Chapter 11 Flashcards
refers to a condition of human life in which there is no society larger than the family grouping, or, if there is a larger society, no government or positive laws.
State of Nature:
method of group decision-making that is characterized by a kind of equality among the participants at an essential stage of the collective decision-making.
Democracy:
such theorizing advocates an ideal society, independent of the likelihood of our actually being able to achieve it. Plato’s vision of the ideal republic ruled by philosopher-kings, and Marx’s conception of each giving according to their means and taking according to their needs, are examples.
Utopian Political Thinking
forcing of someone to do something by threatening him or her with an unpleasant outcome if he or she does not comply. Some theorists think that the threatened outcome must also be wrongful in order for the threat to count. The term is sometimes used more widely to refer to the use of force, both threatened and actual, to achieve some aim.
Coercion:
conception of citizenship that involves responsibility for the environmental consequences of our actions as well as the familiar obligations of citizenship, such as voting, obedience to the law, and defending the nation.
Environmental Citizenship:
form of collective decision-making, whereby laws and policies are legitimate to the extent that they are publically justified to the citizens of the community. Public justification is justification to each citizen as a result of free and reasoned debate among equals.
Deliberative Democracy:
conception of justice that primarily focuses on the distribution of this x in a society. Imagine that this x is, for example, “opportunity for well-being.” This conception of justice will care about how the “pie” of opportunity for well-being is divided up, even if it means that we will end up with a smaller “pie.”
Distributive Justice:
form of justice that ensures the fair distribution of rights to take part in collective decisions that affect one’s interests.
Participatory Justice:
view that each people or nation should have its own set of political institutions to enable it to decide collectively on matters that are of primary concern for its members.
Self-Determination:
rate at which the value of future benefits and costs are reduced in comparison to present benefits and costs. Even a very low rate has the consequence that very great benefits and costs in the distant future are worth very little compared to small benefits and costs that occur at present.
Discount Rate:
