Unit 5

What is justice as Fairness?

a system in which justice is directed toward a minimal level of equality

What is Robert Paul Wolff's notion of autonomy?

1) Human beings are autonomous agents. 2) If human agents are autonomous, then human agents have metaphysical freewill. 3) if Government rules over humanity legitimately, then human beings are not autonomous. 4) if human being are not autonomous, then humans being don't have freewill. 5) We do have autonomy and freewill, So government rule is not legitimate.

What is John Locke's motivation for Government?

1) establish unbiased interpretation of the natural law 2) provide an impartial judge to apply the established law to settle disputes and conflicts of interest 3) provide a power to support the rights of those who are victims of injustice and to enforce the law

What are Rawls two principles of justice?

1.each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others (principle of equal liberty) 2.social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone's advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all (society's social and economic institutions)

What are the two positions available under the topic, the justification of government?

Anarchism and Social contract theory

What philosopher was Marx influenced by?

F. G. W. Hegel

How does Marx think that Capitalism will undermine itself?

Socialism

What is the "Original position"?

State of nature; What we agree on what would be a "just" government

What is John Rawls' notion of the Veil of Ignorance?

Thought experiment of coming up with a government that is just and fair •makes possible a unanimous choice of a particular conception of justice

What is dialectic, according to Marx?

a historical process in which different, opposing forces resolve their tension by bringing into being a new stage of history

What is meritocracy?

a society in which political power is proportionate to merit

What is Justice as conformity to the Natural Law?

any civil law that human beings legislate is just only if it is in conformity to the natural law

How does Marx think that Capitalism exploits the workers?

as competition for profits increases, capitalists will keep wages low and replace workers with machines; resulting in more unemployment and will drive wages down

What is Natural Law theory?

believes there is an objective moral truth of the matter

What is Naïve Anarchism?

characterized by the belief that in the absence of governmental control, people would exist in harmony and peace

Who is John Stuart Mill?

english philosopher, political theorist/economist, proponent of utilitarianism

What is John Locke's social contract theory?

here exists a moral law, initiated by God, that is independent of individuals and society; argued that this law guarantees all human basic rights

What is John Locke's notion of Natural Law?

humans are decent without government

What is John Stuart Mill's classical liberalism theory?

is committed to the notion that the best society is one in which individual rights is at a maximum while government intrusion is at a minimum

What is justice as Social Utility?

just laws are just if and only if they produce the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people involved

What is Hobbes' notion of "State of Nature"?

no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

What is issue of Justice and a "just" government?

retribution: crime and punishment •distribution: the sense of justice we're after

What is Plato's notion of justice?

rigid caste system; meritocracy

What is Militant Anarchism?

says that government is never justified, no government is legitimate, and that government is evil and needs to be rid

How does Robert Paul Wolff argue for Theoretical Anarchism?

starts by defining a state and distinguishing between the power of the state from its authority •spells out the notion of autonomy

What is St. Thomas Aquinas' notion of Natural Law?

the basic principles: preservation of life, the propagation and education of offspring, and the pursuit of truth, and peaceful society •unjust laws are those laws: 1) that are not conductive to the common good, and 2) laws that are opposed to the divine good

Who are the Bourgeoisie?

the capitalists, or the owners of the means of industrial production and the employers of wage labor

What is Marx's understanding of economics and the cause of ideas?

the fundamental driving force behind all human action and human activities is the root of all human existence

What is the Feminist Critique of John Rawls theory justice?

the problem that even though American society is built on the principle of equality of opportunity, the implications of this principle have not been fully realized

What are Mill's two individual liberty rights that "free" Nations should have?

the right to free expressions and discussion of ideas; our inward life in which there is the absolute right to freedom of thought and expressions •even if an idea is false, we still should allow it to be heard in order to expose it to the light of free discussion so that its errors may be revealed; our outward life, which involves our choices and actions

What is Locke's notion of "State of Nature"?

the state that people live in prior to government •humans have freedom, we are government by reason, goodwill and mutual assistance

What is Social Contract theory?

the theory that answers the question regarding the justification of government and its exercise of power based upon an explicit or implicit agreement made between the individuals who live under that government

What is Theoretical Anarchism?

the theory that the government has no legitimate authority even though we may have to tolerate its existence as a matter of practical necessity

Who are the Proletariat?

the workers, those who own no property and who must survive by selling their labor as a commodity ("the have-nots")

What is Thomas Hobbes' social contract theory?

thinks that humanity is essentially morally corrupt and without any government, law, and order; then, humanity would destroy itself

What does Marx mean by, History as deterministic?

thought that history was necessarily unfolding and developing according to a deterministic pattern - the dialectical processes Thesis → antithesis → synthesis •movement of historical materialism

What does political philosophy study?

•The Justification of Government •The Nature of a Just Government •The relationship between the individual and state (government) •Civil Disobedience