Philosophy

Utilitarianism

• Maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain – attempting to quantify the results of actions and base judgements off of that Deontology
• Living by specific rules that we can never break – moral truths Constitutionality
• We should make our decisions based on what the constitution tells us to do Rule of Law
• This can mean two things either
  • We should follow laws
  • We should do what upholds the legitimacy of laws Democracy
• Two parts to this
  • The government system which involves voting for leaders
  • Democratic Values – things needed to make a successful democracy
    • Pluralism
    • Free access to information
    • Citizens who actively participate in civil society Social Contract
• An agreement between the government and the citizens
• Outlines the role/obligations of the government
• There are three main authors of the Social Contract and they all have different versions of it
  • John Locke
    • People have “inalienable rights” to life, liberty, and property
    • In the “State of Nature” (no government) our rights are constantly endangered – nothing stopping someone from robbing/killing you
    • To protect our inalienable rights, we give up some liberties to the government in return for protection
    • The government’s only duty is to protect these inalienable rights
    • If the government violates this we overthrow the government
  • Thomas Hobbes
    • Humans are inherently greedy, evil, and violent
    • Must join government and give up certain liberties to get rid of the anarchy which exists without government
    • The ‘Leviathan” is a supreme sovereign leader
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
    • Liberty is most important thing – humans are born with “liberty”
    • However, humans are also slave to their instincts/impulses
    • In order to increase productivity and abilities (by combining resources) and also to escape slavery to impulses (and achieve rational thinking, art, self-actualization, etc.) individuals must join society
    • The only way to not give up your liberty while joining a government is by adopting the “general will” of the society
    • It is the government’s job to uphold the general will Sovereignty
• States (countries, governments, etc.) should have the ability to do whatever they want – their power should not * be restricted/interfered with
• Based on the idea that the community creates morality
  • Moral Relativism – morality is different in different cultures/situations Liberty/Autonomy
• Maximizing an individual’s freedom to act Resisting Oppression
• Can be a criterion in itself but criterions often focus on a specific type of oppression
  • Resisting Racism
  • Resisting Patriarchal Oppression Rawlsian Justice
• Based on philosophies of John Rawls
• Must focus on improving the conditions of the least well off
• Veil of Ignorance
  • A philosophical concept that there is a veil behind which people are put. Behind this veil people do not know anything about the role they play in society (they have no idea how much money they have, what religion they are, what race they are, what gender they are, where they live, etc.)
  • Rawls says that the world which people will design behind this veil of ignorance will be the most just world
  • Ex: people will not design a world with slavery because they could end up being a slave Equality
• Can be a value criterion in itself but is somewhat vague
• Value Criterions also related to equality
  • Egalitarianism: equality under the law
    • Making sure the law is fair and applies to everyone
  • Equity: recognizing that people are equal but treating them as equals does not mean treating them the same
    • Help those who are not so well off more than you help those who are well off Structural Violence
• Societal structures divide people into in groups and out groups, people who are in our outgroups are outside of our moral calculus so when we use other ethical theories we are automatically ignoring these people
• We have to combat structures which exclude people from our moral calculus Political Realism
• Countries should do whatever benefits themselves and their own citizens
• International Realm is an anarchy, countries don’t have obligations to other countries Cosmopolitanism
• All of humanity is part of the same moral community and should be treated as such
• Countries/borders are arbitrary
  Communitarianism
• The community shapes us and gives us our sense of morality
• Without the community right or wrong wouldn’t exist
• We should therefore try to preserve and uphold the community Virtue Ethics
• There are certain good ‘virtues’ (patience, humility, etc.) that we need to try to foster
• Focuses on why we do things and how to make someone a ‘better’ or ‘more moral’ person

Videos:

Kant and Categorical Imperatives:

Philosophy - Ethics: Utilitarianism, Part 1:

Philosophy - Ethics: Utilitarianism, Part 2: