Business Ethics Exam 2

What is the fundamental requirement of the Law of Nature for Locke, and how do we know it?

The fundamental requirement is to preserve yourself and all other human beings. Locke thinks we know this through observation of the natural world and reason, and that its content and bindingness come from God.

What are the 5 rights that Locke says all people have in the State of Nature, and what are the reasons Locke thinks we can punish for in the State of Nature?

1. Life - To not be damaged

2. Liberty - To choose your own actions

3. Property

4. Punish people for rights violations

5. Judge - when rights have been violated and what the punishment is

We can punish in the state of nature because when someone violates the state of nature, they reveal themselves to be dangerous

What is Locke's account of how we take things as property in the State of Nature?

We need to labor on it. Only valid if it is unowened, we leave enough for others, and we use before it spoils.

Locke rationalizes this by using the Labor - Mixing Argument (I own my body, so I own what I use it for) and the Argument from Desert (Since labor adds value, I deserve what I labor with)

What are the 4 inconveniences that give people reason to leave the State of Nature and enter into a state, according to Locke?

1. Objectively Wrong Punishments

2. Disagreements can snowball

3. Unable to punish violations

4. Some people intentionally don’t follow law of nature - hard to justify thier protection

What is the agreement that Locke thinks creates a political community?

Forming political community requiers unanimous consent

We agree to two things:

1. Transfer our right to punish and judge to a government

2. Follow and be subject to enforcement by the government

How does Locke think a political community chooses a government, and are there some forms of government that Locke thinks a political community cannot choose? Ask teacher Which and why?

Establishing a government should be done by majority rule

Does Locke think that people can leave a political community they have joined if they want to, and does Locke think that people can leave a political community if its government undergoes major changes?

We cannot leave a political community we have agreed to join Ask teacher. We are only free if the political community breaks down.

What are the 2 ways in which Locke says people become bound to follow the laws of an already existing state, and does Locke think that being born on land that belongs to a state or having parents that are members of a state makes a person a member of that state's political community?

1. Express Consent

2. Tacit Consent - being on the land makes you under jurisdiction, but not a member of the political community

No, we only join political communities by epressed consent

What is the agreement that Rousseau thinks creates a body politic?

A body politic requires uniamous consent: each person needs to put their full commitment towards the general will.

What is the General Will for Rousseau, and what is the relationship between the General Will and the body politic, what does Rousseau say the General Will aims at, and how does Rousseau think what the General Will wills is revealed?

The general will aims at the common good,

The general will does not err, us unalienable, and is general

The general will is revelaed by the majority

Rousseau says that the General Will is unerring, unalienable, general. What does Rousseau mean when he makes these claims about the General Will?

Unerring: cannot be wrong about what best promotes the common good

Unalienable: Cannot be taken away from the people it represents

General: Applies to everyone

What are the 3 kinds of freedom that Rousseau distinguishes in the Social Contract, and which of these does Rousseau think we can have only in a good state?

1. Natural Freedom: Unlimited right to everything a person wants

2. Civil Freedom: The possesion of everything unders ones property

3. Moral Freedom: Obedience to the law they set

We can only have moral freedom in a good state

What is the duty of fair play for Rawls, and what is the importance of explicit policy to Rawls's understanding of the duty of fair play, and what kinds of situations can give rise to duties of fair play? Ask teacher

The duty of free play is that if a society is mutually benefical to all, then one has a duty to equally contribute what they get out.

Why does Rawls think that we have a duty of fair play to follow the law of a constitutional democracy only if its constitution is just?

Rawls believes we should only follow a constitution if it acts under a “veil of ignorance.” - The law should not know our wealth, gener, etc.

What are Rawls's 2 principles of justice?

1. Each person it to have an equal right to the collective system of basic liberities

2. Social and economic inequlaties are only allowed if: a) the greatest benefit is given to the least advantaged b) public offices are open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.

First priniciple take priority.

What is self-respect for Rawls, and what connection does Rawls see between a government prioritizing liberty and the self-respect of citizens?

Self respect has two aspects:

1. A person’s own conviction that their life is worth carrying out

2. Confidence in a person to fulfil their own intentions.

The best way for a government to prioritze liberty is for wach person to have self respect.

Does Rawls think that we can have a duty of fair play to follow unjust laws? Why or why not? Does Rawls think that we can have a duty of fair play to follow laws even when breaking them produces more good than following them? Why or why not? Ask teacher for why

Rawls believe we should follow unjust laws even when breaking them would produce more good.

What is an autonomy-exercising choice for Zwolinski, and what conditions need to be met for a person to make an autonomy-exercising choice? What is a merely preference evincing choice for Zwolinski, and what does Zwolinski say we can infer from a person's merely preference evincing choice?

AEC: Choosing to do something because you either think it is morally right or brings you happiness.

Conditions:

1. Have a conception of happiness

2. The person thinks that they are doing it for a moral/happiness reason

3. Not be making the choice due to the immoral actions of others

MPEC: A choice that is not a AEC but is still expressive of prefrences. Infrence:

1. Benefits the people around them

2. Something that will harm the person by taking it away

How does Zwolinski argue that sweatshop owners do not violate the rights of sweatshop workers by employing them in sweatshops when workers choose to work in sweatshops?

Zwolinski's argument: (1) When people choose sweatshop work, we can assume it benefits them. (2) Those who do nothing to benefit sweatshop workers do not violate their rights. (3) If (2) is true, then sweatshop owners cannot be violating rights by giving employment that benefits them. (4) Therefore, sweatshop owners do not violate the rights of workers who choose to work there.

How can the desert coin flip example Ask Teacher or the Surfaxin case be used to call into question Zwolinski's idea that if those who do nothing to benefit sweatshop workers do not violate the rights of sweatshop workers, then sweatshop owners cannot be violating the rights of sweatshop workers by giving them employment that benefits them?

DCF: shows that the driver can wrong a stranded person even a) give them a ride or b) other people do not help the stranded person out. This portrays Zolinksi’s argument that you can still wrong a person even if you are helping them, and bystanders do nothing wrong.

How does Singer argue that reasonably well off people in affluent countries are morally required to give the money they otherwise would have spent on luxuries to charities that help people living in extreme poverty, and how does Singer use the example of a child drowning in a shallow pond to make this argument and defend its conclusion?

If a person can prevent suffering w/out sacrificing something of moral equivalence (in this case luxury money), then well of people are morally required to give the money to charity.

Singer connects this to the child drowning by arguing if you can save a child drowning with only giving up a minor inconvience (clothes getting wet), then you are morally required to save that child.

Does Zwolinski think that it is ok to just take away the option of sweatshop work from workers who are choosing it if workers are being wronged or exploited by sweatshop owners? Why or why not?

No. If the choice is AEC, then we respect the choice from the worker. If it is an MPEC, taking away the choice will harm the worker

Why does Julius believe exchange is morally problamatic?

Julius thinks it is immoral to try to get someone to do something other than the reason they have for doing it. Exchnage envolves conditional giving, which does not justify the other person to give up something they own. Exchnage is only justified if their is genuine good for both parties

What are the 3 mechanisms by which Smith says the division of labor increases the efficiency of production?

1. Increases dexterity of worker

2. Saves time lost when workers are changing jobs

3. Allows for greater development of machinery.

What two human drives does Smith think give rise to the division of labor?

1. The human nature to truck, barter, and exchnage things.

2. The natural human desire to better ones condition

What is the meaning and significance of Locke's quote: "[The state of nature is] A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another..."?

People are morally equal. We are creatures of the same species and rank with the same faults.

What is the meaning and significance of Locke's quote: "And will any one say, he had no right to those acorns or apples, he thus appropriated, because he had not the consent of all mankind to make them his?"

Gaining property in the state of nature cannot possibly be constented from everybody. There, mixing of labor is the way to aqcuire property.

What is the meaning and significance of Locke's quote: "...every man, that hath any possessions, or enjoyment, of any part of the dominions of any government, doth thereby give his tacit consent..."?

Defines tacit consent. By stepping into another government region, you give consent to follow those laws.

What is the meaning and significance of Rousseau's quote: "There is often a considerable difference between the will of all and the general will: the latter looks only to the common interest, the former looks to private interest..."?

The general will is not the sum of all wills, but rather the common intrest (the common good).

What is the meaning and significance of Rousseau's quote: "When a law is proposed... everyone states his opinion... and the tally of the votes yields the declaration of the general will. Therefore when the opinion contrary to my own prevails, it proves nothing more than that I made a mistake..."?

If a vote reveals the general will, and someone had a different opinion, then that individual was wrong about the general will.