Final Exam Review Liberalism

How does Rawls begin Justice as Fairness?

Rawls begins with the 4 roles of political philosophy

What is the unique way Rawls views society?

Society is a fair system of cooperation over time between free and equal citizens.

What is the basic structure?

The major social institutions (political, legal, economic) that distribute fundamental rights, duties, and advantages.

What is the original position?

A hypothetical bargaining situation in which rational individuals choose principles of justice under fair conditions.

What is the veil of ignorance?

Imagined restrictions for the representative not to know their social status, talents, race, gender, or conception of the good.

What are Rawls’ two moral powers?

A sense of justice and moral conception of the good

What is the idea of public justification?

Political principles must be justifiable to all reasonable citizens using shared public reasons.

What is overlapping concensus?

An agreement on political principles of justice among citizens with different moral, religious, or philosophical views that is reasonable for others to acknowledge (On the basis it is reasonable…)

What is the burden of judgement?

The reasons why reasonable people can disagree, including complexity of evidence, differing experiences, and value conflicts.

What are the two principles of justice to Rawls?

Equal basic liberties for all and social and economic inequalities must satisfy fair equality of opportunity and benefit the least advantaged.

What is the difference principle?

Inequalities are justified only if they improve the position of the least advantaged members of society.

External versus internal conditions for science as a vocation?

External: material conditions, career structures
Internal: personal calling, devotion to truth, intellectual discipline

What is the proper role between science and politics?

Science should clarify facts and values but must not prescribe political values or goals.

What is one’s “damned duty!” according to Weber’s “Science as a Vocation”?

To recognize uncomfortable truths and the limits of one’s moral convictions.

What is Rationalization, Intellectualization, and Disenchantment?

The increasing dominance of calculation, efficiency, and technical reason, leading to loss of mystery and meaning

What are the three types of legitimate rule (in Politics as Vocation)?

Traditional, Charismatic, Legal-rational

What is meant by “Slow drilling into hard boards”?

Politics requires patience, persistence, and long-term effort.

What are the two rival ethical outlooks?

Ethic of conviction vs. ethic of responsibility.

What is negative liberty?

Freedom from interference by others.

What is positive liberty?

Freedom to be one’s own master or to control one’s life.

The Temple of Sarastro criticizes what?

Rationalist systems that justify coercion in the name of human perfection.

What is monism to Berlin?

The belief that all genuine values can be harmonized into a single moral system.

What is pluralism to Berlin?

The view that there are multiple, incompatible, yet objective human values.

What is incommensurability to Gray?

Some values cannot be measured or ranked by a single standard.

Is pluralism relativism. If not, what?

No. Pluralism holds that values are objective but irreducibly multiple and conflicting.

When explaining how moral values can conflict within one person, Williams highlights

conflicts between ___?

Between moral reasons that cannot be fully reconciled or ranked.

Williams uses an example of ______?

The Gauguin; choosing artistic genius over family obligations.

What is rationalism to Oakeshot?

The belief that politics can be guided by abstract principles and technical knowledge alone.

What are the two aspects of the politics of rationalism?

Distrust of tradition and overconfidence in explicit rules and plans

What philosophers are bound up with the origin of rationalism?

Descartes, Bacon, Hobbes

What is Oakeshot’s view of F.A. Hayek?

Critical. Sees Hayek as still overly rationalist despite defending tradition.

According to Oakeshot, what are the two kinds of knowledge?

Technical knowledge and practical (traditional) knowledge.

What is the main argument per Machiavelli in “Pursuit of the ideal”?

Machiavelli reveals that political values can conflict tragically and cannot be unified.

What are the opening lines and main argument per Bismark in “Political judgement”?

Political greatness depends on practical judgment, not moral purity or theory.

What is the main question posed in Ch. 1 by Macintyre?

How ought we to decide… moral, social, and political legions?

What are the general domain of Macintyre’s “solution”?

Modern academic philosophy and shared belief.

When does a tradition become “mature”?

When it can explain its own development and respond to internal crises.

According to MacIntyre, how do most modern people relate to different traditions of enquiry?

They inherit fragments without understanding the traditions that gave them meaning.

What is “agonistic liberalism” to Gray?

A form of liberalism that accepts permanent conflict among values and ways of life.

According to Corey, what are strategies for mitigating political frustration

Lowering expectations, cultivating moderation, accepting compromise, and resisting moral absolutism.