Bentham & Singer
What are consequentialist moral principles?
Value of an action depends on its consequences
What are categorical moral principles?
Value of an action depends on the intrinsic character of an action
Who can enforce the law of nature?
EVERYONE, IN ALL CAPS (but who is everyone?)
What is the veil of ignorance?
State in which the parties of the original position don’t know particular facts about themselves or their society
What are the three principles of justice in holdings, according to Nozick?
Justice in acquisition, justice in transfer, rectification of injustice
What is the principle of utility?
Principle by which actions are judged based on their utility (net benefits, goodness, pleasure, etc.)
What does it mean to treat someone as mere means?
To use people to achieve an end without their permission; deception
What does a government require to be legitimate?
Consent of the people who will live under it
What is the original position?
A thought experiment used to determine what principles of justice would be chosen from a place of total equality
What is the problem with patterned principles of justice, according to Nozick?
Liberty disrupts patterns—maintaining a pattern requires massive intervention and violation of peoples’ individual rights
What is Singer’s main argument?
“If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it” (231)
What is the principle of Universal Law Formation?
If an act has a maxim that can be willed to be a universal law—applicable to everyone—then the act is permissible; if it does not, then it is forbidden
What is the purpose of government?
To better enjoy natural rights / a method of equal punishment
What are the two principles of justice?
Principle of equality (basic liberties are equally available to all) and the difference principle (inequalities are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged)
Why is Nozick against taxation?
It is forced labor. You own your body, so you own your labor, so you own the fruits of your labor, and no one can take that away from you
Name two criticisms of utilitarianism
Useless as principle of action, discounts individual rights, duty v. supererogation, sum of pleasure and pain is too simple
Why is acting out of inclination a problem, according to Kant?
It is heteronomous—following an outside law that you didn’t choose (what should you do instead?)
What is the law of nature?
Law that states that people in the state of nature are not allowed to take away the natural rights of others or themselves
What is Rawls’ argument against moral arbitrariness?
Advantages shouldn’t be given to people based on arbitrary principles that are beyond their control—birth, socioeconomic position, talent, etc.
What is a major problem with ideal theories, according to Mills?
They don’t take into account the world as it actually is, with all of its histories of oppression and injustice
Who is entitled to the benefits of utilitarianism, according to Bentham?
Anything that can suffer: humans, animals…plants?
Name one advantage of Kantian ethics over Utilitarianism
Kantian ethics has greater respect for individual rights/human life
What are the natural rights people have in the state of nature, according to Locke?
Inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property
Name two objections to the theory of justice as fairness.
Dystopia of crushing equality; self-interest motive is not natural, doesn’t take into account the world as it actually is
Where do ideas/concepts/ideals come from, according to Mills?
Lived experience (bonus question: how is this claim used to critique ideal theories such as the theory of justice as fairness?