ESG: Teorías de la justicia (BBA00826)

General information

Type:	OP	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	2 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
	Teodor Mellén Vinagre	Ciencias Sociales	ESP

None

None

-In-class sessions (lectures + debates): 18 hours
Lectures: 12 hours
Debates: 6 hours
-Final exam: 2 hours
-Independent study: 30 hours

Companies are key players when structuring our societies. A key question for any society is its ability to organise itself equitably. The education of future business executives also includes training people who are aware of their condition as citizens with a great sense of justice and human qualities.

When can we say that a society is structured fairly and when isn¿t it? The question of justice is key in any society. In our capitalist society, one in which the markets are fundamental in determining the social structure and inequality, the debate on social justice is an open, red-hot and highly controversial discussion.

Political philosophy is a branch of philosophy that specifically addresses this question. In the 20th century, political philosophy specialised in what has been called ¿theories of justice¿, attempting to answer questions such as: What is a fair society? When are inequalities fair and when aren¿t they? What principles of justice enable us to answer these questions consistently?

Various currents of thought, from Egalitarian Liberalism to Libertarianism (Neo-Liberalism) and from Socialism and Republicanism to Communtarianism, have tried to answer these questions, at times sparking passionate debates between them. In this course, we will examine the key ideas of each current for students to be able to understand the different options when addressing the important question of social justice.

A. Understand the importance of the debate on social justice in our societies.
B. Familiarise students with the different currents of contemporary political philosophy and their respective ideas of social justice.
C. Understand why ¿theories of justice¿ have provided conceptual rigour hitherto unknown in the debate on social justice.
D. Relate the different currents of contemporary political philosophy to different modern ideological currents.
E. Understand how theories of justice can shed light on the day-to-day social and political debate.
F. Provide students with conceptual instruments to define their own views of social justice.
G. Understand the limits of different currents of contemporary political philosophy and their respective ideas of social justice.
H. Become aware of the alternative social models to which the different theories of justice point.
I. Acquire a certain level of sensitivity, responsibility, values and human quality, with a special emphasis on students¿ future roles as executives.
J. Incorporate a view of reality capable of instilling a civic commitment amongst students, enabling them as future executives to be aware of their roles as citizens.

Arnsperger, C. and Parijs, P. (2009). Ética económica y social.: Teorías de la sociedad justa. Barcelona: Paidós.

Gargarella, R.: (2010). Las teorías de la justicia después de Rawls: Un breve manual de filosofía política. Barcelona: Paidós.

Kymlicka, W. (2015). Contemporary political philosophy: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sandel, M. J. (2006). Public philosophy: Essays on morality in politics. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Sandel, M. J. (2007). The case against perfection: Ethics in the age of genetic engineering. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Sandel, M. J. (2009). Justice: What's the right thing to do?. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Sandel, M. J. (2012). What money can't buy: The moral limits of markets. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Van Parijs, P. (1993). ¿Qué es una sociedad justa?: Introducción a la práctica de la filosofía política. Barcelona, Spain: Ariel.

Group	Teacher	Department
	Teodor Mellén Vinagre	Ciencias Sociales