Face-to-face , second term, 15 hours of theory.

English

Political philosophy. Political philosophy has traditionally focused on the nation-state, in particular on how its collective decisions should be taken to qualify as democratic, and on how its institutions should be designed to count as just. More recently, political philosophy has resolutely expanded its focus: it started asking, for example, whether global governance should be a macroscopic replica of domestic government, and whether global justice is to be conceived as inter-national justice or as social justice writ large.

And the European Union. But what about this intermediate entity of an unprecedented nature that is now called the European Union? What can be said about it from a normative point of view? What are the principles that should determine how much power its institutions are to be given, how these should be designed, and what the scope and content of their policies should be?

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Utopia year. This year, the course will take a somewhat exceptional form because of its insertion in the Leuven-Louvain utopia year that marks the 500th anniversary of the publication, in Leuven/Louvain, of Thomas More's Utopia. The general theme will be the way in which “utopian thinking”, i.e. the formulation and critical discussion of institutions that did not or do not exist anywhere, shaped or might shape what is now called the European Union.

Mercier Chair. For all students except those in St Louis's Master 60, the course will incorporate the 2016 Chaire Cardinal Mercier of the UCL's Institut supérieur de philosophie, a series of five lectures in English on “European Politics between Utopia and History” given in Louvain-la-Neuve by political philosopher Luuk van Middelaar, author of The Passage to Europe (Yale U.P., 2014) and speechwriter of the first President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (2009-2014). In addition, students are also welcome to attend Luuj van Middelaar's inaugural lecture which will be held in French on Tuesday March 1st at 5pm in Louvain-la-Neuve under the title “L'Europe, l'utopie et le retour de l'histoire” and followed by an exchange with Herman Van Rompuy and Paul Magnette.

EUtopias. The European Union, as it exists today, is a gigantic utopia that has become reality. It has seen the gradual realization of a number of institutions and modes of functioning — “EUtopias” —that never existed before in the history of Europe, nor anywhere else in the world. How did the idea of each of these various features of the European Union arise? Who were the first people to articulate it? With what normative justification? Who supported it? Through what process were these ideas eventually implemented and for what reasons, possibly quite different from the initial justification? And what about ideas that have been advocated at some point and have received significant support but have failed (so far) to become reality? What lessons can we draw for a political philosophy of the European Union?

Lectures

All students need to write a paper (about 5000 words) and send it by 30 May to helder.deschutter@hiw.kuleuven.be and philippe.vanparijs@uclouvain.be. They will need to send a proposal (5-10 lines) to the same addresses no later than 21 March and to present orally a first draft of their paper at one of the last three meetings of the course (25/4, 2/5 or 9/5). This paper will be the main basis for evaluation. It should trace its origins and fate of the EUtopia they chose: who imagined it, what inspired it, who defended it, who turned it into reality, how did it fare after being introduced (if it was)? It should pay special attention to the (ultimate) reasons adduced for vindicating or opposing it, and conclude with a personal normative evaluation of the “utopia” chosen: was it a good idea? Why so? Or why not? And if not, what would be a better idea and why? All students except St Louis's Master 60 students should relate their analysis and argument to the central claims in Luuk van Middelaar's lectures.

The “EUtopias” that can be chosen include the very idea of a community or confederation or federation of European States, but also a whole range of more or less specific institutional features, such as an executive without democratic accountability (the European Commission), a directly elected supra-national parliament, the Council of ministers, a permanent council of heads of government, the Common Market, the Common Agricultural Policy, the single currency, the free movement of people, non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, the structural funds, a supranational court of justice with binding decisions, European citizenship, the Social and Economic Committee, the European Citizens' Initiatives, the Erasmus programme, the European Schools network, a directly elected president of the Commission, a Europe-wide electoral constituency, a European defence community with a single army, an EU-wide interpersonal transfer system, an EU constitution, a common European history curriculum, etc.

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Part 1: Introductory
Mondays 6-9pm, USt Louis 119 rue du Marais, Brussels, Room 3200 (to be confirmed)
22/02/16 Introduction 1: Political Philosophy & Utopian thinking
29/02/16 The European Union & EUtopias

Part 2: European Politics between Utopia and History
Cardinal Mercier Chair Lectures by Dr Luuk van Middelaar
Mondays 4.15-6.15pm, UCL, 14 Place Cardinal Mercier, LLN, Room to be determined
07/03/16
14/03/16
21/03/16
11/04/16    
18/04/16

Part 3 : Presentation of EUtopias by students
Mondays 6-9pm, USt Louis 119 rue du Marais, Brussels, Room 3200 (to be confirmed)119 rue du Marais, Brussels, Room 3200 (to be confirmed)
25/04/16
2/05/16
9/05/16