, 2003 Tentative Syllabus What is Ethics? Thinking Ethics West & East. How does one think ethically and work through moral issues and dilemmas? Some ‘abstract’ philosophical or foundational discussions, from Western philosophy (Aristotle onwards), as illustrative. Contrast this with Indian approach, e.g. the discourse of Dharma , Li, Ren, we begin to look at Week II. - Mary Midgley, ;The origin of ethics’ and Jonathan Berg, ‘How could ethics depend on religion’, in A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer, Blackwell Paperback - Bernard Williams : key philosophical terms and thinking morality, Morality and the Limits of Philosophy (1992) - Chinese concept of Li, Ren, Wu-Wei in Ten et edited. Week II & III –Review the readings from Week I. Next topic: Thinking Ethics from the topoi of India; the Terms of Ethics Reconsidered; the concept of Dharma. We will be going through the main considerations and arguments in the rest of the - ‘Religious and Secular development of ethics in India’ , in - ‘General Introduction’, pp 1-42, Indian Ethics. Early roots of Ethical Thinking in Brahmanic Tradition. Readings from IEI Introduction to Part A; and -Chapter A4. by Laurie Patton on Vedic Ethics Laurie L Patton (‘The Fires of Strangers: A Levinasian Approach to Vedic Ethics’) and -A8. Maria Heim, ‘Dana as a Moral Category’; -A1. J N Mohanty, ‘Dharma, Imperatives, and Tradition: Toward an Indian Theory of Moral Action’ Week IV

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Buddhist and Jain alternatives in Indian Ethics, with reference to Chinese heritages Readings: All from Part B Section Indian Ethics (CD-Book) : -A9a. PART B Introduction: Buddhist and Jain Approaches to Ethical Decision -A9. Christopher Chapple, ‘Purgation and Virtue in Jainism: Toward an Ecological Ethic’ -A10. Padmasiri deSilva, ‘Buddhist Ethical Theory’ -A11. Damien Keown, Are there ‘Human Rights’ in Buddhism?’ - B 1. Roger Ames and Hall & Henry Rosemont Jr, ‘Confucian Ethics’ Week V. continue as Week III, with focus on Chinese ethical challenges to Buddhist ethics in China and regions Readings from IE: -A12. Jay L. ‘Garfield, Buddhism and Democracy’ -A13. Mark Siderits, ‘Buddhist Reductionism and the Structure of Buddhist Ethics’ -A24. Vrinda Dalmiya, ‘Particularizing the Moral Self: A Feminist Buddhist Exchange’ - B 2. Herbert Fingerette, Alasdair MacIntyre, Ching-Chuang, C L Ten, and others on Virtue Ethics, Consequentalism, and ‘Whose Justice?’ Week VI. Political Theories: Governance, Rule of the Rod, Rule of Law and Colonial Legacies Readings: -‘Kautilya’ (Political Philosophy, by P Bilimoria, provided in Pack A) -Robert Lingat, ‘Dharma and Custom’ (The Classical Law of India) (In the Pack A), -P Bilimoria, ‘The Idea of Hindu Law’, (in the Pack A) Amartya Sen: The Idea of Justice (references to & other writings on non-Western alternatives); Martha Nussbaum: Capabilities Ethics for India. Week VII Personal Laws in India: Colonial Legacy, Heterodoxy, and Uniformity of codified (Secular and modern Hindu) and uncodified (Religious, mostly Muslim) Laws Readings:

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-‘The Enlightenment Paradigm of Native Right and Forged Hybridity of Cultural Rights in British India’, in Michael Barnhardt (ed.) Varieties of Ethical Reflection: New Directions for Ethics in a Global Context, pp. 235-262, Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield), Lanham, Maryland, (2002) (in Pack B), chapter in Indian Ethics vol II Gender, Justice and Ecology

Week VIII:: The Question of Women and Minorities Rights and Distributive Justice, - Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen, Selections from : John Alexander, Capabilities and Social Justice : the political philosophy of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, Aldershot: Ashgate 2007. -Agnes Flavia, ‘Women and Law Reform – A Historical Perspective’ Flavia Agnes Opus on Law and Woman OUP Delhi 2006, (Pack B) - Individualism versus Collective concepts of Human Rights: Cultural Rights, Exit principle, Kymlicka’ s Rights of Multiculturalism. - P Bilimoria, chapters from book in Progress; Abdullah An’naim on Human Values & Rights; Saba Mahmood’s critique from feminist perspective of the above strategies Week IX : First hour: documentary on Women Living Under Muslim Personal Law Second hour: Mid-term Week X : Gandhian Ethics and his idea of tolerance, nonviolence, and Peace Building -‘Gandhi’s Moral and Productive Learning’ model - ‘Gandhian ethics of non-violence’, P Bilimoria (both in Pack C); - Introduction to Part C and - Joseph Prabhu (in IE, CD-book) chapter A22 ‘Gandhi, Empire, and a Culture of Peace’, -Bhikku Parikh: A.16 ‘Hindu Theory of Tolerance’ (IE CD-book) 5

-Essay by H H Dalai Lama on Buddhist ideals of compassion (Pack C) - D E B DuBois, Martin Luther King Jr,, Mandela : and the impact of Gandhian ethics (nonviolence, truth, justice) on African American and Latin-Caribbean Freedom Movements. Week XI: Applied Ethics and Practical Morality: Hands-issues on the Ground Readings: IE (CD-Book) : -A20-21. P Bilimoria and M K Sridhar, ‘Animal Ethics and Ecology in Classical and Contemporary India’. Two sequel chapters (one each in Indian Ethics I & II) -A15 Sallie B King: ‘Engaged Buddhism’. (Indian Ethics II) -A14. Nancy McCagney: ‘Towards an Ecology of Mind’ (Indian Ethics II) B 3a: Selections for A Companion to Bioethics, (Singer and Kuhse) and Journal of Bioethics; Applied Ethics; Report of the Centre for Philosophy and Professional Ethics (CAPPE), series edited by A J C Coady, and his monograph on Religion and the Politics of Violence, B 3 Harvard Project on Ecology and South / and East Asian Cultures

Week XII: Gender, Rights and Justice, and Globalization Readings: IE (CD-Book): Introduction to Part D -A25. Anindita Niyogi Balslev, ‘Women and Values in Traditional India A Feminist Probe’ (Indian Ethics II) -A. 28 Renuka Sharma, ‘Gender/Infanticide: Ethics of Death in the Shadow of Motherhood and Childbirth in India’ (Issues in Bioethics, journal article) -Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ and excerpt on ‘Culture’ from her A Critique of Postcolonial Reason, (Harvard 1999, pp. pp. 374- 387; 408-421 - and her recent work on China; Gloria More, and Julia Ching on Women in China. Week XIII

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Bioethical and Biomedical Issues in India and China Readings: IE Book (CD) -A. 29 Renuka Sharma, Purushottama Bilimoria, Sally Percival Wood, ‘Public Health, Care and Bioethics in Modern India’. (Indian Ethics II) -A.30 J C Arapura and Arvind Sharma, ‘The Interface Between The Mythical And The Moral On The Status Of The Unborn Child In Hinduism’, (Indian Ethics II) -P. Bilimoria, ‘Euthanasia – cross-cultural perspective’ (Indian Ethics II) B 4 Carl Bekker and Damien McKeown: Bioethics in Japan and Buddhism: Death, Dying, Abortion, Euthanasia, and modern-day biotechnological challenges (Journal of Buddhist Ethics). Weeks XIV & XV: Summary of Ethics in Chinese Philosophical Traditions Confucius : How should one live? Listen to heavens, your parents, and elders Mencius : How should one be governed? What rights and powers are to be invested in the rulers, the emperor and the ruling class. Mohists : Cultivation of good character through obedience to principles of law. Chong, Tan & Ten (eds) , Moral Circle, essays by Karyn Lai on Confucian Virtues vs Gilligan; Greenwood: ‘Individualism and Collective in Chinese Moral and Social Thought’ - A J C & Margaret Coady, ‘Regulating the Family’. -

their detractors in the Dao camp: Lao-tze and Chuang-tzu : Be in harmony with Nature and not the Heavens or the Kings.

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(Readings from Reader for Philosophy of Religion Comparative)

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