PHI 3644 Honors Obligations
 
Prof. Mark Tunick
Spring 2003

Description: We examine obligations, including the moral obligation to keep a promise, the legal obligation to abide by a contract, the political obligation to obey the government, and the obligation we may have to future generations. Focusing on these sorts of obligations will let us think both generally about the connections between morality, law, and politics, and about specific issues such as: How do obligations arise--are they natural, or merely conventions? What ought we to do if we have conflicting obligations? Are we obligated to fulfill a promise or contract made under duress? If we think not, how do we draw the line between duress and other sorts of motivations? Are we obligated to obey a law or an order we think unjust?

Readings: Two paperback books should be available at the bookstore: Charles Fried, Contract as Promise (Harvard UP); and Michael Walzer, Obligations (Harvard UP). Additional material will either be handed out or placed on reserve (indicated by a *) or is available online: if you are off-campus, you may need to create a proxy--your login is your 14-digit student ID, and the password is 'fau'. All court cases are available online at lexis-nexis.

Requirements: Grades will be based on: participation (1/3), which will be based on regular quizzes or 1-2 page typed critical analyses of readings and contributions to class discussion; and two papers each of 7-8 pages (1/3 each). Each unexcused absence beyond 1 will result in a 1/3 letter grade reduction for participation (e.g. with 3 unexcused absences, A in participation becomes B+). Students agree to adhere to the honor code, the text of which is at www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html.  You are encouraged to discuss the course material with each other, however all assignments must be entirely your own work: you are not permitted to copy or borrow from the reading notes, drafts, or outlines of other students.  If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism or a violation of the honor code, consult with me beforehand.

Office Hours: Tue and Thu 2-3, and Wed 1-5, in MHA 115. Additional times can be arranged by phoning 799-8650, or emailing me at tunick@fau.edu.

Schedule of Reading

I. Introduction: Obligations and Obedience
1/7: Discussion of William Godwin's position: "I have promised to bestow a sum of money upon some good and respectable purpose. In the interval between the promise and my fulfilling it, a greater and nobler purpose offers itself, and calls with an imperious voice for my cooperation. Which ought I to prefer? That which best deserves my preference. A promise can make no alteration in the case" (Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, bk. 3, ch. 3, available online)

For those interested: Montesquieu on the Troglodytes, from Persian Letters (11-14)--available online.

1/9: U.S. v. Calley, 22 U.S.C.M.A. 534 (1973), available online at lexis-nexis: read opinion of Quinn and dissent of Darden; Hannah Arendt, "Personal Responsibility under Dictatorship," The Listener, August 6, 1964*

1/14: Stanley Milgram, "Obedience and Disobedience to Authority"*

II. Moral Obligation:  John Locke believed the obligation to keep promises existed in a state of nature. "The promises and bargains for truck, &c. between [t]wo men in the desert island ...; or between a Swiss and an Indian, in the woods of America, are binding to them, though they are perfectly in a state of nature in reference to one another: for truth and keeping of faith belongs to men, as men, and not as members of society" (Locke, Second Treatise, ch. 2, Par. 14, available online). Differences in language might prevent the Swiss and the Indian from actually using the word "promise" or its equivalent to create an obligation. But Locke's point is that a promissory obligation could arise between them even though they do not share a social practice of promising, or the word "promise." The obligation is natural, not conventional. We begin with Hume, who disagrees with Locke.
1/16: David Hume, A Treatise on Human Nature, Book III, part II, section 5: 'Of the obligation of promises'*, and online

1/21: John Rawls, 'Two Concepts of Rules', The Philosophical Review, 64:3-32 (Jan., 1955), available online at jstor.

1/23: John Searle, 'How to derive ought from is', Philosophical Review 73:43-58 (January 1964), available online at jstor.

1/28: Neil MacCormick, 'Voluntary Obligations and Normative Powers I', Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, vol. 46 supplement, pp. 59-78 (1972)*

1/30: Korn and Korn, 'Where People Don't Promise', Ethics 93:445-50 (1983), available online at jstor.
Additional handout: Richard Fox and Joseph DeMarco, "The Immorality of Promising," Journal of Value Inquiry 27:81-84 (1993)

2/4: Thomas Scanlon, 'Promises and Practices', Philosophy and Public Affairs 19:199-226 (Summer 1990), available online at jstor.

2/6: Scanlon, continued.

Further reading on promises for those interested:
Ardal, Pall, "And That's a Promise," Philosophical Quarterly 18:225-237 (July 1968), available online at jstor.
Brandt, R.B., "The concepts of obligation and duty," Mind 73:374-93 (1964), available online at jstor.
Downie, R.S., "Three Accounts of Promising," Philosophical Quarterly 35:259-71 (July 1985), available online at jstor.
Grant, C.K., "Promises," Mind 58:359-66 (July 1949), available online at jstor.
McNeilly, F.S., "Promises De-Moralized," Philosophical Review 81:63-81 (1972), available online at jstor.
Melden, A.I., "On Promising," Mind 65:49-66 (June 1956), available online at jstor.
Peetz, Vera, "Promises and Threats," Mind 86:578-81 (1977), available online at jstor.
Smith, Holly,  “A Paradox of Promising,” Philosophical Review 106:153-196 (April 1997), available online at jstor.
Tunick, Mark,  Practices and Principles (1998), chapter 3

III. Contracts and Legal Obligation: The state only legally recognizes and enforces certain promises. Which? Which should it enforce? Is it appropriate for the state to use the law to enforce moral obligations?
2/11: Introductory material on contracts, from Burnham, Legal System of the U.S., pp. 382-98*; and the following cases available online at lexis-nexis (Note: you needn't read a case's headnotes or syllabus if included--begin with the 'Opinion'):
Mills v. Wyman, 3 Pick. 207 (1826)
Webb v McGowin, 168 So. 196 (1936)

2/13: Contracts cases (available online at lexis-nexis):
Britton v Turner, 6 N.H. 481 (1834)
Garcia v von Micsky, 602 F.2d 51 (1979)
Bradley v Somers, 322 S.E. 2d 665 (1984)

For those interested: Wildley v Springs, 840 F. Supp. 1259 (1994) (breach of promise to marry suit)

2/18: Charles Fried, Contract as Promise, pp. 1-56 and notes; McDevitt v Stokes, 192 S.W. 681 (1917), available online at lexis-nexis

2/20: Fried, Contract as Promise, pp. 57-91 and notes; Obde v Schlemeyer, 353 P. 2d 672 (1960), available online at lexis-nexis

2/25: Fried, Contract as Promise, pp. 92-132 and notes; Post v Jones, 60 U.S. 150 (1856), available online at lexis-nexis

Further Reading on contracts for those interested: (law review articles are available online at lexis-nexis)
Atiyah, P.S., Review of Fried, Contract as Promise, 95 Harvard Law Review 509 (1981); The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979), and Promises, Morals, and Law (1981)
Eisenberg, Melvin, "Donative Promises," 47 U.Chicago L.R.1 (1979)
Fried, Charles, Review of Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract, 93 Harvard Law Review 1858(1980)
Friedman, Lawrence, Contract Law in America (1965)
Grotius, Hugo, Rights of War and Peace, chs. 11 and 12.
Hart, H.L.A., "Legal and Moral Obligation" in A.I. Melden, ed., Essays in Moral Philosophy (1958)
Horwitz, Mortin, Transformation of American Law (1977), ch. 6.
Kronman, Anthony, "Contract Law and Distributive Justice," 89 Yale Law Journal 472 (1980)
Kull, Andrew, "Reconsidering Gratuitous Promises," 21 J.Legal Studies 39 (January 1992)
Macaulay, Stuart, "An Empirical View of Contract," 1985 Wisconsin Law Review (1985)
Posner, Richard, Economic Analysis of Law, chs. 3 and 4.
Tunick, Mark, Practices and Principles, chapter 4.

IV. Political Obligation: Our concern here is with the obligation citizens and resident aliens have to obey the laws of the state to which they belong or in which they reside. How does this obligation arise? Who is obligated and to what extent? Do I have an obligation to obey a law I regard as unjust? Do I have an obligation to fight in wars I oppose? Does a prisoner of war have an obligation to escape? Why do people in fact obey the law?
2/27: Is disobedience ever justified?
Rdg: Henry Thoreau, "On Civil Disobedience" (1848), available online; John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, secs 55-59*
PAPER ONE DUE [extended due date is 3/11, in class]

3/4, 3/6: No classes due to spring break

3/11: Consent theory
Rdg:  H. Beran, 'In defense of the consent theory of political obligation',  Ethics 87:260-71 (1977), available online at jstor; Walzer, Obligations, 'Introduction'

3/13: Gratitude theory
Rdg: A.D.M. Walker, 'Political Obligation and the Argument from Gratitude', Philosophy and Public Affairs 17:191-211 (Summer 1988); George Klosko, 'Political Obligation and Gratitude', Philosophy and Public Affairs 18:352-58 (Fall 1989); and A.D.M. Walker, 'Obligations of Gratitude and Political Obligation', Philosophy and Public Affairs 18:359-64 (Fall 1989), all available online at jstor.

3/18: Fairness theory
Rdg: George Klosko, 'Presumptive Benefit, Fairness, and Political Obligation', Philosophy and Public Affairs 16:241-59 (Summer 1987), available online at jstor.

3/20: Natural Duty theory
Rdg: Jeremy Waldron, 'Special ties and Natural Duties', Philosophy and Public Affairs 22:3-30 (Winter 1993), available online at jstor.

3/25: The obligation to obey law
Rdg: Mark Tunick, 'The Moral Obligation to Obey Law', Journal of Social Philosophy 33:464-83 (Fall 2002)*, also available online.

3/27: Why do people obey the law, empirically?
Rdg: Tom Tyler et.al., "Maintaining Allegiance toward Political Authorities: The Role of Prior Attitudes and the Use of Fair Procedures," American Journal of Political Science 33:629-62 (August 1989): read 629-34, 643-47: available online at jstor.

4/1: Is there an obligation to die for the state?
Rdg: Michael Walzer, Obligations, chs. 4-6
Film: Berkeley in the 60's

4/3: Do POW's have an obligation to try to escape?
Rdg: Walzer, ch. 7

4/8: Is there ever an obligation to disobey?
Rdg: Walzer, chs. 1, 3

4/10:  Is there an obligation to live? (suicide laws)
Rdg: Walzer, ch. 8

<>Further Reading on political obligations for those interested:
Bedau, Hugo, ed. Civil Disobedience: Theory and Practice (1969);  'On Civil Disobedience,' Journal of Philosophy 58:653-65 (Oct. 12, 1961), online at jstor.
Flathman, Richard, Political Obligation, esp. chs. 2,3,6,7
M.L. King, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963, online.
Klosko, G., The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation (1992)
Adam Liptak, 'A State Weighs Allowing Juries to Judge Laws', New York Times, Sept. 22, 2002
Pateman, Carole, The Problem of Political Obligation (1979, 1985), esp. chs. 1,2,5,6,8
H. Pitkin, 'Obligation and Consent I', American Political Science Review 59:990-99 (December 1965) and 'Obligation and Consent II', American Political Science Review 60:39-52 (March 1966), available online at jstor.
Plato, Apology, Crito
Rawls, John, Theory of Justice (1971), secs. 18-19, 51-52; and "Legal Obligation" in Sidney Hook, ed. Law and Philosophy (1964)*
Simmons, A.J., Moral Principles and Political Obligation (1979)
Simmons, A.J., "Associative Political Obligations," Ethics 106 (2):247-73 (Jan. 1996)
Tunick, Mark, 'The Scope of Our Natural Duties' , Journal of Social Philosophy 29: 87-96 (Fall 1998)
Tussman, Joseph, Obligation and the Body Politic (1958)
Woozley, A.D., Law and Obedience (1979)
Felicia Lee, "War Resisters: 'We Won't Go' To 'We Won't Pay'," New York Times, August 3, 2002

V. Other Obligations
4/15: Lawrence C. Becker, "The Obligation to Work," Ethics 90:35-49 (October, 1980), available online at jstor.

4/17: Howard Press, "Aesthetic Obligation," The Journal of Philosophy 66:522-30 (Aug. 21, 1969), available online at jstor.

4/22: D’Amato, Anthony, Edith Brown Weiss and Lothar Gundling, 'Agora: What obligation does our generation owe to the next? An approach to global environmental responsibility', American Journal of International Law, 84:190-212 (January 1990), available online at lexis-nexis: search law reviews
PAPER TWO DUE

Further Reading on obligations to future generations for those interested:
Kavka, 'The Paradox of Future Individuals', Philosophy and Public Affairs 11:93-112 (1982), available online at jstor.
Derek Parfit, "Future Generations: Further Problems," Philosophy and Public Affairs 11:113-172 (1982), available online at jstor.
Partridge, Ernest, ed., Responsibilities to Future Generations (1981)
Sikora and Barry, ed. Obligations to Future Generations (1978)
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Mark Tunick
Honors College, FAU
updated 1/5/03