Course Name Year Term Period Faculty / Graduate School All Instructors Credits
50582:[2025 Fall]Theories of Justice (P) 2025 Fall Fri3 College　Of　Policy　Science NARITA HIROKI 2

Campus

OIC

Class Venue

AS452

Language

English

Course Outline and Method

The aim of this course is to develop a critical understanding of a number of important theories of justice in contemporary Western political philosophy. These theories seek to provide guidance on important issues of distributive justice (who ought to get what, when and why?), cultural justice (to what extend should citizens recognize each other’s different culture?), gender justice (what does gender equality look like?), and global justice (what do wealthy individuals and wealthy societies owe to those in extreme poverty?).

This course will consist of four sections: (1) we will learn the foundational concepts and values in western political philosophy (state, liberty, and democracy), (2) we will examine major theories of distributive justice (liberalism, libertarianism, luck egalitarianism, and capability approach), (3) we will apply the theories to current issues (multiculturalism, gender equality, and global poverty), (4) we will explore how to tackle existing injustices (structural and epistemic injustice).

Each class consists of a lecture part and a student discussion part. Student discussions will be based on reading assignments (book chapters and articles) distributed by the instructor.

Student Attainment Objectives

• Students will state clearly the key contentions of a variety of theories of justice discussed on the course

• Students will summarise and explain the political significance of those theories, and understand how they relate to each other

• Students will show an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the particular theories we will discuss

Recommended Preparatory Course

Course Schedule

Lecture/Instructor（When there are multiple instructors) Theme
Keyword, References and Supplementary Information
1

Introduction

What is political philosophy?

【+R-Jugyo】Video guidance (posted on manaba)

2

Basic concept (1): State and political obligation

Reading:
Bas van der Vossen, Political Philosophy: the basics (Routledge, 2025), Chapter 2 "Political obligation", pp.20-37.

3

Basic concept (2): Democracy

Reading:
1. Stuart White, Equality (Polity Press, 2007), Chapter 2 'Democracy,' pp.25-33 and pp. 42-52.
2. Jason Brennan, 'Against Democracy,' The national interest (https://nationalinterest.org/feature/against-democracy-17605) (September 7, 2016).

4

Basic concept (3): Freedom

Reading:
1. Andrew Shorten, Contemporary Political Theory (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), Chapter 7 "Freedom", pp.176-192.
2. "Nudging" In: Catriona Mckinnon, Robert Jubb, and Patrick Tomlin (eds.), Issues in Political Theory (4th edition, Oxford University Press, 2019), pp.42-45.

5

Distributive justice (1): Rawslisan liberalism

Reading:
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, revised edition (Harvard University Press, 1999), section 3-4, 11, 13, 17, 24, and 26 (excerption). (This is included in Steven Cahn, Political Philosophy: The essential texts, pp.917-931).

6

Distributive justice (2): Libertarianism

Reading:
Mihael Sandel, Justice (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009), Chapter 3 'Do we own ourselves?: Libertarianism,' pp.58-74.

7

Distributive justice (3): Luck Egalitarianism

Reading:
Stuart White, Equality (Polity Press, 2007), Chapter 4 'Luck Egalitarianism,' pp.78-97.

8

Distributive justice (4): Limitarianism

Reading:
Ingrid Robeyns, 'What, if anything, is wrong with extreme wealth?," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 20:3, 251-266, 2019.

9

Issues of justice (1): Multiculturalism

Reading:
Colin Farelly. An Introduction to Contemporary Political Theory (Sage, 2004), Chapter 6 'Multiculturalism,' pp.119-136.

10

Issues of justice (2): Global distributive justice

Reading:
Thom Brooks, Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals (Wiley, 2025), Chapter 7 "Global Justice", pp.181-201.

11

Issues of justice (3): Just war

Reading:
Heather Widdows, Global Ethics: An Introduction (Routledge ,2011), Chapter 8 'Global conflict: War, terrorism, and humanitarian intervention,' pp.173-199.

12

Issues of justice (4): Feminism and gender

Reading:
Catriona Mckinnon, Robert Jubb, and Patrick Tomlin (eds.), Issues in Political Theory (4th edition, Oxford University Press, 2019), Chapter 9 "Gender", pp.176-192.

13

Theory of injustice (1): Structural injustice

Reading:
1. Iris Marion Young, Responsibility for Justice (Oxford University Press, 2011), Chapter 2 "Structure as the subject of justice, pp.43-52.
2. Heather Widdows, 'Structural injustice and the Requirements of Beauty,' Journal of Social Philosophy 52(2): 251-269, 2021.

14

Theory of injustice (2): Epistemic injustice

Reading:
Miranda Fricker, Epistemic Injustice (Oxford University Press, 2007), Chapter 1 "Testimonial Injustice", pp.9-29.

Class Format

14 classes on Face to Face basis, 0 classes on Media basis (either live-streamed classes or on-demand classes).

Recommendations for Private Study

Students are expected to read the assignments and prepared for discussion.

Grade Evaluation Method

Kind Percentage Grading Criteria etc.
Final Examination (Written)

Report Examination
(A report to be submitted by the unified deadline)

Exams and/or Reports other than those stated above, and Continuous Assessment　
(Evaluation of Everyday Performance in Class)		 100

• Attendance 15%
• Active participation 15%
• Assignments 30%
• One (maximum) 3000-word final essay 40%

Grade Evaluation Method （Note）

• Attendance is required. Students with five or more unexcused absences will fail this course.

• Students are required to submit weekly assignments including summaries of the text and reflection sheets.

• Assignment submitted without class attendance will not be accepted.

• The instructor will give some important information on the course organization and evaluation criteria in the first week of class.

Advice to Students on Study and Research Methods

You are expected to do the reading (20-30 pages every week) and submit the weekly assignment before class. You should arrive to class on time and be ready to discuss the reading.

Philosophy can be difficult to read if you aren’t used to it; do your best to get through the reading so that you at least have an overview of the big ideas, even if you don’t quite follow every thought. You may also send me message or come see me in office for tips, methods, and strategies for getting through readings and getting the most out of them.

Here is several tips for reading philosophy.

Guidelines on reading philosophy (by Jim Pryor):
https://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html

How to read philosophy (a step-by-step guide for confused students by Uni Edinburgh)
https://www.blogs.ppls.ed.ac.uk/2017/02/28/read-philosophy-step-step-guide-confused-students/

Textbooks

Textbooks （Frequency of Use, Note）

Instructor will distribute all reading materials (book chapters and articles) through manaba+R.

Reference Books

Reference Books （Frequency of Use, Note）

Web Pages for Reference

How to Communicate with the Instructor In and Out of Class(Including Instructor Contact Information)

Learning Management System （manaba+R）,Talk with Students

Other Comments

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