Topics in Literature and Ethics (288-0-20)

Instructors

Regina M Schwartz

Meeting Info

University Hall 318: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

What is the right thing to do? This course will examine ideas of justice in western cultural and literary traditions. Biblical ideas of justice, utilitarianism, rights theory, and more justice theories will be explored. We will read literature alongside these theories, following how such ideas of justice shape the public and intimate lives of people. We will ask how religious ideas of justice inform and depart from secular ideas of justice, how retributive and distributive ideas of justice are imagined and critiqued, and how the relation between justice and law has been conceived. Class participation is required.

Class Materials (Required)

Bible (can use online)
Paradise Lost excerpts (online)
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare (Arden Edition) ISBN 1903436915
Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw (Penguin Edition) ISBN 0140437916
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates (I will send you the online link)
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do by Michael Sandel (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) ISBN 0374532508

Class Attributes

Ethical and Evaluative Thinking Foundational Disci
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area