Philosophy 290-6

This course is a workshop for discussing work-in-progress in moral, political, and legal theory by invited scholars. The central aim is to enable students to engage directly with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions. Another aim is to create a space that brings together people from different disciplines and perspectives–including economists, sociologists, and political scientists as well as journalists–who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues philosophers and theorists should know something about. This semester our theme is “free speech in the era of social media.”

The format of the course is as follows. For the sessions with guest presenters, lunch will be served starting at 12:00 noon; we’ll begin at 12:15 p.m. A designated commentator will lead off with a 15-minute comment on the paper. The presenter will have 5-10 minutes to respond and then we will open up the discussion to the group. The first part of the course will be open to non-enrolled students, faculty, and visitors who wish to participate in the workshop discussion. We’ll stop for a break at 2:00 p.m. and those not enrolled in the course will leave. Enrolled students will continue the discussion with the guest from 2:10 to 3:00 p.m.

Students enrolled or interested in enrolling should visit the bCourses site: https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1472098

Schedule of Presentations:

August 24: Introduction

August 31: Seana Shiffrin, UCLA

September 7: Jennifer Rothman, Loyola University

September 14: Henry Brady, UC Berkeley

September 21: Heather Whitney, NYU

September 28: Ilya Somin, George Mason University

October 5: Robert Post, Yale University

October 12: Sigal Ben-Porath, University of Pennsylvania

October 19: Leslie Kendrick, University of Virginia

October 26: T. M. Scanlon, Harvard University

November 2: Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Berkeley

November 9: Tim Wu, Columbia University

November 16: Susan Brison, Dartmouth College

November 30: Conclusion