2nd exam

Question 1

Tyranny of the majority

Answer 1

• This is the concept that in a democratic state the majority of people can impose its will on a minority and oppress them.
• Mill believes this behavior is “tyrannical” when it violates a claim that the minority has as a member of society.

Question 2

Moral coercion of public opinion

Answer 2

This is a way that the public could be educated and warned about the Harm Principle, and a method in enforcing the Harm Principle.

Question 3

All that is solid melts into air

Answer 3

1. the constant revolutionizing of production is what is making this era of the bourgeoisie different than ever before.
2. Because of the revolution of production, all relations in society melt away until the only thing that is left is money and the real conditions of life.

Question 4

Sabbatarian Legislation

Answer 4

• laws that say you can’t work on Sundays.
• Mill says that even though this practice may be socially beneficial, this is against liberty because people are imposing their religious views on others.

Question 5

Prohibition

Answer 5

• Mill doesn’t think that prohibition is good because it impedes on the social rights of individuals.
• He says that it shouldn’t be banned as a whole when there are only some people who benefit from its illegalization.

Question 6

Mormonism

Answer 6

• Mormonism and polygamy should be allowed because no one has the right to tell a group of people to be “civilized”
• as long as they don’t ask for assistance from the outside community.

Question 7

Equal obligation of all to work

Answer 7

• Marx states that this is a pillar of a communist society.
• An equal obligation on all members of society to work until such time as private property has been completely abolished.

Question 8

The principle of utility

Answer 8

Mill describes the principle of utility as weighing actions against happiness (absence of pain), and maximizing the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

Question 9

To establish democracy

Answer 9

Democracy will be in the transition from capitalism to communism. Democracy should be used to make the working class into the ruling class.

Question 10

Personal Property

Answer 10

• “items intended for personal use” (e.g., clothes, homes, and vehicles, and sometimes money).
• It must be gained in a socially fair manner, and the owner has a distributive right to exclude others.

Question 11

Private Property

Answer 11

the means of production, they want private ownership of the means of production to be replaced by public ownership

Question 12

Commercial crises

Answer 12

there is too much being produced and not enough people to buy them or who have the money to buy them.

Question 13

Class struggle

Answer 13

Class struggle or conflict, the active opposition of classes, is of course the meat of class theories. Marx states that there is an inherent struggle between the bourgeoisie (controls capital and production) and proletariat (controls the labor).

Question 14

Backward states of society

Answer 14

• Mill states that the Harm Principle does not apply to everyone, specifically children and “backwards” societies. - When societies are “backwards” and barbaric, they shouldn’t fall under the harm principle but instead should be told what to do.

Question 15

No man is an island

Answer 15

• Mill uses this metaphor to describe that a man is never truly isolated to himself.
• It is impossible for a person to do anything seriously or permanently hurtful to himself without affecting other people somehow.

Question 16

Distinct and assignable obligations

Answer 16

Mill refines the Harm Principle and says that society should not prohibit actions that don’t violate a distinct and assignable obligation to other people. These include the obligations to
A) respect the person and property of others,
B) support one’s family, and
C) to carry out one’s job responsibly.

Question 17

Individuality

Answer 17

1. One of the essentials of human well-being, we cannot achieve happiness without individuality.
2. opposite of conforming to culture. Mill associates individuality with developing one’s talents and capacities, especially one’s mental capacities.

Question 18

Infallibility

Answer 18

Incapable of making a mistake or being wrong, assuming that you’re 100% right all the time and all other opinions are wrong. This is dangerous.

Question 19

Dead dogmas

Answer 19

• The opposite of living truths, these are a set of beliefs that aren’t founded on evidence, we believe things without a reason.
• We forget the REASONS and the MEANING of our beliefs unless we debate about them.