PHIL 457 Exam 2 Definitions

libertarianism

society with a minimal state/limited government

anarchism

a stateless society, i.e. the claim that no state is legitimate

just distribution

whatever arises from a just situation by just steps it itself also just, according to nozick

“night watchman state”

minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified and any state more than that violates people’s rights

nozick’s formula for distributive justice

just acquisition + just transfer = just distribution

just acquisition

persons are entitled to holdings that are initially acquired in a just way, according to nozick

Lockean Proviso/Locke’s Theory of Property

mixing one’s labor (which they own) with a piece of nature (which God gave to men in common) creates a right to private property, provided that enough is left for others)

Nozick’s Proviso

if initial acquisition fails to make anyone worse off who was using the resource before, then it is justly acquired

negative liberty

freedom from constraint in the form of tangible action against the person or property or threat of such

positive liberty

freedom to do something; refers to capacities rather than permissions; note: humans cannot be maximally positively free

freedom as individuality

freedom to develop and express a unique personality and life story in both the public and private fields; self-authorship

freedom from manipulation

being respected as an autonomous person or a creature with dignity and ends of their own; recall Kant’s 2nd formulation

freedom to make the world

as society is a creation of humans/ourselves, we become freer the more that we design and fashion the world we inhabit

Marxist notion of alienation in terms of freedom to make the world

a form of unfreedom; the idea that we are so far removed from a world we created/the products of our labor

equanimity

freedom from dread, doubt, disquiet, sorrow

republican freedom

republicanism is the theory of popular sovereignty and explicitly anit-monarch; the idea that no one may control the “means of domination”

8th conception of freedom, in relation to healthcare

freedom to do something with our lives other than worry about it

descriptive notion of freedom

what someone can or cannot do regardless of justification; i.e. freedom to do bad is still freedom

moral notion of freedom

opposite of descriptive

equality of means

equality of rights, primary goods, and opportunity

equality of ends

equality in welfare, well-being, and needs satisfaction

an equal scheme of distribution

one that treats people as equal when it distributes resources among them until no further transfer would leave them more equal

hedonic welfare

idea that welfare consists in avoiding pain and suffering and attaining happiness and pleasure

Nozick’s “experience machine”

if pleasure were the only intrinsically valuable thing, then people would prefer a fake experience generated by an “experience machine” to real life; since we don’t prefer this, something other than pleasure must be intrinsically valuable

preference satisfaction welfare

idea that welfare can be evaluated in accordance with success in fulfilling goals, preferences, and ambitions

particularist needs

needs we have for particular things; for example my friend mary vs any new friend to replace her

sen’s capability theory

primary goods are only worth having (valuable as means) if those who have them possess the positive capacity to use them

“capability for functioning”

a person’s “capability” reflects the alternative combinations of functioning that a person can achieve and from which they can choose one collection

well-being according to sen/“capability set”

a mixture of subjective and objective elements; i.e. a midpoint btwn equality of means and outcomes

distributive equality

“equality of what”; how do we “divide the pie”

relational equality

how do people stand in relation to one another?

sufficientarianism

the view that priority should be placed on benefitting those who are not sufficiently well-off

prioritarianism

the idea that distributive priority should be given to the worst off; the urgency of this is determined by how worse off they are

the “leveling down” objection

the belief of some egalitarian philosophers that there is something intrinsically bad when some have more than others, no matter what

Pareto principle

an economic action that harms no one and helps at least one person

“person-affecting principle”

a state of affairs can’t be good or bad unless there are discrete individuals for whom it is good or bad

Foucault conception of power

power is not consolidated - there are a multitude of ways in which power can be exercised over our lives in how we see choices and navigate the future

“bio-power”

power exercised in the name of health; deployed to make individuals behave and be productive workers

Dubois’ “double-conciousness”

being black in America involves two senses of self which can cause internal conflict

overt racism

a law or institution expressly takes into account the race of individuals in order to assign benefits and burdens to favor a particular racial group

covert but intentional racism

the aim is to bestow an advantage on one racial group but race is not explicitly invoked as the reason for a policy

covert racism

aim to privilege a certain racial group, but without any racist intent or even with “colorblind” intent

cultural variations

racist ideas that have currency in our culture, even if they are disavowed by a majority of individuals

“evil triplets” of racism

institutions, culture, individual states

Dubois’ “unconscious habit”

private individuals carry thoughts, fears, and biases that feed cultural stereotypes that influence and are influenced by the structure of society