Philosophy of Reparations

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In this course, we will discuss the topic of reparations, especially (though not exclusively) in dialogue with the specific case for reparations for trans-Atlantic slavery and the associated colonialism on the African continent and throughout the African diaspora. Reparations, and moral repair generally construed, are a kind of act that aims to respond to historical harms or injustices. They are a particularly interesting subject from the standpoint of ethical and political philosophy, in that they complicate, challenge, and (hopefully, ultimately) clarify central concepts in these aspects of philosophy, including responsibility, harm, restitution, and welfare. Our philosophical aim will be to clarify what political and moral relationships are at stake in issues like these, how they can be damaged and what it takes to repair them. These aims, with any luck, will support each other.