ASTK12128U Tolerance, free speech, and the politics of democratic pluralism

Volume 2013/2014
Content
The objective of this seminar is to consider the normative and political issues raised by discussions about tolerance and free speech in Western-style democracies. The first half of the seminar will consider the historical development of the concepts of tolerance and free speech, and will go on to discuss some of the most important contributions to the discussion of these concepts in contemporary democratic theory. The second half of the seminar will apply the theoretical and historical considerations to the discussion of contemporary cases, including the Danish cartoon controversy, the French hijab case, the British Salman Rushdie case, and the United States Supreme Court decision about religious freedom in Employment Division v. Smith.
Learning Outcome
Is being updated.
Literature

Bejczy, István. “Tolerantia: A Medieval Concept.” Journal of History of Ideas, vol. 58, no. 3 (1997), pp. 365–384.

Bowen, John R. Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007)Brown, Wendy. Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.

Cohen, J. (1993) ‘Freedom of Expression’ Philosophy and Public Affairs, 22 (3): 207-263.

Creppell, Ingrid. Toleration and Identity: Foundations in Early Modern Thought. London: Routledge, 2003.

Fiala, Andrew. “Stoic Tolerance.” Res Publica, vol. 9 (2003), pp. 149–168.

Forst, Rainer. “Toleration, justice and reason.” In The Culture of Toleration in Diverse Societies, edited by Catriona McKinnon and Dario Castiglio. New York: Manchester University Press, 2003.

Habermas, Jürgen. “Intolerance and Discrimination.” International Journal of Constitutional Law, vol. 1, no. 1 (2003), pp. 2–12.

———. “Religious Tolerance – The Pacemaker for Cultural Rights.” Philosophy, Vol. 79, No. 1 (2004), pp. 5 – 18.

Harcourt, Bernard R. “The Collapse of the Harm Principle.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 90, no. 1 (1999), pp. 1–93.

Jones, Peter. “Respecting Beliefs and Rebuking Rushdie.” British Journal of Political Science, vol. 20, no. 4 (October 1990), pp 415–437.

Klausen, Jytte. The Cartoons That Shook the World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Laursen, John Christian, and Cary J. Nederman, ed. Difference and Dissent: Theories of Toleration in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996.

Lupu, Ira. “Employment Division v. Smith and the Decline of Supreme Court-Centrism,” Brigham Young University Law Review (1993)Mahmood, Saba. “Religious Reason and Secular Affect: An Incommensurable Divide?” Critical Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 4 (2009), pp. 836–862.

March, Andrew. “Rethinking Religious Reasons in Public Justification.” American Political Science Review, forthcoming 2013.

Marcuse, Herbert. “Repressive Tolerance.” In A Critique of Pure Tolerance, edited by Robert Paul Wolff, Barrington Moore, Jr., Herbert Marcuse. Boston: Beacon Press, 1965.

McConnell, Michael W. “Free Exercise Revisionism and the Smith Decision,” University of Chicago Law Review, vol. 57 (1990), pp. 1109–1153.

McKinnon, Catriona. Toleration: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge, 2006.

Peters, John Durham. Courting the Abyss: Free Speech and the Liberal Tradition. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2005.

Pipes, Daniel. The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West. 2nd edition. New York: Transaction Publishers, 2003.

Rawls, John. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Rostbøll, Christian. “Autonomy, Respect, and Arrogance in the Danish Cartoon Controversy.” Political Theory, Vol. 37, no. 5 (2009), pp. 623–648.

Scanlon, Thomas M. “The Difficulty of Tolerance.” In Toleration: An Elusive Virtue, edited by David Heyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.

———. “A Theory of Freedom of Expression.” In The Difficulty of Tolerance: Essays in Political Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Scott, Joan W. The Politics of the Veil. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.

Žižek, Slavoj. “Tolerance and the Intolerable: Enjoyment, Ethics and Event,” in Glyn Daly (interview) Conversations with Žižek. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004.
Lectures and class discussions.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 28
  • Exam
  • 79
  • Preparation
  • 168
  • Total
  • 275
Credit
10 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination
An oral exam based on a synopsis written by the student
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
  • Grade 12 is given for an outstanding performance: the student lives up to the course’s goal description in an independent and convincing manner with no or few and minor shortcomings
     
  • Grade 7 given for a good performance: the student is confidently able to live up to the goal description, albeit with several shortcomings
     
  • Grade 02 is given for an adequate performance: the minimum acceptable performance in which the student is only able to live up to the goal description in an insecure and incomplete manner