Mid Semester: Key Theorists Flashcards
Who created the theory of social contract where life is ‘nasty, brutish and short? // requires a single sovereign
thomas hobbes
Explain Thomas Hobbes Social Contract theory
- Social Contract Theory: Natural State of ‘nasty, brutish and short’
o // to control state= give up all power to single sovereign
Who created the social contract theory where the natural state is an abundance of resources and human reasonableness
John Locke
Explain Lockes Social contract theory
- Social Contract Theory: Natural State of abundant resources and human reasonableness
o Money= accumulation // need government to protect
o Government should be commonwealth not democratic
what is john lockes famous mantra (involving freedom)
life, liberty, property
Who, in terms of voluntarism, said submission can be tacit
locke
Explain the different between original social contract, and John Rawls
- Revived idea of social contract through thought experiment not presumed state of nature
Explain John Rawls theory for social contract, and what his two conclusions were
o Imagines social contract as product of discussion about rights conducted behind a veil of ignorance
o Two conclusions:
1. Lexical priorty
2. Maximin principal
What was John Rawls mantra
Justice is fairness
Who gave thought to the idea of positive and negative freedom
Isiah Berlin
Who created the Harm Theory
JS Mills
What did Colomer theorise
- Two types of constitutional rules
1. Rules regulating ‘the allocation of functions, powers and duties’ (separation of powers)
2. Rules ‘to define the relationship between [the state] and the public’ (democratic accountability)
What did Steven Lukes theorise
3 faces of power
Explain Robert Dahls research into the first face of power
o Study found that power distributed across networks of individuals, no one person but rather dense networks
o but is there a connection between these people in the networks
What did Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz emphasis in addition to Dahls theory of freedom
- Second Face of Power: agreed with Dahl but emphasised shift from individual and their power, to situation and context
o Emphasis on context and processes to which decisions are made not decisions themselves
What did Antonio Gramsci contribute to power discussions
- Ideas on hegemony o 3rd face of power built on this: idea that any ruling class in systems is try to inculcate ideas and beliefs which support them against the interests against the people who should be arguing against it
Why did Abercrombie and Scott disagree with the third face of power
o Amuses people have fixed and identifiable interests
what was Humes debate with voluntarism
- Debated that submission cannot be tacit
o What if knocked out woke up on army ship
Explain Rawls natural duty
If a state is basically being decent and just, then we have a natural duty to submit
explain the relationship between hobbesian logic and rawls natural duty
- Underlying Hobbesian logic- even if we don’t like particular policies or actions, we are overall better off within a ‘civil society’ than in a ‘state of nature’
- But (as opposed to Hobbes) there are limits on reasonable state behaviour and failure to comply with these limits render a state illegitimate
Explain Kants plan for perpetual peace
o General argument built on tacit consent, democratic possibility for change, and free movement (moving to different state location if don’t like current)
who created the plan for perpetual peace
kant
What did David Boonin argue
- Argues that laws explicitly prohibiting speech acts that incite racial hatred are unnecessary
o the acts they prohibit are sufficiently covered by more general legislation against threatening behavior, whether applied to groups or individuals
