Unit 3: O'Neill and Baier

Onora O'Neiil

"Kantian Approaches to some Famine Problems"

Annette Baier

"The Need for More than Justice"

O'Neill: to treat someone as a mere means means to. . .

"to involve them in a scheme of action to which they could not in principle consent" -dealing with someone so as to achieve your goals

O'Neill: treating someone as an end:

treating someone with the respect he or she deserves

What does Baier mean when she says that Kantian theories give authority to rationality rather than emotions?

-Kantian theories assume we needn't worry about a person's passions as long as their rational wills control them

What is the problem with Rawl's making the 'head of a household' play a key role in his theory?

-it carries patriarchal assumptions by assuming there is only one head of a household

According to Kant, which formulation of the categorical imperative does O'Neill apply to some famine problems?

-the Formula of the End in Itself

According to Kant, the moral worth of an action depends on:

-the maxim that is acted on

Which of the following actions is NOT prohibited on Kantian grounds, according to O'Neill? a. deceiving others b. using coercion for political advantage c. treating members of the famine-stricken population as ends d. trying to get more than you fair share of food

-treating members of the famine-stricken population as ends

The formula of the End in Itself:

Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means but always at the same times as and end.

Baier: Hienz's Dilemma

Heinz's wife was near death, and her only hope was a drug that has been discovered by a pharmacist who was selling it for an exorbitant price. The drug cost $200 to make, and the pharmacist was selling it for $2,000. Heinz could raise only $1,000. He offered this to the druggist, and when his offer was rejected, Heinz said he would pay the rest later. Still the druggist refused. In desperation, Heinz considered stealing the drug. Would it right for him to do that?

autonomy

idea that is generally understood to refer to the capacity to be one's own person, to live one's life according to reasons and motives that are taken as one's own and not the product of manipulative or distorting external forces

In Kant's terminology, a maxim is:

a principle on which one acts

Which of the following would count as treating someone as a mere means?

coercion

Which of the following would count as treating someone as a mere means?

deception

rationalsim

epistemological position that emphasizes reason as a source of knowledge itself, not merely a way of organizing and drawing further hypotheses from knowledge gotten by sense perception

Justice

issues about justice are traditionally divided into the issues about justice in the distribution of benefits and burdens to different individuals and groups in a society and issues about the justice of various forms of punishment -just behavior and treatment

Why is it a problem that a Kantian view of society emphasizes freedom of choice?

it is a plain fact that not all of our relationships are chose, and this is important to recognize

O'NEILL: what makes a right act right?

it is not the consequences that determine the rightness or wrongness of an act, but certain features in the act itself or in the rule of which the act is taken

Greatest Happiness Principle

maximizing happiness

individualism

moral, political or social outlook that stresses human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty

ethics of care

normative ethical theory that holds that moral action centers on interpersonal relationships and care or benevolence as a virtue

Which of the following is the problem Baier raises for the Kantian version of society?

people having rights and respecting each other's rights is compatible with great misery

moral maturity

requirement in the person who is to apply a body of knowledge or a skill to the solution of a problem, or to the understanding of a situation, if the knowledge is not to remain abstract and the skill potential unrealized.

what does O'Neil argue about Kantian moral theory and utilitarianism?

that the fact that Kantian moral theory does not directly take the consequences of an action into consideration is not a reason to think that the theory is mistaken

maxism

the principle on which one sees oneself as acting -states what one is going to do and why

O'Neill: If you are a member of the famine-stricken population. . .

you may not cheat or try to get more than your fair share