Contemporary Moral Problems Exam #2

Garrison’s Critique of Libertarianism

The “Escape Scenario” - Can you consent to sell yourself into slavery? (and should the state enforce this contract)

Asymmetrical Value Claim

That self-ownership puts too much emphasis on individual choice before all other values are realized

Rawls’s conditions for consent

Rational parties that are at least roughly equally situated in terms of knowledge and bargaining power

_ (the philosopher) is part of social contract tradition, which is _

Rawls, The society-wide political arrangements which people agree to in order to live in a cohesive community

Rawls did not believe that _ is necessary for entering a consensual contract

Altruism

Rawls’s principles of justice are those which would be agreed to _

In the Original Position, behind the Veil of Ignorance

The Original Position

A situation “in which individuals try to come to agreement about principles of justice for the society they will live in” (hypothetical situation)

In the original position, everybody wants _ and _

Primary goods, Social bases of self-respect

Primary Goods

Rights, liberties, opportunities, wealth, and social bases of self-respect

Social Bases of Self-Respect

The way society treats its members as being worthy of respect

The Veil of Ignorance masks _

Aspects of peoples’ identity, their unique talents, and their beliefs

Justice as Fairness

Principles of justice must emerge from a fair contract, which would be agreed to in the Original Position behind the Veil of Ignorance

Objections to the Original Position

1. Hypothetical contracts aren’t binding

2. It’s impossible

Rawls’s response to Original Position objections

It’s a thought experiment designed to understand and enact our values, not a call to actually bring down a veil of ignorance

How the Original Position rejects Utilitarianism

People behind the VOI would not agree to abuse a despised minority to benefit the majority (because they themselves might be part of the minority)

How the Original Position rejects Libertarianism

If you’re X disadvantaged group (poor, sick, racial minority) within the minimal state, there is nothing to protect you

Rawls’s Principles of Justice

1. Equal Basic Liberties Principle

2. Fair Equality of Opportunity Principle

3. Difference Principle

Lexical priority order of opportunity, difference, and basic liberties principles

1. Equal Basic Liberties Principle

2. Fair Equality of Opportunity Principle

3. Difference Principle

Equal Basic Liberties Principle

Each person has a right to the most extensive basic liberties which are compatible with a similar liberty for others

Mill, Nozick, and Rawls (and Isaiah Berlin) believe that freedom and poverty are _

Both importance for justice, but not overlapping

Equal Basic Liberties guarantees _, not _

Liberties themselves, The equal worth of liberties

Equal worth of basic liberties isn’t guaranteed because _

Guaranteeing the equal worth of certain things (like freedom of religion) would require state intervention and resources (such as by building expensive cathedrals)

_ are not “merely formal” because _

Political liberties, They influence all the other policies that the state will enact

Political campaign application of Equal Basic Liberties

The “worth” of the liberty to make campaign contributions is not the same to everyone because there are vast differences in wealth between donors

Fair Equality of Opportunity Principle

Social and economic inequalities must be attached to positions which are open to all under conditions of fair equality and opportunity

Racial Profiling

The use of race as a method of pre-emptive screening for potential criminals

De Jure vs. De Factor Racial Profiling

De Jure: Official procedure/law

De Facto: Not sanctioned officially, but still occurs

Hosein’s “Rational” Racial Profiling

The idea that racial profiling which prevents more crime by screening members of statistically crime-prone groups is effective in accomplishing the goal of policing (but may not be worth it for other reasons)

People in the Original Position would _ racial profiling because _

Be against, It violates the social bases of self-respect

When people’s social bases of self-respect are violated, they _

No longer are motivated to make use of their formal legal rights or to make use of personal liberties

Hosein believes that racial profiling causes a sense of _

Inferior Political Status

Inferior Political Status

When the state discounts the interests and rights of members of one group compared to members of other groups

Racial profiling doesn’t create a sense of inferior political status _, but it will if _

By itself, The group being profiled already has reasons to distrust the state

Hosein’s conclusion on when to use racial profiling

Racial profiling is permissible if the profiled group has no preexisting reason to distrust the state and impermissible if the group has preexisting reasons to distrust the state

The Difference Principle

Social and economic inequalities must be arranged so that they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged

Formal equality of opportunity is insufficient to ensure equal economic opportunity because _

Talents require cultivation and resources to develop, so even a true meritocracy might have inequities

Rawls’s Social Minimum

Basic services and resources that everyone in society is entitled to (child allowances, unemployment insurance, government-funded healthcare, guaranteed minimum income)

The Social Minimum helps _

Guarantee fair equality of opportunity by providing everyone with a level of basic resources

The difference principle (and the generous welfare that comes with it) guarantees _ in the Original Position

Some amount of security even for “untalented people”

Rawls believes that talent and willingness to use it are _, and that _

Forms of luck, Distributions based on talent are just as arbitrary as distributions based on identity

Kenworthy believed _ satisfies Rawls’s Difference Principle

Social Democratic Capitalism

Social Democratic Capitalism components (6)

Democracy, Capitalism, Modest economic regulation, Good+Publicly funded education, Generous welfare state, Employment-oriented public services (affordable college)

Democratic Socialism vs. Classic Socialism

DS: Taxes on private firms fund a generous welfare state
CS: The government owns the firms and distributes money accordingly

Marxists believe that money and freedom _

Go hand and hand; You can’t have one without the other

Marx on liberalism as the dominant tradition of philosophy

Liberalism is so common that it is “common sense;” But this common sense is upside down and distorts reality

Conservative conclusion of freedom and poverty being exclusive concepts

It is the primary function of the government to provide more freedom, so if poverty does not equate to less freedom, the relief of poverty isn’t the government’s job

Cohen’s opinion on freedom and equality

There is no tradeoff between freedom and equality- Economic security via the welfare state creates more freedom

Cohen’s “tickets” thought experiment

In a society where tickets are mediums of exchange rather than money, what people can do is determined by which tickets they have

Commodity Fetishism

The false (according to Marx) belief that commodities have monetary value in of themselves, when really they have value because people want them

According to Marx, property isn’t material possessions, but is instead _

A power relation which gives the right to interference (hence why poor people are less free - they are interfered with more often and can interfere less themselves)

Why liberals fail to see that poor people lack freedom (2)

1. Many philosophers are financially well off and don’t understand or want to believe the lack of freedom that comes with poverty

2. Commodity Fetishism

Marx’s two critiques of capitalism

Alienation and Exploitation

Alienation of Workers includes _

1. Alienation of a worker from their products (not what they would choose to make if they worked freely)

2. Alienation from the production process (work becomes a means for a paycheck, rather than fulfilling in of itself)

3. Alienation of workers from each other (compete for jobs rather than cooperate to create products)

Marx’s conception of human nature

“Species-Being:” Human nature is to freely transform the world to meet their needs

Marx’s conception of flourishing

Finding fulfillment from fully realizing human nature

How liberalism fails to address alienation (2)

1. The welfare state doesn’t change the structural inequalities of capital ownership - Only improves life outside of work

2. Fair equality of opportunity only gives workers an equal opportunity to be dehumanized once they get their job

Jaggar’s analysis on women’s alienation

1. Women are alienated from their bodies because men control what representations/stories are produced (“what gets produced)

2. Women are alienated from their sexuality because men control how they express it (“how the work happens”)

3. Women are alienated from other women

Marx’s definition of exploitation

Someone not being paid for the full value of their labor

Why is exploitation unfair in Marx’s eyes?

Capitalists can be compensated just from owning things, not from infusing them with their labor

Labor Theory of Value

In an M-C-M’ exchange, the middle step is where value is created/added to a commodity

Objections to the Labor Theory of Value

Labor time and value are not directly proportional (grinding wood to sawdust) and Value can exist without labor (e.g. a chunk of gold or a car built by robots)

Marx’s “classless society”

A world in which no group owns the means of production to the exclusion of others

Capitalism is not _ and Socialism is not _

Materialism, The Welfare State

Command Economy

An economic system in which the government owns the means of production and determines all major production and employment (socialism)

Problem with command economies

There is no competition, and so there are no incentives to innovate/create better products

Market Socialism (Schweickart)

The government owns the means of production (command economy) but rents them out to private firms for a fee so that market competition is created - Firms are democratically managed (via elections) by the workers

How government investment is determined in market socialism

Same amount of money per capita distributed within a region

Possible Flaws in Marx’s Socialism (3)

1. Marx’s Theory of Ideology

2. Marx’s Theory of History

3. Marx’s lack of a Theory of Justice

False Consciousness

When workers accept the viewpoint of the ruling class as their own (used by Communist regimes to label dissenters as under the grip of a false ideology)

Materialist Theory of History

The course of history was driven and shaped by material/economic factors (shifting modes of production)

Marx believed that socialism would lead to a communist society where _

“The goods produced by work are distributed according to need, turning production away from profit and towards humanity”

Marx doesn’t give a detailed account of what a communist society would look like because _

The transition to communism is inevitable, so why waste time theorizing when we can just wait and see

Political systems involve _

A power structure of governance, privileges, and rules for distributing wealth and economic opportunities

Charles Mills believes that racism is _

A political system (specifically white supremacy)

Why social contract theory fails to explain racism as a political system

Social contract theory is predicated on the idea that everyone in a society agreed to the rules - But, under white supremacy, only some people got a say

The Racial Contract

Society is governed by rules accepted through a contract, but only between those in racial groups which are judged to “fully count” (nonwhite people can’t determine the fundamental rules)

The racial contract on prosperity

Prosperity is the main driver of this social contract, but only the prosperity of some

According to Mills, philosophy treats racism as _

Atypical (alien thought experiment), even during time periods where it was the norm

Why do philosophers fail to see the racial contract?

Most philosophers are white and so don’t see the racial contract because the world is “structured around their race” (similar to Marx’s belief that the bourgeoisie doesn’t see problems with exploitation)

Objection to Mills’s Racial Contract

Social contract theory is meant to be prescriptive, not descriptive, and so doesn’t need to include rules around slavery because slavery is obviously not allowed

Ideal vs. Nonideal Philosophy

Ideal: Imagine a utopia and then devise a method to get there

Nonideal: Discuss current problems and try to solve them

How the racial contract changes over time (2)

1. Once De Jure → De Facto, members of the racial contract don’t openly discuss the racial contract (but inequities persist)

2. Who counts as white changes over time

What race really is (Mills)

Racial groups aren’t based in phenotypical features, but are instead separated by arbitrary boundaries to create a power relation