POLn4054 Theory and Practice of Human Rights

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 7 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Patrik Taufar, MA, E.MA, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Baroš, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Lucie Pospíšilová
Supplier department: Division of Politology – Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 12:00–13:40 U41
Prerequisites
Ability to read scholarly text in English; willingness to participate in in-class discussions.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to offer the complex view on the philosophical foundations of the concept of human rights. Henceforth, the course will be divided into two parts: In its first part, the genesis and development of the concept of human rights will be delienated; in its second part, the course will deal with the current issues concerning human rights concerning its definition, interpretation and application.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students should be able to: distinguish between ancient and modern natural right and natural law tradition; understand the the origins and the development of the concept of human (subjective, natural) rights; interpret main watersheds in the history of human rights and interpret legal development in the Eastern Europe; distinguish between different schools of legal theory in their relation to the concept of human rights; understand and explain main issues of jurisprudence concerning human rights (human dignity, liberty, equality, discrimination); interpret crucial decisions of Czech Constitutional Court on the basis of Czech legal system; consider current critiques of rights talk or attacks on the very notion of rights.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to Human Rights Studies
  • 2. The Concept of Human Rights: Conceptual and Methodological Issues
  • I. Part – Genesis and Development of Human Rights
  • 3. Origin of the Subjective (Natural) Rights.
  • 4. Development of Liberal Tradition of Rights (From Hobbes Through Enlightment to Nineteen Century).
  • 5. Nacism and Universal Declaration of Human Rights: from the Dominance od Legal Positivism to Renaissance of Natural Law.
  • II. part – Current Debates on Human Rights. Big Issues of Jurisprudence.
  • 6. Euthanasia: The Clash of Philosophical Arguments
  • 7. Natural Law and Legal Positivism - Current Debates.
  • 8. Human Dignity in Legal Discourse. What is Man?
  • 9. Liberty and Equality. Dicrimination and Law.
  • 10. Universalism versus Particularism: Cultural Relativity of Human Rights?
  • 11. Equality and Discrimination.
  • 12. The Justification of Human Rights: The Example of Freedom of Speech
Literature
    required literature
  • Milbank, John 2013. “ Dignity Rather than Rights ” . In: Understanding Human Dignity . Ed. Christopher McCrudden. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 189 - 205 .
  • Šejvl, Michal 2017. Přirozená subjektivní práva mezi středověkem a novověkem. Právník , vol. 156, no. 5., 416 - 452.
  • Seagrave, S. Adam 2011. How Old Are Modern Rights?: On the Lockean Roots o f Contemporary Human Rights Discourse. Journal of the History of Ideas , vol. 72, no. 2, 305 - 327.
  • Rosen, Michael 2013. “ Dignity: The Case Against. ” In: Understanding Human Dignity . Ed. Christopher McCrudden. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 143 - 154 .
  • Šejvl, Michal 2014. Původ pojmu subjektivního práva v antickém právním myšlení v kontextu uvažování o lidských právech. Právník , Roč. 153, č. 6, 448 - 463.
  • Wagnerová, Eliška, Šimíček, Vojtěch, Langášek Tomáš, Pospíšil, Ivo a kol. 2012. Listina základních práv a svobod – komentář . Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 1 - 46
  • Barendt, Eric 2012. „Freedom of Speech.“ In: The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law . Eds. Michel Rosenfeld and András Sajó. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 370 - 396.
  • Kateb, George 2014. „The concept of human dignity. A summary statement.“ In: George Kateb: Dignity, Morality, Individuality . Ed. John Seery. London: Routledge, 11 - 24.
  • Waldron, Jeremy 2012. Dignity, Rank, and Rights . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 13 - 36, 47 - 70.
  • Donnelly, Jack 2002. Univ ersal Human Rights in Theory and Practice . Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 7 - 53.
  • Wagnerová, Eliška, Šimíček, Vojtěch, Langášek Tomáš, Pospíšil, Ivo a kol. 2012. Listina základních práv a svobod – komen tář . Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 1 - 46.
  • Freeman, Michael 2011. Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach . Cambridge: Polity, 37 - 60.
  • Mahlmann, Matthias 2012. „Human Dignity and Autonomy in Modern Constitutional Orders.“ In: The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law . Eds. Michel Rosenfeld and András Sajó. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 370 - 396.
  • Milbank, John 2012. Against human rights: Liberty in the Western tradition. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 1, no. 1, 203 - 234.
  • BARTOŇ, Michal, Jan KRATOCHVÍL, Martin KOPA, Maxim TOMOSZEK, Jiří JIRÁSEK and Ondřej SVAČEK. Základní práva. 1st ed. Praha: Leges, 2016, 608 pp. ISBN 978-80-7502-128-1. info
  • BARAK, Aharon. Human dignity : the constitutional value and the constitutional right. Translated by Daniel Kayros. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, xxxviii, 3. ISBN 9781107462069. info
  • DUFEK, Pavel and Hubert SMEKAL. Lidská práva v mezinárodní politice (Human Rights in International Politics). Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 2014, 447 pp. ISBN 978-80-7478-720-1. URL info
  • HOLZER, Jan, Pavel MOLEK, Jiří BAROŠ, Pavel DUFEK, Michal MOCHŤAK, Ivo POSPÍŠIL, Petr PRECLÍK and Hubert SMEKAL. Demokratizace a lidská práva. Středoevropské pohledy (Democratization and Human Rights. Central European Perspectives). 1st ed. Brno - Praha: MUNI Press - SLON, 2013, 266 pp. Studie 105. svazek. ISBN 978-80-7419-159-6. info
  • Understanding human dignity. Edited by Christopher McCrudden. 1st ed. Oxford: Published for The British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2013, xxxvii, 74. ISBN 9780197265642. info
  • ROSEN, Michael. Dignity : its history and meaning. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2012, xvii, 176. ISBN 9780674064430. info
  • Religion and human rights : an introduction. Edited by John Witte - M. Christian Green. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, xviii, 392. ISBN 9780199733453. info
  • BAROŠ, Jiří. Svoboda a rovnost v důstojnosti a právech. Základní práva a svobody obecně (komentář k čl. 1 Listiny) (Freedom and Equality in Dignity and Rights. Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in General (Commentary on Article 1 of the Charter)). In Eliška Wagnerová, Vojtěch Šimíček, Tomáš Langášek, Ivo Pospíšil. Listina základních práv a svobod. Komentář. 1. vyd. Praha: Wolters Kluwer ČR, a. s., 2012, p. 55-78. Kodex. ISBN 978-80-7357-750-6. URL info
  • The Oxford handbook of comparative constitutional law. Edited by András Sajó - Michel Rosenfeld. 1st ed. pub. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, xix, 1396. ISBN 9780199689286. info
  • KATEB, George. Human dignity. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011, xiii, 238. ISBN 9780674048379. info
  • MARITAIN, Jacques. Člověk a stát. Translated by Karel Šprunk. Vyd. 1. Praha: Triáda, 2007, 211 s. ISBN 9788086138862. info
  • OAKLEY, Francis. Natural law, laws of nature, natural rights : continuity and discontinuity in the history of ideas. New York: Continuum, 2005, 143 p. ISBN 0826417655. URL info
  • EDMUNDSON, William A. An introduction to rights. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, xv, 223. ISBN 0521008700. info
  • GLENDON, Mary Ann. A world made new : Eleanor Roosvelt and the declaration of human rights. New York: Random House, 2001, xxi, 333. ISBN 0375760466. info
  • WELLMAN, Carl. The proliferation of rights : moral progress or empty rhetoric? Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1999, vii, 191. ISBN 0813328217. URL info
  • TIERNEY, Brian. The idea of natural rights : studies on natural rights, natural law, and church law, 1150-1625. Michigan :: Emory University, 1997, xi, 380. ISBN 0802848540. info
Teaching methods
The teaching method will be short lectures followed by seminar discussions (the two parts will not be always strictly separated). Students are encouraged to actively participate by posing questions of clarification and bringing up topics for discussion. They are expected to read the assigned reading(s) for each seminar carefully and prepare their own comments and questions, even if they do not submit a position paper for a given topic.

Sumary: lectures
in-class discussions
debate contests
reading and analysis of texts (position papers, final paper)
Assessment methods
(1) Position paper. Based on the readings, students are required to write at least one position papers (ca. 5 standard pages, each). If there are two or more required readings, students should briefly summarise all of them and then proceed to discuss, criticize etc. selected issue(s) (depending on one’s preferences). Based on their papers, students are thus encouraged to actively participate in the seminars.

(2) Final paper (approximately 10 standard pages) which should deal with a topic relevant to the course. (3) Participation in one discussion session. For a discussion session three groups will be created: the first one will answer the question positively and defend the corresponding position, the second one will take the opposite stance The third group will act as referees. Students will create groups during the third week at the latest.
The winning party will receive two points, the points received by losing party and referees will depend on the quality of their argumentation.
For further information please consult the course syllabus in the Study materials

Grades: at least 60 % points
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
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