Social Contracts
The first philosopher typically associated with social contract theory. Convinced that we have no real "rights" in the state of nature, he argued for the necessity of a great Leviathan to create morality and keep the peace between human beings.
Who is Thomas Hobbes?
According to this theory, one ought always do whatever is in his/her own best interest. Ayn Rand said that altruism is more than impossible; it is evil.
What is Egoism?
The government ought to be like a parent who enacts more rules (i.e. legislation) to protect us from ourselves.
What is Paternalism?
This Enlightenment philosopher 'came in like a wrecking ball' in the history of western thought, when he claimed that anything which could not be proven empirically--even cause and effect--could not really be known with certainty. And since one can never look at the way the empirically observable world is, and conclude empirically from this any certainty as to what ought to be, then morality must be arbitrary; we are all just slaves to our passions
Who is David Hume?
The belief that there is no such thing as universal, objective moral truth; moral truth and values are relative to each individual.
What is Subjectivism?
The Enlightenment philosopher and social contract theorist who believed that we are all born with an intuition of goodness and with basic intrinsic rights, even in the state of nature. Moral Law exists prior to government.
Who is John Locke?
In this analogy, Plato insists that reason must always be in control of spirit and desire if one is ever to find true happiness, which begins foremost within the care of one's soul.
What is the Analogy of the Charioteer?
The government ought to serve an extremely minimal function in order to respect our autonomy; less legislation, unfettered markets, etc.
What is Libertarianism?
If 'God is Dead', as this philosopher said, then we are truly free. But this would mean that the Overmen--the next step in evolution--must realize that all talk of morality and human "rights" is nothing more than a 'sick' power-play by Christianity. On his view, the "slaves" (those who chain themselves to pathetic notions of right and wrong) attempt to keep the masters (those who choose to define their own values) from rising to self-assertion, by burdening them with guilt and moral duty.
Who is Nietzsche?
The belief that there is no such thing as universal, objective moral truth, but also that moral truth and values are not relative to the individual; moral truths and values are relative to each culture. As Herodotus concluded, "Custom is king."
What is Conventionalism?
This dilemma in game theory shows that while we would ideally come out best if we all kept our contracts, we come out worst if we go on keeping the contract while others break it. Therefore, although it is less than ideal, we actually all come out better if we all break our contracts... but that doesn't seem right.
What is the Prisoner's Dilemma?
In general, this theory (associated with John Stuart Mill) stresses the greatest happiness for the great number. Its original form (associated with Jeremy Bentham) stressed a quantative pleasure rather than a qualitative happiness.
What is Utilitarianism?
This philosopher suggested a thought experiment in which we imagine ourselves behind a "veil of ignorance" in order to consider the sort of government for which we would vote, supposing that we momentarily forgot our own race, religion, geographical context, and social/economic context.
Who is John Rawls?
A member of the logical positivists, this philosopher articulated the Principle of Verifiability--that any statement that is not tautologically obvious or empirically verifiable must be rejected as nonesense--and the Emotive Theory of ethics--wherein statements like "Stealing is wrong!" would mean little more than "Stealing makes me feel sad; I don't like stealing."
Who is A.J. Ayer?
After researching several cultures across history, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus concluded that all morality seems to be relative to each culture. This 20th-century moral philosopher, however, also studied the moral claims of various cultures across the world and throughout history, but instead concluded that there is great moral unanimity across cultures--human beings all share deep intuitions concerning the reality of a universal, objective moral truth when it comes to the fact of injustice.
Who is C. S. Lewis
The philosophical attempt to justify the need for government and what the human condition was like in the "State of Nature."
What is Social Contract Theory?
According to this theory, as articulated by Immanuel Kant, one ought always to act, not according to consequences, but according to moral principle and the nature of the act itself. Above all hypothetical ethical commands, there is a Categorical Imperative that all rational minds intuit and to which all rational minds are bound: Act always so as to treat the human being always as an end in him/herself and never as a means to an end. If you cannot universalize a moral decision without contradiction then it is not a morally permissible act.
What is Deontological Ethics?
This view of government, held by Plato, Locke, and others, is built upon notions of moral desert, and upon the idea of giving to each one his or her due. Not everyone deserves the same freedoms. Those whose accomplishments merit more responsibilities; to them privileges ought to be awarded which are not available to those who did not earn such rights.
What is a Meritocracy?
In his analogies of the line and the cave, this philosopher observed how shadows are merely a reflection of material objects, and since the concepts of those objects already exist within the mind, they must be intuited from the light of an immaterial reality beyond the mind. Similarly, in looking to our desire for happiness and the good life, we are simply chasing illusive shadows that are but mere reflections of reflections of a true goodness that we intuit from beyond the material realm. If, however, we focus less upon our desires and the material world, and more upon our love of wisdom in seeking to know the true and the good, then we will be much closer to happiness, justice, and the good life.
Who is Plato?
This is the classical problem that Socrates raised when he asked, "Do the gods love what is holy because it is holy or is it holy because the gods love it?"
What is the Euthyphro dilemma?
The U.S. Declaration of Independence is built upon the view that human beings were created by God with a special dignity and moral intuitions, and that it is only in light of this God-given dignity that all human beings have natural, inalienable rights from birth--including the right to life, the right to liberty, and (for Locke) the right to property, later (edited by Jefferson) the right to a pursuit of happiness.
What is Natural Law Theory?
This theory is less concerned with action and more concerned with character. It isn't what I do, but who I am that determines whether I am moral or immoral. Said Aristotle, every example of moral excellence lies at an ideal habituation between the two extremes of excess and deficiency.
What is Virtue Ethics?
This philosopher articulated a view called dialectical materialism. On this view, there is no universal, objective morality; morality is socio-culturally constructed, and largely determined by economic variables. With great distaste for capitalism's sharp separation between the 'haves' the 'have-nots', he predicted that the resulting alienation and resentment would lead to the next step in history--a violent revolution resulting in the redistribution of property.
Who is Karl Marx?
Central to Aristotle's theory of virtue ethics and Aquinas' theory of natural law, this term refers to a final cause/end and ultimate function or purpose.
What is telos, or teleology?
This is a classic argument in theistic apologetics:
1. If there is such a thing as (even one) universal, objective moral truth, then there must be a God.
2. There is such a thing as universal, objective moral truth.
Therefore, there must be a God.
What is the Moral Argument?