Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2123: The Idea of Human Rights

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Module Aims

The module considers the idea of human rights from a variety of perspectives within political, moral and legal philosophy. We begin by considering the history (and historiography) of the concept of human rights, looking at how the cosmopolitan liberalism of late eighteenth century theorists (such as Kant and Paine). We move on to look at Arendt’s critique of universal human rights and Rorty’s attempt to offer an anti-foundational defence of the idea. We then turn to consider the theories of human rights – advanced by John Rawls, James Griffin and others – before raising specific normative questions about how the concept relates to substantive political concerns. These questions vary from year to year, and will include some of the following: the relationship between human rights and democracy; the human right to freedom of movement; feminism and human rights; the post-colonial critique of human rights practice; human rights and healthcare; and how a concern with human rights relates to the natural environment.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate understanding of the historical and philosophical underpinnings of a prominent political phenomenon 2. Critically evaluate different conceptions of human rights
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Analyse texts in moral, legal and political philosophy 4. Criticise philosophical texts effectively
Personal and Key Skills	5. Formulate and express ideas at different levels of abstraction 6. Demonstrate proficiency in written communication according to scholarly conventions

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Textual Commentary	1000 words	1-6	Written feedback

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	100	2500 words	1-6	Written feedback
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay (2500 words)	1-6	Summer re-sit period

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

The reading will vary from year to year, but will usually include a number of classic historical and contemporary texts that concern human rights, including the following:

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791 [1995]), ed. Mark Philp, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1958) London: George Allen & Unwin
John Rawls, The Law of Peoples (1999) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
James Griffin, On Human Rights (2008) Oxford: Oxford University Press
Charles Beitz, The Idea of Human Rights (2009) Oxford: Oxford University Press