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Courses - Spring 2026
PHIL
Philosophy Department Site
Open Seats as of
11/27/2025 at 12:30 PM
PHIL408J
Topics in Contemporary Philosophy; The Ethics of Migration: Borders, Immigrants, and Emigrants
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with PHPE408Z and PHIL408M. Credit granted only for PHIL408J or PHPE408Z or PHIL408M.

Immigration is a defining issue of our time, at the heart of political debates across the globe. The key question here is, should nations welcome more migrants or impose stricter border controls? The debates on this question often focus on empirical questions: how immigration affects wages, economic growth, and social well-being. But immigration also raises fundamental ethical and normative questions: Do states have a moral right to close their borders? Is there a human right to migrate? Or perhaps individuals have a moral duty to stay or to leave their home country? In this course we will explore the rich philosophical literature from recent decades on these and on related questions.