180180 SE Liberty, Equality, Responsibility and Identity (2025W)
Themes from Contemporary Moral, Social and Political Philosophy
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
ON-SITE
Hinweis der SPL Philosophie:Das Abgeben von ganz oder teilweise von einem KI-tool (z.B. ChatGPT) verfassten Texten als Leistungsnachweis (z.B. Seminararbeit) ist nur dann erlaubt, wenn dies von der Lehrveranstaltungsleitung ausdrücklich als mögliche Arbeitsweise genehmigt wurde. Auch hierbei müssen direkt oder indirekt zitierte Textstellen wie immer klar mit Quellenangabe ausgewiesen werden.Die Lehrveranstaltungsleitung kann zur Überprüfung der Autorenschaft einer abgegebenen schriftlichen Arbeit ein notenrelevantes Gespräch (Plausibilitätsprüfung) vorsehen, das erfolgreich zu absolvieren ist.
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 08.09.2025 00:00 to Su 14.09.2025 23:59
- Registration is open from Mo 22.09.2025 09:00 to We 24.09.2025 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Fr 31.10.2025 23:59
Details
max. 30 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
The exam will take place in the final class on Wednesday 28.01.2026.
There is no class on Wednesday 07.01.2026. This is a reading week for this course.
- Wednesday 15.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 22.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 29.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 05.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 12.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 19.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 26.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- N Wednesday 03.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 10.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 17.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 07.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 14.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 21.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
- Wednesday 28.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2i NIG 2.Stock C0228
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Are liberty and equality in tension with one another? Does responsibility require free will? What role should identity play in politics, morality and moral psychology? Do our philosophical theories about liberty, equality, responsibility and identity need to cohere with one another to do good normative philosophy? These are the sorts of questions in which we will be interested in this course, the aim of which is to introduce students to some important topics in analytic moral and political philosophy. It is divided into four blocs of three weeks, with a bloc each on liberty, equality, responsibility and identity. Each week’s seminar will be structured around discussion of a paper on the topic and will involve extensive small group discussion. In preparation for each week’s seminar, students will read any assigned material and complete some short preparatory reading tasks.
Assessment and permitted materials
The seminar is assessed through weekly preparation tasks and a final exam.
1) Weekly tasks: These tasks are designed to facilitate class discussion and build students’ practical philosophical skills including reading, writing and argumentation. Each weekly task is marked pass/fail.
• Weight of all tasks combined: 35%.
• Deadline: 15:00 on the day before the seminar to which the task belongs.
2) Exam: There will be an in-person exam covering the topics discussed in the course. Students will be given a selection of essay questions and write on one.
• Weight: 65%.
• Deadline: The exam will take place in the final class on 28 January.
1) Weekly tasks: These tasks are designed to facilitate class discussion and build students’ practical philosophical skills including reading, writing and argumentation. Each weekly task is marked pass/fail.
• Weight of all tasks combined: 35%.
• Deadline: 15:00 on the day before the seminar to which the task belongs.
2) Exam: There will be an in-person exam covering the topics discussed in the course. Students will be given a selection of essay questions and write on one.
• Weight: 65%.
• Deadline: The exam will take place in the final class on 28 January.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
The weekly tasks are marked pass/fail each week. The exam will be graded as follows (percentages are based on full marks):
80-100% - 1
70-79% - 2
60-69% - 3
50-59% - 4
49-0% - 5
A positive evaluation requires that you achieve a pass grade (4) or above in all assessment categories, and that you actively attend the seminar. Conditional on fulfilling the necessary requirements just mentioned, the final grade, comprised between 1 (“Very good”) and 4 (“Adequate”), is a rounded weighted average of the separate assessment grades, according to the weights outlined above. A failure to achieve a pass grade in one of the necessary requirements automatically yields a 5 (“Insufficient”).Active attendance: Two unauthorized absences will be excused.Note: If you take the final exam on 28.01.2026 and do not achieve enough points for a positive assessment of the course, you may take a repeat exam in the first week of March 2026. The date and time of this repeat exam is to be confirmed later in the Semester.
80-100% - 1
70-79% - 2
60-69% - 3
50-59% - 4
49-0% - 5
A positive evaluation requires that you achieve a pass grade (4) or above in all assessment categories, and that you actively attend the seminar. Conditional on fulfilling the necessary requirements just mentioned, the final grade, comprised between 1 (“Very good”) and 4 (“Adequate”), is a rounded weighted average of the separate assessment grades, according to the weights outlined above. A failure to achieve a pass grade in one of the necessary requirements automatically yields a 5 (“Insufficient”).Active attendance: Two unauthorized absences will be excused.Note: If you take the final exam on 28.01.2026 and do not achieve enough points for a positive assessment of the course, you may take a repeat exam in the first week of March 2026. The date and time of this repeat exam is to be confirmed later in the Semester.
Examination topics
The exam covers the assigned reading material and content of class discussion.
Reading list
Readings and related material will be made available on Moodle for enrolled students.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Tu 07.10.2025 14:26