Philosophy and The Theory of Social Welfare

Mode of Delivery

Face to Face

Prerequisites and Co-Requisites

None

Recommended Optional Programme Components

Social Policy Seminars, History of Social Thought, Social Policy

Course Contents

This course is about the moral foundations on and the main theoretical approaches to social welfare. On that basis, the course will take into the debates on social needs and social welfare; the main perspectives on the distribution of resources (wealth and power), normative notions underpinning social welfare and social policy (equality, rights, social justice, altruism and fairness), social welfare institutions and ideologies of social welfare.

Weekly Schedule

1) Moral Foundations of Social Policy
2) Social needs and and social welfare
3) Normative Notions of Social Welfare I: Equality and Rights
4) Normative Notions of Social Welfare II: Social Justice
5) Fairness and Alturism
6) Robert Nozick, John Rawls and Martha Nussbaum
7) Fairness and Alturism
8) Feminist critique
9) Mid-term exam
10) Social Welfare Institutions
11) Welfare Markets and Human Needs
12) Community, Voluntary Sector and Social Welfare
13) The welfare state and the main critiques
14) Ideologies of welfare I: Liberalizm and Marxism
15) Ideologies of welfare II: Feminism and Ethics of Care
16) Final Exam

Recommended or Required Reading

1- Plant, R., Taylor-Gooby, P., Lessor, H. (2009) Political Philosophy and Social Welfare: Essays on the Normative Basis of Welfare Provisions, Routledge Revivals.
2- Leiby, J. (1985), Moral Foundations of Social Welfare and Social Work, Social Work, 30 (4): 323-330
3- Herman, R. (1976), Philosophy, Sociology and the Theory of Social Welfare: A Conceptual Starting Point, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 3 (4).
4- Wolff, J. (2015), Political Philosophy and the Real World of Welfare State, Applied Philosophy, 32 (4): 360-372.
5- Evans, S. (2016), What should social welfare seek to achieve? Applying the capability approach, Ethics and Social Welfare, 11 (1): 19-32.
6- Marshall, T.H (2009), Citizenship and Social Class, Inequality and Society içinde, J. Manza ve M. Sauder (der.), W. W. Norton and Co.: New York.
7- Alcock, P. (1996), Ideologies of Welfare, Social Policy in Britain içinde, J. Campling (eds.), Palgrave: London.
8- Pettersen, T. (2011), The Ethics of Care, Normative Structures and Empirical Implications, Health Care Anal, 19 (1): 51-64.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1) Lecture
2) Question-Answer
3) Discussion
4) Group Study
5) Brain Storming
6) Self Study

Assessment Methods and Criteria

Contribution of Midterm Examination to Course Grade	40%
Contribution of Final Examination to Course Grade	60%
Total	100%

Language of Instruction

English

Work Placement(s)

Not Required