Introduction to The Social Contract and Ethical Egoism

Vocabulary flashcards covering political philosophy terms from John Jacques Rossell's The Social Contract as well as theories of egoism, ethics, and social contract concepts.

Agreement

A convention enduring state of affairs.

Alien

To no longer own something or to give away and sell.

Arbitrary

Brought into existence by the decision of people.

Censorship

Nineteenth century meaning for certain role Romans Republic of a guardian or spokesperson for a person's moyer.

Compact / contract

Translates Raseo's pact and contract.

Constitution

A sum of facts, how something is constituted or how parts hang and work together organized.

Magistrate

Anyone with an official role in government.

Moyer

A person's morality, attitude, customs, ideas, expectations on what's decent; it means worse in English.

Moral person

Something that isn't a person but regarded as one for moral purpose.

Prince

The chief of the government.

Sovereign

A label for a person or a group holding supreme power in a state or legislator.

Substinence

What is needed for survival, like food and water.

Wise

Learned intellectually.

Society of family

The only standing natural society.

Right by fact

A drawn conclusion from the premise.

Renounce liberty

To renounce status of rights as a man.

War

Constituted by a relation between things, which is state versus state.

Private war

Man versus man.

Citizens

People that share in sovereign power; a virtue rather than a right.

Subjects

People under state laws.

Act of associations

Between public and individuals in it.

State of nature

Instinct, as opposed to civil state.

Civil state

Justice, as opposed to state of nature.

Prosocial

Intended to help others.

Altruism

Concern for the well-being of others.

Thomas Hobbes

Believed that with social contract theory, individuals give up certain aspects to secure self interest and need an absolute sovereign.

Descriptive egoism

Holds that people are selfish / self interested.

Psychological egoism

A descriptive theory about our motivations and interests, or how people behave and why they do what they do, which cannot be disproved or falsified.

Empathy

The psychological capacity to understand what someone else is experiencing.

Compassion

The desire to help alleviate suffering.

Love

Intimacy and attachment.

Nepotism

Favoritism towards one's relative.

Ethical egoism

A normative theory on what we ought to do and how we ought to act for our own best interest, holding that it is good for people to pursue their own self interest.

Reciprocal altruism

Altruistic behavior for self interested persons when it is repaid in kind.

Akrasia

The weakness of will; in Greek, it means unable to do good things.

Paradox of hedonism

Formulated by Henry Sidwig as the problem of directly aiming for satisfaction, pleasure, happiness, and failing to achieve it, but occurring when we don't pursue it.

Individual ethical egoism

I ought to look out for my own interests only.

Universal ethical egoism

People ought to look out for only their own best interest; noted as inconsistent.

Prisoner's dilemma

Where self interested individuals who do not trust each other will be unable to cooperate and end up with less optimal outcomes.

Laissez fair capitalism

A form of capitalism with minimal government regulation or intervention, arguing that self interested individuals provide the best economic motivation.

Invisible hand

The outcome in a system described by Adam Smith where each person looks out for his own economic interest.

Impartiality

An impartial vantage point on what makes sense as moral; an unbiased or neutral look.

Care ethics

An ethical theory that emphasizes nurturing relationships while downplaying autonomy and individualism according to Noddy, developed in connection with Virginia Held.