Identification terms Flashcards
The Persian Letters
2 wealthy Persian men travel to Paris observing the city from outside pov
promotes idea that religious belief is relative
criticizing religion leads to moral questioning
seeing something in Persia might be moral now in france
talks about troglodytes who didn’t appreciate the drs help so the dr didn’t come back
bourgeoisie
the middle class
often described as the ownership class - group of people who own stuff
Friedrich Engels
German philosopher who worked with Marx and they had some of the most influential works in the history of socialism
speculative philosopher
philosophy professing to be founded upon intuitive or a prior insight and especially insight into the nature of the absolute or divine broadly
they think they are superior and everyone else is lacking
moral relativism
moral judgements are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint
no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others
someone thinks their opinion is right based on their morals
trolley problem
kill 1 person or 5 people on railroad
utilitarianism - greatest good for greatest number
societal ideology
intellectual rationale for political forms
Marx 3 main features of ideology: existing order being natural and beyond human control, how existing order benefits everyone, depiction of existing order as beneficial
the ability of the ruling class to prevent the oppressed class from actually sensing their position
societal level gas lighting
felicific calculus
intensity
certainty
propinquity
fecundity
purity
extent
measuring pleasure off of tangible things
Bentham argues that we should be able to calculate the impact of our actions by measuring these variables
teleological moral
derived from greek telos
if something is deemed good, as it provides utility, then the right action in any situation is the one that brings the most good
what is right is determined by what is good
separation of powers
Montesquieu argues that people are inherently self interested and prone to abuse power
sees the most workable solution by having an executive, legislature, and independent judiciary
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
list of prohibited books which Spirit of Laws was put on for its criticism of religion
Despotism
dictatorship
nature: concentrated power in ruler/ruling family
principle: restricted concentration of power in hands of dictator
no check in ruler
will is the law
based on fear
philosopher in action
their events that they perform for a purpose that is guided by the philosophers intention
General in Origin
one of the ways that will is general
laws must be made by all citizens
Rousseau requires direct participation
Virtual representation
Edmund bruke advocated for this
your mp is not a representative of you but your interests
socialism
transitory state between capitalism and communism
pure socialism doesn’t exist
marxist socialism is during transitional phase, the means of production should be publicly appropriated
harm principle
intrusion on personal liberty should be constrained to when actions harm people
3 main techniques: liberty on conscience, liberty of expression, liberty of life as one pleases
proletariat
working class
people who do labor
independent judiciary
judges must be free to exercise their judicial powers w/o inference
economic base
productive element which forces and relationship of productions
general in object
other way that will is general
laws must concern all citizens - similar to the modern language of equal protection
self determination
the process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, from their own state and choose their own government
superstructure
how society can be broken up
everything that isn’t productive
deontological morals
what is right and what is good are defined independently
any moral system that rests on concepts such as natural law or gods will are deontological
psychological hedonism
the view that all human action is ultimately motivated by desires for pleasure and the avoidance of pain
“other regarding” individualism
individual behavior is “other regarding” if it potentially harms another persons “permanent interest as a progressive being”
abstract rights
are not real, which makes burke offended that people compare the French Revolution to glorious revolution
the person as the bearer or holder of individual rights
general will
requires citizens to be virtuous and recognize what’s best for society
2 ways: origin and object
natural pity
makes it so humans won’t want to harm others
