Workshop in Law, Philosophy, and Political Theory

Law 210.2A – Fall Semester 2023

All sessions for Fall 2023 will be held in person in room 141 Law Building on Fridays from 12:15 pm-2:00 pm (until 3:00 pm for enrolled students only). Papers for upcoming talks are available to download in the table below.  Alternatively, copies of papers may be requested by contacting Jennifer McBride at jrmcbride@berkeley.edu

The full Fall 2023 workshop schedule is available for download here.

Course Description:

This course is a workshop for discussing works in progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The workshop creates a space for students to engage directly with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions toward the goal of fostering critical thinking about concepts of value and developing analytical thinking and writing skills. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines and perspectives who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues philosophers and theorists should know something about.

The theme for the Fall 2023 workshop is “Current Work on the History of Political, Legal, and Moral Philosophy.”

This semester the workshop is co-taught by Kinch Hoekstra and Josh Cohen.

The format of the course is as follows. A designated student 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 all, including non-enrolled students, faculty, and visitors who wish to participate in the workshop discussion. We’ll stop for a break and those not enrolled in the course will leave. Enrolled students will continue the discussion with the guest for the last 50 minutes.

This is a shared seating course between the Law School (Law 210.2A), the Philosophy Department (Philosophy 290), and the Political Science Department (PS 211).  

Zoom is available for those who cannot attend in Person.

Zoom link to join: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/94938490108 

Aug. 25

Introduction 

(Enrolled Students Only)

Instructors:
Professor Kinch Hoekstra hoekstra@berkeley.edu

Professor Josh Cohen joshua_cohen@apple.com

Sept. 1 Stephen Darwall, Philosophy, Yale University

The Beginnings of Analytic Metaethics and the Analytic/Continental Divide

Sept. 8 Andreja Novakovic, Philosophy, UC Berkeley

Hegel’s Answer to the ‘Academy’ Question: Is it Permissible to Deceive a People?

Sept. 15 Dhananjay Jagannathan, Philosophy, Columbia University

A Defense of Aristotelian Justice

Sept. 22 Daniel Lee, Political Science, UC Berkeley

The Grotian Rights Revolution

Sept. 29 William Clare Roberts, Political Science, McGill University

Ideology and Social Opacity: Tracy, Marx, and the Fate of Enlightenment

Oct. 6 Olivia Bailey, Philosophy, UC Berkeley

Sophie de Grouchy and Adam Smith on Sympathy, Economic Inequality, and the Corruption of Moral Sentiments

Oct. 13 Susanne Sreedhar, Philosophy; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Boston University

Thomas Hobbes on Sex Difference and Gender Equality

Oct. 20 Melvin Rogers, Political Science; Political Theory, Brown University

The Darkened Light of Faith: An Introduction

Oct. 27 Shannon Stimson, Government, Georgetown University

Lions in Winter: Sir William Petty, Oliver Cromwell, and Thomas Hobbes on Taxation, Unity, and the Constitution of the Seventeenth-Century State

Nov. 3

Eric Nelson, Government, Harvard University

(Please note that Prof. Nelson will be appearing on Zoom only)

Philo and the Early-Modern Rehabilitation of “Democracy”

Nov. 10

Veteran’s Day – No Workshop

Nov. 17 Bryan Garsten, Political Science and Humanities, Yale University

The Liberalism of Refuge

Nov. 24 Thanksgiving – No Workshop
Dec. 1 Murad Idris, Political Science; Political Theory; Arab and Muslim American Studies, University of Michigan

Violence, Colonialism, and Capitalism in an Islamist Key