Justification
Civil rights and civil liberties often meet with lukewarm responses in the classroom. Most students are interested on some level in what rights they have, and what authority figures such as teachers and police officers can get away with, but that can be where their interest wanes. It is sometimes possible as a result of this fact for teachers to fall into the pitfall of confining a discussion of civil rights and liberties to a study of what rights students have in comparison to what rights they think they have. While this in and of itself is valid as a topic, it can leave out many levels of the topic that can enhance student understanding.
One such level is the question "What is the distinction between civil rights and civil liberties?" It is important to understand that, though in common usage these two concepts may be similar, in truth they represent very different things. A civil liberty is, in practice, a right guaranteed to an individual, while a right is a specifically outlined behavior to which a group may be entitled. These terms are often used interchangeably, but in common usage the distinction becomes quite important, and it functions well as a distinction in an educational context. Without an understanding of this distinction this topic and this discussion can become difficult to grasp. Therefore the first objective of the unit will be definition of the terms civil rights and civil liberties.
Another such question is "Where do our rights come from?" This question can have many answers, i.e. the Constitution, religion, god, philosophy, the founding fathers, authority, etc. In most cases, however, the answer to that question is a matter of authority, opening the door to a discussion of authority, which is a basic concept in any well-rounded education. Any unit or lesson on civil rights and civil liberties can easily be expanded to include a discussion of the nature of authority. I would argue that such a discussion is necessary to any full understanding of one's rights and one's liberties and how they are protected. Therefore the second objective of this unit will be to explain through inquiry the origins of basic rights.
In addition to providing a framework for understanding civil rights and liberties, a discussion of authority offers glimpses into the role of government in people's lives, which may be a useful discussion when approaching this topic. The question of the proper role of government is at the center of many debates within government, and can be a very salient question for discussion within the class. Is government's purpose simply to enforce rules? Is it to protect me? My property? My rights? These questions must be addressed if one is to approach the breadth of this kind of subject matter.
The Enlightenment philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke eloquently outline this debate. In the case of Hobbes and Locke the answer to that question comes directly from their shared experience in the English Civil War. Since studying these men requires an understanding of their common backgrounds, it becomes necessary to explore in some depth the English Civil War. Therefore the third objective of this unit will be for the students to describe briefly the English Civil War, its causes, its events and its outcome.
The English Civil War marks the beginning, by many accounts, of an age of revolutions, which unseated the old feudal systems in many countries and replaced them with various new forms of government. The case of England is somewhat confused by the fact that in some cases, such as that of the United States, this change brought about a new and substantially different country than what had stood before. In the case of England it led to roughly 20 years of war and sloppy rule that ultimately ended with the reinstatement of the monarchy, subject to new constitutional restraints and increased parliamentary power. In any event the English Civil War was the first of many revolutions and civil wars that would plague the old monarchies of Europe for 300 years, ultimately resulting in the destruction of most of the absolute monarchies which existed in Europe at the time of the English Civil War.
The importance of the English Civil War does not end with the beginning of an age of revolution in Europe. The English Civil War profoundly impacted the American Revolution as well. As parts of the English empire, the American colonists must have viewed the English Civil War as a shared experience. They would have been familiar with the course of the war, and its events. Furthermore, many intellectual Americans went on to become well versed in the intellectual works produced in part as a result of this war. American colonists and especially American scholars would have known works of men like Hobbes and Locke. A direct link can be seen between these philosophical works and the works of our founding fathers.
The works of Hobbes and Locke lay the groundwork for our current system through their impact on early American revolutionary sentiment. The American government displays the influence of these men in style and form. Thomas Jefferson went so far as to quote Locke almost directly in the writing of the Declaration of Independence. The intellectual foundations of our country can be traced more or less directly to the common experience of the English Civil War, and therefore, it is a quite important aspect of a student's historical education. The fourth objective of my unit is to read and discuss the Hobbes Leviathan and Locke's Two Treatises on Government, with attention to the position of both men on civil rights and the role of government and to the background of each man.
The study of Hobbes and Locke also allows for the comparison of individuals who endured similar circumstances, and made the similar decision to write a philosophy of government, perhaps in hope of avoiding these circumstances in the future. Both men lived through the English Civil War, though they were in very different stages in their lives. Both were heavily influenced by their own personal circumstances during a time of revolution, though Locke was more heavily influenced by the revolution of 1688. Both went into exile briefly and went on to produce treatises on government and civil liberties in which they outline the role of government, the role of the people, the responsibilities of each and the rights of each. In doing so they created a pair of works which lend themselves quite nicely to comparison. Therefore the fifth objective of this unit will be to compare the two men in terms of their background and their work.
Such a comparison exists on many different levels, each of which could be used with great effect within the classroom. While an entire class could be taught on the basis of what each man advocated, there is another layer beneath that worthy of discussion. This kind of comparison of two philosophers, produced by similar circumstances at a similar time, exists in many other situations e.g. Confucius vs. Lao Tzu, or Aristotle vs. Plato. It opens the possibility of discussing the effects that events or circumstances can have on individuals.
The beauty of this comparison lies in the fact that these men took drastically different stances on the role of government and the rights of the people. Hobbes and Locke saw revolution from very different perspectives, and went on to produce philosophies that were almost diametrically opposed to one another. Hobbes suggests a strict government whose only goal is protection of the people from harm. Locke on the other hand suggests that the purpose of government is the protection of liberty. This debate is central in terms of civil rights and civil liberties and seems to be the question that our government deals with on a daily basis.
Through this unit I will also deal with fundamental social studies skills. The ability to make a statement and defend it is one of the fundamental elements of education. This simple act requires content knowledge surrounding the argument to be made, logical reasoning to provide support, and the ability to articulate one's point of view. On the surface, it would appear that these elements are taught every day in schools across the country, and indeed that assumption would be to a certain extent correct. The task of forming a sound argument, however, is slightly more daunting than it may seem. It is by no means a simple task to teach. We will explore the process of creating a sound argument through the sixth objective, which is to debate the two on their merits OR campaign for the importance of one over the importance of the other.
There are many tools in the teacher's repertoire that allow teachers to address this challenge, and teachers approach the task in different ways. These methods range from asking a student to write an essay, to classroom debates, to discussions of a topic in class. These methods are usually exercised by making use of the course material at hand. One might ask students to make an argument for or against the American Revolution, or to defend Huck Finn's actions with regards to Jim's freedom. These kinds of examples ask the students to use logical reasoning and factual examples in making sound arguments to defend their position. It is however rare that these examples lead the students to explore logical reasoning or the craft of argument itself.
The study of philosophy does just that. Philosophers not only offer ample material that can be debated or discussed within class, but they also do so in a fashion and style that is the height of logical reasoning. The study of philosophy is necessarily a study of logic. Therefore it can be extremely useful in terms of teaching the craft of argument.
Philosophers seek to make their point with a solid thesis and rhetorical proof, exactly the kind of evidence and support we wish to see from our classes. Additionally, philosophers make use of multiple rhetorical devices to make their point. Simple exposure to these rhetorical devices would be educationally valid in and of itself, without in-depth exploration of the tools themselves. Students can strengthen their own rhetorical abilities through reading philosophy.
Deeper exploration of these rhetorical devices reveals for students a larger set of tools for their own writing, which greatly increase their abilities to create a well-reasoned and well-written statement. Such an exploration, though initially daunting, leads to identification, and definition of a greater variety of rhetorical methods. In many cases the students will be familiar with the method, but not with its definition, or the variety of ways in which the method can be used. In some cases the students will be exposed to a completely new means (to them) of crafting an effective argument. In all cases even the most seasoned essayist in the class will have opportunity to add to their understanding of the craft.
The study of works of philosophy adds different tools to the teacher's repertoire as well. Philosophy offers us a chance to assess the student's understanding of logic and rhetoric by dividing the process of argument into its requisite parts. Given that every philosophy begins with a thesis and is often proven through personal or global examples, it is possible to see how a student would go about proving a thesis, even if the thesis itself is not their own. Thus students are given the opportunity to imagine how they would go about proving a thesis and offering various arguments for someone else's point of view.
This approach helps philosophy as a discipline become a means by which teachers can assess student understanding of rhetorical concepts. It gives teachers the chance to break the process of argument or essay writing down into constituent parts, giving students a more uniform and concrete starting point than an essay question can. Furthermore it grants us the opportunity to explore, quite specifically, where the successes and where the failures lie in specific parts of the rhetorical process, thereby allowing us a greater understanding of how to fix these problems. We will therefore assess the students' ability to apply the rhetorical process as well as their ability to evaluate the specific works of philosophy through the seventh unit objective, in which the students will evaluate the work of one of these men with regards to civil rights and the role of government in a formal essay
In addition to the value of philosophy as a discipline, the study of specific influential philosophers can have valuable ramifications in the classroom. The study of Aristotle, Kant, Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. can help students to understand the philosophical underpinnings of the world in which we live today. More specifically, the study of political philosophers, such as Locke, Hobbes, or Jefferson, can help the students to understand the specific ramifications a political philosophy can have on their lives.
The study of the work of Lock and Hobbes allows students to investigate the nature of philosophy, the impact of environment on thought, and the process by which philosophy is crafted, all at once. Like many other disciplines, particular (over-using specific and its derivatives) examples of philosophy can demand an in-depth look at the lives and decisions of their creators, which in turn demands a deeper understanding of the nature of the world around them. Thus if one delves into the background of the individual liberties of Americans today, within a couple of degrees they might wind up studying the English Civil War. Such a link also allows a sound and well-reasoned answer to the question "Why does this matter to me?"
In the case of philosophy this question can often be hard to answer, and it may crop up more often given one simple fact: philosophy can be hard to teach. Philosophy is typically written in very difficult language, and it is therefore very difficult for students to access. In the case of this unit, I intend to present various means around that, which will make the philosophy accessible, while retaining its applicability within the classroom.
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