Exam 3 Flashcards
Wollstonecraft/Marx/Engles/Mill
mary wollstonecraft wrote…
Vindincation of the Rights of Woman
what’s the point of wollstonecraft’s works?
1) reason must rule supreme
2) the point of education is self-mastery
3) children ought to be educated to have balanced minds and strong, healthy bodies
how did Wollstonecraft view the nature of society/politics?
gov’t and human law can be simplified and made transparent. if you want liberty, you have to make things simple and transparent
vindication of the rights of man attacks who? why?
edmund burke, he was blind to man-made poverty and injustice
wollstone believed that God made all things _______ and that man was the source of _____
right, evil
wollstonecraft insists that no one can be expected to perform duties if their __________ ________ are not respected.
natural rights
wollstone craft wants women to:
1) be granted civil and political rights
2) have elective representatives of their own
3) be taught skills to sustain themselves
4) reclaim midwifery for women, women can be doctors and nurses
5) extend their interests to politics and all of humanity
wollstonecraft believes that men and women are ________ in the eyes of God
equal
why does wollstonecraft say that the education of woman is necessary?
without it, society can’t reach its full potential. women are the child’s first teacher and with education, they can better educate their kids and also be a better partner in relationships with men
marx says that capitalism is:
morally intolerable evil
Capitalism makes socialist and communism possible, but…
not inevitable.
that kind of society can only be made if its predecessor is fully destroyed
in order for capitalism to happen, the working class must…
realize that their class interests are diametrically opposed to those of the dominant, capitalist bourgeoisie
according to marx, history is a two-fold struggle:
1) struggle to master nature for human ends
2) struggle between different social classes
according to marx, religion is:
the opiate of the people. it dulls their minds to the possibility that systems are made and changed by human beings
what is marx’s false consciousness?
it’s what the working class suffers from. the working class is unable to form a true picture of their situation/the system that exploits them and believe that they live in a system that cannot be changed
marx wants his theory to do two things:
1) help workers overcome their false consciousness by giving them means to identify misinformation
2) point to the possibility of another, more just/equitable society (aka, communist, classless)
four ways capitalism is alienating (plus one extra)
1) workers from their products of labor
2) from creativity
3) dulls the workers’ capacity to create/enjoy beauty
4) workers from one another, makes them competitors, not friends
+1) capitalist is alienated from the world, placing money above all else
seven steps to marx’s revolution
1) worsening economic crisis
2) immiseration of proletariat
3) revolutionary class consciousness
4) overthrow the bourgeoisie
5) dictator of the proletariat
6) dictatorship withers
7) classless communist society emerges
(everyone gets stuck on 5)
marx’s staples of communist society
1) democratic
2) means of production is publicly owned and democratically controlled
3) free public education
4) all able-bodied will work
5) production is based on ability, distribution is based on need
mill’s civil liberty
limit that must be set on society’s power over everyone
mill’s three types of liberty:
1) thought and opinion
2) tastes and pursuits/plan your own life
3) join other like-minded individuals for a common purpose that doesn’t hurt anyone
each must be respected by a free society
these take away society’s need to force compliance
humanity is _______ by silencing opinions because:
hurt!
suppressed opinion may be true, and by silencing them it can hurt the whole
four reasons that mill says humanity hurts when opinions are silenced:
1) you can only be confident in being right when there’s contradiction–if you have a mistake, you can only fix it by experience/discussion. you’re only sure you’re right when you’re open to different opinions
2) stifling dissenting opinions for social good caused horrible tragedy, ex; Jesus. what is good today may be rejected tomorrow
3) truth will always survive persecution, but re-emergence can take centuries
4) societal intolerance causes people to hide their views, stifling intellectualism and independent thoughts
mill says that actions ___________ be as free as opinions.
shouldn’t.
must be limited when they’d harm others or be a nuisance
mill says that if you wanna impose your morality on others…
you should be willing to accept them imposing on you!
you can try to change minds but ought not be coercive (unless you’re preventing more harm, ex; keeping a violent alcoholic away from alcohol)
mill’s harm principle
1) people aren’t accountable to society for actions that only concern themselves
2) you’re accountable for actions that hurt others, and can be punished as necessary for those actions (minus free trade and competitive jobs since those help everyone overall)
mill says that leaving children uneducated is…
a crime against society and the child. they should be able to have general knowledge of facts
mill’s three objections to the gov’t intervening to help people (instead of letting them do it themselves)
1) person most qualified to do something is usually the one with direct interest in it.
2) useful that people diy things for their personal development
3) bad to add to the gov’t’s power, since it will stifle reform to protect its own interests–thus human development is stifled and ultimately the state itself is stifled.
mill wrote…
On Liberty
