Human Thought 2
Module: Economic Framework
Matter: The individual, Business and Society
Main language of instruction: Spanish
Other languages of instruction: English
If the student is enrolled for the English track then classes for that subject will be taught in the same language.
Head instructor
Dr. Ernesto Manuel PASCUAL - empascual@uic.es
Dr. Joan Vianney DOMINGO - vdomingo@uic.es
Office hours
Please make an appointment by e-mail.
Based on the assumption that students have already acquired basic knowledge about human thought, and have addressed some of their thoughts on liberalism, conservatism, nationalism and socialism, this course is intended to take a further step towards covering some of the contributions to the main contemporary theoretical debates in the field of political theory and philosophy.
There are no formal prerequisites for taking this course. However, it is assumed that the student has the necessary skills to tackle texts of certain conceptual complexity, work on them appropriately, present them in public and discuss their content critically.
Students should also have the habit of reading general information newspapers, both Spanish and foreign.
Electronic devices may not be used in class, either to communicate or take notes. Computers, tablets and cell phones are banned from the classroom.
Given the scope of the material, we have opted to make an incursion into the work and thought of some of the leading authors in the main currents of contemporary political theory.
This course will therefore focus on:
1. Introducing the main currents and debates and arguments of contemporary regulatory policy theory from a contextualist perspective, that is, guided by the fundamental problems of today’s democracies.
2. Complementing the empirical perspective of human thought using a normative and pluralist approach to values, arguments and assumptions on the basis of which research questions and designs are designed, if they use and evaluate public policies or institutions.
3. Developing a critical perspective towards analysis of the concepts, vocabularies and underlying assumptions of the institutional arrangements and public policies in contemporary democracies.
4. Reviewing arguments, ideas and political concepts and enriching vocabulary to improve the capacity for personal reflection, argumentation, presentation and oral and written expression.
5. Relating contemporary theoretical-political debates to the other intellectual and political dimensions of contemporary cultural life: cinema, painting, music, literature.
Analyse and critically assess the emergence of liberalism.
Analyse and critically evaluate the emergence of interwar fascism and the reconstruction of liberal-democratic thinking after World War II.
Analyse and critically evaluate alternatives to liberalism.
Debate from different theoretical perspectives.
Debate the rebirth of republicanism.
Debate the communitarianism-libertarianism conflict.
Describe the emergence of the State in a modern sense and set out the theoretical contributions of Machiavelli, Bodino, Hobbes.
Describe and comment validly on the new approaches of democratic-liberal thought, as individualistic foundation or the neutrality of institutional designs.
Evaluate the contribution of movements such as feminism, environmentalism and various identity movements.
Explain the redefinition of the concept of citizenship in the context of globalisation.
Describe the impact of the emergence of Christianity on political thought.
Theoretical explanations and practical activities will be alternated.
This course is assessed as follows:
-Attendance and participation. In addition to attendance being compulsory, attitude will be assessed, especially in students able to relate the different currents of thought and theoretical-conceptual approaches to the subject with various current political and social issues.
- A final examination, consisting of four short questions worth 1.5 points each and a long question worth 4 points. To pass the course, students must pass the mid-course examination with a minimum pass mark.
Evaluation Summary:
Attendance: 5%
Participation: 15%
Practicum: 25%
Final Examination: 55%
There are some special considerations for the conditions of the evaluation system:
In order to pass the course students must pass the final examination with a minimum pass mark.
All submissions must be made through the Virtual Campus in the specific space provided for this purpose. Any submission after the deadline or submitted by other means will be considered not to have been submitted.
Finally, if any type of plagiarism is detected (repetition of projects from other years, websites, books, etc.), during any of the planned activities, especially course projects, the whole module will be failed, and must be repeated in its entirety.
EVALUATION SYSTEM |
ECTS CREDITS |
PERCENTAGE |
Classroom attendance and participation |
10% |
|
Final examinations |
60% |
|
Project evaluation and debates |
30% |
EVALUATION SYSTEM | ECTS CREDITS | PERCENTAGE |
---|---|---|
Classroom attendance and participation | 10 % | |
Final exams | 60% | |
Project evaluation and debates | 30% |
Other materials: during the course the documents necessary for carrying out practical activities will be distributed in class or uploaded in the Moodle.
E: exam date | R: revision date | 1: first session | 2: second session: