Exam 1 Flashcards

0
Q

Autonomy

A

Human beings having capacity to think and act for themselves, therefore able to govern themselves.

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1
Q

Philosophical Anarchism

A

the view that there are no good moral reasons why we should obey government; hence, we have no moral obligation to submit to governmental authority.

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2
Q

Principle of Divine Right

A

government is an institution willed by God for the benefit of His people, and God has granted certain people the right to govern others on His behalf.

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3
Q

Principle of Superiority

A

those who are superior have a right to rule over those who are inferior. Those who are experts in the art of governing—those who understand what is good for the community as a whole and have the will to do what is good for the community as a whole—have a right to rule.

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4
Q

Aristocracy

A

means “rule by the best” principle defended by Plato and Aristotle where the experts who know best or are best at a given subject govern those who are inferior

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5
Q

Meritocracy

A

a society in which (a) there is equality of opportunity, and (b) rewards and remuneration (e.g., desirable social positions and income) gained by individuals are proportional to their individual desert. In a meritocracy, citizens “race” or “compete” with others for desirable social positions and income. The race or competition must be fair—each citizen must have an equal opportunity to win the race or competition.

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6
Q

Principle of Consent (Social Contract)

A
  • governmental authority is justified by virtue of the consent (voluntary agreement) of the governed.
  • Thomas Hobbes
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7
Q

State of Nature

A
  • a condition in which there is no functioning government—where there is no law, no police, no courts, etc.
  • Hobbes argues that life in a state of nature would be a “war of every man against every man”
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8
Q

Express (Explicit) Consent

A

the behavior itself of Voluntarily giving consent to be govern

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9
Q

Tacit (Implicit) Consent

A

giving a implied consent through

-obey the government by accepting benefits from the government -being within the jurisdiction of the government.

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10
Q

Right To Exit

A
  • a component of Tacit Consent
  • someone does not wish to be subject to a government’s authority, Locke says, that person may always leave (exit) the country.
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11
Q

Principle of Utility

A
  • the basic aim of morality is to maximize the greatest good for the greatest number of people
  • if the government accomplishes this then it morally justified for citizens to submit to its authority
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12
Q

Principle of Gratitude

A

obligation to submit to authority on the grounds that citizens are showing thankfulness for benefits they have received

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13
Q

Civil Disobedience

A

a citizens moral right to defy governmental authority?

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14
Q

Legal Justification

A

Though normally wrong, given the circumstance in this scenario the act is deemed right

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15
Q

Exculpating Excuse

A

One is not blameworthy at all for the civil disobedience

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16
Q

Mitigating Excuse

A

One is less blameworthy than usual for civil disobedience

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17
Q

Consequentialism

A

the consequences of one’s conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.

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18
Q

Rights

A

are moral entitlements

-if one has a right or entitlement it is morally wrong to deny that right

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19
Q

Negative Right (Liberty)

A

holder of a negative (liberty) right is morally entitled to non-interference. Examples include :

  • the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
  • the rights to free speech and assembly;
  • the right to freely exercise one’s religion;
  • the right to bear arms;
  • the right to property.
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20
Q

Positive Right (Benefit)

A

one who holds a positive right is morally entitled to be provided with some good or service. Examples:

  • the right to subsistence goods (food, clothing, and shelter);
  • the rights to an education, healthcare, and a job.
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21
Q

Natural (Human) Right

A

rights that people have simply in virtue of their being humans. Natural rights are universal in the sense that all people have these rights regardless of where they reside.

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22
Q

Artificial Right (Conventional, Civil, Political)

A

rights that people have in virtue of their membership in some specific social-political community. These rights are relative in the sense that people in one social-political community may have certain civil rights that people in another social-political community do not have.

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23
Q

Eminent Domain

A

the right for the government to take away private property from an Invidivdual without consent for a common good

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24
Q

Liberalism

A

-social-political ideologies of the modern world.
-Major philosophical exponents of liberalism include John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and Robert Nozick.
-The United States is, in broad terms, a liberal society.
-

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25
Q

Two components of Liberalism

A

1) there is a strong presumption in favor of individual liberty (freedom);
2) the state should be neutral with respect to different conceptions of the good life.

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26
Q

Harm to others Principle

A

-Created by John Stuart Mill
- (Social Coercrion) is justified only as a means to prevent harm to others.
• When may society legitimately restrict individual liberty?
-Only when doing so is necessary to prevent harm to others
• What should society aim to accomplish by restricting liberty?
-We should aim only to prevent other people from being harmed
• Are there certain behaviors that are simply “none of society’s business”?
-Yes, behaviors that pose no risk of harm to others

27
Q

Legal Moralism

A

-Legal moralism is the view that the law may legitimately be used to prohibit behaviors that conflict with society’s collective moral judgments, even when those behaviors do not result in harm to others. -In short, the law can and should be used to promote morality and discourage immorality.

28
Q

Conservatism

A
  • approach to social and political questions that was mapped out initially by Edmund Burke (1730-97), though it draws on earlier lines of thought dating back to Hobbes (1588-1679) and even to Aristotle (384-322 BCE),
  • believe that strong (authoritative) social and political institutions (e.g., family, religion, law) are indispensable to social order and stability.
29
Q

Three Components of Conservatism

A
  • Traditionalism
  • Human Imperfection
  • Organicism
30
Q

Explain Traditionalism?

A
  • Conservatives support the maintenance (conservation) of traditional social practices and institutions.
  • They believe traditional social practices and institutions are prima facie justified. These practices and institutions exist for a reason, the conservatives say—namely, they have worked and stood the test of time.
  • So, conservatives are suspicion of change—the greater the change, the greater the suspicion. Social change, conservatives believe, should be slow and gradual.
31
Q

Explain Human Imperfection in terms of Conservatism.

A
  • Conservatives believe that human beings are morally and intellectually imperfect.
  • tend to be selfish and power-hungry; they also tend to act on their passions or emotions as opposed to their reason. Given this gloomy account of human nature, conservatives conclude that human beings are highly dependent upon social institutions
  • doubt that we can fully understand the social world using reason alone. The social world is very complex, conservatives claim, and theorists tend to oversimplify matters.
  • So, conservatives are deeply suspicious about institutional innovations grounded in abstract theory.
32
Q

Explain Organicism

A
  • believe that there is an organic (internal) relation between the individual and society. Individual human beings, the conservative thinks, grow and flourish only within a social context; and, to a large extent, our identity is determined by our membership in a specific society.
  • Conservatives insist there is such a thing as a national “character” or “culture,” which is reflected in a society’s social practices and institutions
  • People are moved by a sense of community because they identify with other members of the community in some deep way—they share the same national character or culture.
  • So, the conservative concludes, society is perfectly justified in preserving and promoting its unique character or culture.
33
Q

Why does the claim “might makes right” fail to provide a moral justification for government’s authority?

A

Simply because a gov. has the power to claim authority over you doesn’t mean it has the moral right to rule.
-Ex. Gunman wants to take your money, his power “might” makes it right for you to hand over money but it is morally wrong.

34
Q

What is Wolff’s basic argument for Philosophical Anarchism?

A
  • Authority of any kind is directly opposed to autonomy
  • human beings are by nature autonomous therefore have the capacity to govern themselves and make their own decisions
  • our most fundamental moral obligation is to respect autonomy
  • therefore there is no moral reason to succumb to authority
35
Q

Why does Hobbes believe that life in a state of nature would be a “war of every man against every man”?

A
  1. Human appetites (desires) are insatiable
  2. Power is the means for satisfying our appetites
  3. Hence, humans have an insatiable desire for power
  4. But power is scarce (limited) and power is relative
  5. Therefore, major conflict is inevitable
36
Q

What empirical evidence does Hobbes offer to bolster his argument of state of nature?

A
  • He offers the observations considering societal difficulties that occur during civil war or government fall out.
  • He also states human are not at a basic level social beings because even with gov. we engage in preventative security measures ex. lock our doors at night with a underlying mistrust and suspicion of one another.
37
Q

Why is an absolute monarchy Hobbes’s preferred form of government?

A
  • For Hobbes security and stability is the aim of gov.
  • Given human beings anti-social nature and danger of slipping into a state of nature govt. should have absolute authority to prevent such
  • worries that political conflicts between citizens in a democracy threaten social stability.
  • Centralized power allows swift decisions to threats
38
Q

How did John Locke and the American Founders address the “problem of power”?

A

By diffusing political power and distributing through the “seperation of powers” and “checks and balances”

39
Q

What is Hume’s objection to consent theory in general? what is his objection to the notion of tacit (implied) consent in particular?

A
  • most governments’ authority seems to be rooted in force, power, or habitual obedience, not voluntary agreement.
  • It is unreasonable to expect a person to be able to get up and leave his or her country; they lack both financial resources and cultural skills to move anywhere else
  • then leaving or staying isnt a free choice
40
Q

What are two basic worries about justifying governmental authority by way of the principle of gratitude?

A

1) If benefits are given when not requested does this still obligate you to owe them
2) Even if benefits place you in their debt, why is submitting to authority the proper way to show gratitude

41
Q

What, according to King, is the nature of the relationship between law and justice?

A
  • Essential connection between law and justice
  • A law by nature must be just this is a necessary feature of law, if it is unjust then by nature it is not a law
  • We have a moral obligation to obey just laws and a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws for they cannot be considered laws
42
Q

Why were Alabama’s segregation laws unjust, according to King?

A
  • A law is unjust if it is degrading of humanity, and segregation laws were deeply degrading to Blacks.
  • A law is unjust if those who are subject to it had no part in enacting it. Because they were disenfranchised and discouraged from participating in the political process, Blacks had no part in enacting segregation laws.
  • A law is unjust if the burdens associated with the law are not shared equally by all, and segregation laws imposed disproportionate burdens on Blacks.
  • A law is unjust if it is applied inconsistently. Laws related to public gatherings were only enforced against civil rights protestors, not others.
43
Q

On the standard view, when is an act of civil disobedience morally justified?

A
  • if the action is to be effective in bringing about the desired social change;
  • show that the act of disobedience is motivated by the desire to improve the existing social, political, legal order, and not to overthrow it.
44
Q

What are the main attractions of utilitarianism?

A
  1. basic principle of rationality; better is preferable than worse so we must always work to bring the best overall state of affairs
  2. reduces morality all to one principle
  3. impartial and objective; everyones interest is taken into account
  4. egalitarian; everyons interest count equally
  5. morality is an empirical matter and aims to resolve issues with social science methods
  6. secular approach
45
Q

What is the fundamental worry about utilitarianism? Illustrate with an example.

A
  • Utilitarianism promotes “ends justify the means”, this leaves little room for moral reasoning aslong as it benefits the greatest number of people
  • Ex. Eminent Domain, taking a farm that someone has had for generations in order to build government property on the land
46
Q

When, according to Mill, may the government legitimately restrict individual liberty? When should it refrain from restricting liberty? Illustrate your explanation with examples of laws or policies that Mill would support and reject.

A
  • Only when doing so is necessary to prevent harm to others
  • It should refrain if the behavior presents no potential risk to others
  • Mill would accept the legalization of marijuana
  • Mill would reject Muslim laws of not eating pork
47
Q

What is Mill’s basic argument for his Harm-to-Others Principle?

A

Social coercion (including legal coercion) is justified only as a means to prevent harm to others.

48
Q

Why does Devlin believe that society has a right to criminalize immoral conduct, even when that conduct poses no risk of harm to others?

A

society depends for its survival upon the existence of a shared and binding moral code.

  • conduct which is immoral threatens the common morality, it is a danger to society itself.
  • society has a right to protect itself from disintegration through the legal enforcement of its moral norms.
49
Q

Why do critics charge that conservative thought amounts to nothing more than ruling class ideology?

A

?

50
Q

Why does the claim “might makes right” fail to provide a moral justification for government’s authority?

A

Simply because a gov. has the power to claim authority over you doesn’t mean it has the moral right to rule.
-Ex. Gunman wants to take your money, his power “might” makes it right for you to hand over money but it is morally wrong.

51
Q

What is Wolff’s basic argument for Philosophical Anarchism?

A
  • Authority of any kind is directly opposed to autonomy
  • human beings are by nature autonomous therefore have the capacity to govern themselves and make their own decisions
  • our most fundamental moral obligation is to respect autonomy
  • therefore there is no moral reason to succumb to authority
52
Q

Why does Hobbes believe that life in a state of nature would be a “war of every man against every man”?

A
  1. Human appetites (desires) are insatiable
  2. Power is the means for satisfying our appetites
  3. Hence, humans have an insatiable desire for power
  4. But power is scarce (limited) and power is relative
  5. Therefore, major conflict is inevitable
53
Q

What empirical evidence does Hobbes offer to bolster his argument of state of nature?

A
  • He offers the observations considering societal difficulties that occur during civil war or government fall out.
  • He also states human are not at a basic level social beings because even with gov. we engage in preventative security measures ex. lock our doors at night with a underlying mistrust and suspicion of one another.
54
Q

Why is an absolute monarchy Hobbes’s preferred form of government?

A
  • For Hobbes security and stability is the aim of gov.
  • Given human beings anti-social nature and danger of slipping into a state of nature govt. should have absolute authority to prevent such
  • worries that political conflicts between citizens in a democracy threaten social stability.
  • Centralized power allows swift decisions to threats
55
Q

How did John Locke and the American Founders address the “problem of power”?

A

By diffusing political power and distributing through the “seperation of powers” and “checks and balances”

56
Q

What is Hume’s objection to consent theory in general? what is his objection to the notion of tacit (implied) consent in particular?

A
  • most governments’ authority seems to be rooted in force, power, or habitual obedience, not voluntary agreement.
  • It is unreasonable to expect a person to be able to get up and leave his or her country; they lack both financial resources and cultural skills to move anywhere else
  • then leaving or staying isnt a free choice
57
Q

What are two basic worries about justifying governmental authority by way of the principle of gratitude?

A

1) If benefits are given when not requested does this still obligate you to owe them
2) Even if benefits place you in their debt, why is submitting to authority the proper way to show gratitude

58
Q

What, according to King, is the nature of the relationship between law and justice?

A
  • Essential connection between law and justice
  • A law by nature must be just this is a necessary feature of law, if it is unjust then by nature it is not a law
  • We have a moral obligation to obey just laws and a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws for they cannot be considered laws
59
Q

Why were Alabama’s segregation laws unjust, according to King?

A
  • A law is unjust if it is degrading of humanity, and segregation laws were deeply degrading to Blacks.
  • A law is unjust if those who are subject to it had no part in enacting it. Because they were disenfranchised and discouraged from participating in the political process, Blacks had no part in enacting segregation laws.
  • A law is unjust if the burdens associated with the law are not shared equally by all, and segregation laws imposed disproportionate burdens on Blacks.
  • A law is unjust if it is applied inconsistently. Laws related to public gatherings were only enforced against civil rights protestors, not others.
60
Q

On the standard view, when is an act of civil disobedience morally justified?

A
  • if the action is to be effective in bringing about the desired social change;
  • show that the act of disobedience is motivated by the desire to improve the existing social, political, legal order, and not to overthrow it.
61
Q

What are the main attractions of utilitarianism?

A
  1. basic principle of rationality; better is preferable than worse so we must always work to bring the best overall state of affairs
  2. reduces morality all to one principle
  3. impartial and objective; everyones interest is taken into account
  4. egalitarian; everyons interest count equally
  5. morality is an empirical matter and aims to resolve issues with social science methods
  6. secular approach
62
Q

What is the fundamental worry about utilitarianism? Illustrate with an example.

A
  • Utilitarianism promotes “ends justify the means”, this leaves little room for moral reasoning aslong as it benefits the greatest number of people
  • Ex. Eminent Domain, taking a farm that someone has had for generations in order to build government property on the land
63
Q

When, according to Mill, may the government legitimately restrict individual liberty? When should it refrain from restricting liberty? Illustrate your explanation with examples of laws or policies that Mill would support and reject.

A
  • Only when doing so is necessary to prevent harm to others
  • It should refrain if the behavior presents no potential risk to others
  • Mill would accept the legalization of marijuana
  • Mill would reject Muslim laws of not eating pork
64
Q

What is Mill’s basic argument for his Harm-to-Others Principle?

A

Social coercion (including legal coercion) is justified only as a means to prevent harm to others.

65
Q

Why does Devlin believe that society has a right to criminalize immoral conduct, even when that conduct poses no risk of harm to others?

A

society depends for its survival upon the existence of a shared and binding moral code.

  • conduct which is immoral threatens the common morality, it is a danger to society itself.
  • society has a right to protect itself from disintegration through the legal enforcement of its moral norms.
66
Q

Why do critics charge that conservative thought amounts to nothing more than ruling class ideology?

A

?