4708975: FU_Human Rights (Vorlesung)

Beschreibung

Human rights play a central role in world affairs. As moral, legal, and political norms and standards, human rights are meant to protect individuals' and groups' fundamental rights and freedoms. This introductory lecture is divided into two parts:
In the first part, we'll be looking into the following general questions about human rights: What are human rights? What is their history? What are the mechanisms and instruments of their protection?
In the second part, we'll be investigating practical instances in which the protection of human rights is seriously endangered by: culture, business, technology, and terrorism.
As human rights are at the crossroads of philosophy, law, and politics, this course will show the interconnections between and differences of these three areas. This approach will enable students to gain a comprehensive and interdisciplinary grasp of human rights.

Lernergebnisse

Participants will be able to:

• Describe and familiarize with important theoretical (philosophical) and practical (legal and political) aspects of human rights
• Understand the differences and the complementarity between the perspectives on human rights
• Relate the theoretical and practical conceptions of human rights to relevant contemporary debates
• Formulate their personal opinions about human rights.
• Develop critical thinking.

Lehrmethoden

Lectures, written examination

Voraussetzungen (inhaltlich)

• No prior knowledge on human rights is required.
• An attendance of the seminar "Fundamentals of Philosophy" is recommended

Literatur

- Rowan Cruft, et alii, eds., Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.)
- James Griffin, On Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.)
- Charles Beitz, The Idea of Human Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.)
- Christian Tomuschat, Human Rights. Between Idealism and Realism, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.)
- Alison Renteln, The Cultural Defense (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.)

Relevant Web-resources and academic articles (particularly for the essay) will be available on Moodle.

Kommentar

Fakultätsübergreifendes Wahlfach:
Es gelten keine speziellen Anmeldemodalitäten.