Chapter 6 Flashcards
According to Hobbes humans are innately
humans are naturally selfish
According to Hobbes from where does morality come?
moral rules
According to Hobbes what is the world called where there are no social rules?
the state of nature.
According to Hobbes in the state of nature…
1) there is continual fear. 2) danger of violent death.
3) the life of humans is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
For Hobbes which of the following makes the state of nature awful?
a. equality of need.
b. scarcity.
c. essential equality of human power.
d. limited altruism.
e. all of the above.
According to Hobbes when governments collapse
There is a constant state of war, of one with all.
According to Hobbes there is no escape of the war of all with all
without a strong overarching authority to maintain peace.
What name does Hobbes give to the powerful head of a state?
Leviathan.
According to Hobbes to escape the state of nature
people must agree on rules to govern their interactions.
According to Hobbes the agreement made to escape the state of nature is called
The social contract.
Describe the 3 different views we discussed in class of the state of nature.
Social Contract Theory explains
both the purpose of morality and the purpose of the state.
According to Hobbes morality consists in the set of rules
that rational people will accept, on the condition that others accept them as well.
The strength of social contract theory is
the morally binding rules are ones that facilitate harmonious social living.
Why is it rational for us to follow moral rules?
We benefit from living in a place where the rules are accepted.
When someone breaks the rules
this releases us from our obligations to him/her.
. According to Social contract theory
attaching sanctions to rules is the only way to enforce them.
Prisoner’s dilemma was developed in the 1950’s As another way of
As another way of arriving at Social Contract Theory.
The conditions of the prisoner’s dilemma are:
a. You live in a totalitarian society
b. You are arrested and charged with treason.
c. You are accused of plotting against the government with a man named Smith, who is being held in a separate cell.
d. The interrogator demands you confess, but you protest your innocence ; you don’t even know Smith.
e. Your captors aren’t interested in the truth, they just want to convict someone.
In the prisoners dilemma you are offered the following deal
- If Smith does not confess, but you confess and testify against him, they will release you.
- If Smith confesses but you don’t, the situation will be reversed-he will go free while you get 10 years.
- If you both confess, you will each be sentenced to 5 years.
- If neither of you confesses, there won’t be enough evidence to convict either of you. They can hold you for a year, but then they will have to let both of you go.
pd Given these circumstances what should you do?
No matter what Smith does you should confess.
The problem of prisoner’s dilemma is, assuming you want to spend as little time jail as possible
What should you do.
With prisoner’s dilemma Smith is being offered the same deal as you, so
. Smith will confess.
With prisoner’s dilemma suppose you could communicate with Smith, you could then deal with him
1) you would then agree that neither of you would confess. 2) cooperating would not get either of you free immediately but it would be a better result than if you didn’t cooperate.
