Midterm/exam

Question 1

What is political philosophy?

Answer 1

“All activities associated with determining the

governance of a particular group of people”

Question 2

What is aside from the governing of people another function of political philosophy?

Answer 2

“Radical and critical reflection on the fundamentals of reality and human existence”

Question 3

What is the perception of Socrates about reality?

Answer 3

Socrates : “I know that I know nothing”

Question 4

What is the perception of Newton about reality?

Answer 4

Newton : “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”

Question 5

What is normative theory?

Answer 5

• Political philosophy as a branch of moral theory
• Philosopher as legislator and judge
• John Rawls

Question 6

What is critical theory?

Answer 6

• Political philosophy as a branch of social philosophy
• Philosopher as cartographer
• Michel Foucault

Question 7

Why do people organize?

Answer 7

There is a constant debate going on that tries to identify why societies are created. There are theories for the evil nature of men and the good nature of men. Society as a result of competition/cooperation.

Question 8

What is the perception of Thomas Hobbes on why people organize?

Answer 8

Men is evil. The state of nature is described as a “war against all”. Need for a strong state to govern people. An absolute state prevents men from falling into civil war.
Organization as the outcome of mens inability to cooperate. (e.g. toilet rolls in pandemic)

Question 9

What is the perception of Benedictus Spinoza on why people organize?

Answer 9

Society/organization (state of nature) is based on spontaneous cooperation. There is no need for a strong state. the multitude (a population that has not entered into a social contract with a sovereign political body) are fully capable of governing themselves.

Question 10

What hinders agreement on justice?

Answer 10

There is a conflict of interest. Private interest is opposing the interest of the common good.
J. Haidt: Rational arguments FOLLOW rather than precede moral believe. The perception of men on justice is also often influenced by the social position.

Question 11

What hinders agreement on justice (aside from different interests)?

Answer 11

There are multiple perceptions of what “the good life entails”. Moral pluralism= allowing for different private conceptions of the good life. (public versus private matters)

Question 12

What is egalitarianism?

Answer 12

“Equal distribution of goods”

Criticism= Unfair to people who merit more + equal distribution of misery

Question 13

What is libertarianism?

Answer 13

“Individual freedom from interference”

Criticism= Inequality of opportunities + deepening inequality

Question 14

What is utilitarianism?

Answer 14

Make as many people as possible happy?

Criticism= But what if sacrificing a minority makes the majority happier?

Question 15

What are Rawls three principles of justice?

Answer 15

• Ad 3 (rules of distribution) the just
distribution of social primary goods

• Ad 2 (moral pluralism) justice versus
the good life

• Ad 1 (problems of interest) original
position

Question 16

What is Ad 3 (rules of distribution)?

Answer 16

Ad 3: Rawls’ aim is to distribute “social primary goods”
• Primary goods? Goods required for the fulfillment of the good life
• Natural primary goods: good health, personal talents
• Social primary goods: political freedoms, income, social recognition, etc.

Distribution of said social primary goods is determined by Ad 1.

Question 17

What is Ad 2 (moral pluralism)?

Answer 17

Basic idea of liberalism: maximizing individual freedom without harming others freedoms
• Rawls: Justice versus the good life
• Justice applies the basic idea of liberalism
• The good life is about how to use one’s freedoms
• Primary goods only concern justice  means to a good life

• Examples:
• Income versus what you do with that income
• Freedom of speech versus what you do with this speech

Question 18

What is Ad 1 (problems of interest)?

Answer 18

Ad 1: the original position
• Debating justice from behind a ‘veil of ignorance’
• The original position
• “How would you want social primary goods to be distributed if you would not know who you
would become in the group?”
• Maximin-reasoning
• ‘Maximin’ = maximizing the minimum
• Risk averse individuals choose for a group where the interests of those worst off are
maximized

Question 19

How do Rawls’ principles of justice work and how can exceptions occur?

Answer 19

Principle 1: the maximum equal distribution of social primary goods to every individual compatible with the social primary goods of others (basic idea of liberalism)

Principle 2: possible exceptions to equality
• A) Only when those inequalities favor those least well off (maximin)
• B) Only when the better social positions are accessible to everyone (equality of opportunity)

Question 20

What are issues with Rawls’ assumption that ‘free and equal persons’ are ‘heads of families’?

Answer 20

(1) What about interpersonal dependencies?

(2) What about the other members of the family?

Question 21

What are the assumptions to wether the rules of justice apply to the private family?

Answer 21

A. Rawls excludes the private family (part of the good life).

B. Rawlsian feminists include the private family (part of justice).

Question 22

How does the interpersonal dependencies view the liberal individuals?

Answer 22

(J. Butler)

Liberal ideal of the autonomous, self-sustaining individual:
1) I don’t always get to determine how I cultivate the good life
• 2) My notion of the good life is not entirely my own choice

Human beings are embedded in relations of care. The autonomous, self-sustaining individual is an illusion. Interweaving of self and others.

Question 23

How did the breadwinner-model family originate?

Answer 23

(S. Federici)

18th-19th century: men and women both worked in the
factories.
20th century: social compromise
• Male workers got better wages and political
representation in exchange for social peace
• Higher male wages led to the emergence of the
housewife
• Sexual division of labour: men provide, women care

Question 24

Why do the principles of justice of Rawls’ apply to the private family?

Answer 24

(S. Moller Okin)

A) The family is a ‘basic institution’ of society
B) The state already intervenes in family institutions
C) The family is ‘the first school of social justice’

Question 25

What are some motives and examples to the application of Rawls principles of justice to the private family (S. Moller Okin)?

Answer 25

A) The family as basic institution
• ‘Basic institution’ = an institution that is responsible for distributing primary social goods
• Examples: school, social security system, family

B) The State already intervenes in the family
• ‘Private’ family is a myth
• Example: child benefit system
• Cf. Foucault on bio politics

C) Family as first school of social justice
• Children must be taught to respect justice
• Requires institutions that are themselves also just (‘practice what you preach’)

Question 26

How can Rawls’ principles of justice be applied to the breadwinner family model?

Answer 26

First principle: equal distribution of maximum (social) primary goods

Second principle: inequalities should favor the least well-off + equality of opportunity

• Results?
  1) Equalizing the responsibilities of care work
  2) Protecting those most responsible for unpaid care work
  3) Equality of opportunity to become ‘provider’ or ‘caretaker’
• Examples:
  1) Gender-neutral parental leave
  2) Alimony after divorce

Question 27

What are some critical issues to liberal feminism

Answer 27

1) Intersectionality (K. Crenshaw)
The history and challenges of feminism are not uniform. There is a tendency to favor white middle-class women. Women's emancipation should give attention to internal diversity (race, sexuality, nationality, disability, heritage, etc.)

2) Progressive neoliberalism (N. Fraser)
Focus on individual rights and opportunities. Again ignoring the inequality of opportunity. Feminism has evolved from revolutionary feminism to girlboss feminism. Example= Outsourcing of family work to exploited (female) migrants.

Question 28

What is the core of the communitarian position?

Answer 28

Principles of justice cannot work without a shared idea of the good life. Individual rights and liberties can be limited to support this
shared idea of the good life. Group rights to protect (minority) communities
(Example: indigenous peoples)

Question 29

What are the four arguments against Rawls?

Answer 29

(1) Decadence argument
(2) Emptiness argument
(3) Self-perception argument
(4) Embedded self argument

Question 30

What is the decadence argument against Rawls?

Answer 30

Too much individualism leads to social decadence (verval).

“To live for the moment is the prevailing passion—to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity. We are fast losing the sense of historical continuity, the sense of belonging to a succession of generations originating in the past and stretching into the future.”

Self-realization must be balanced by commitments to the community

Question 31

What are the liberal arguments against the decadence argument?

Answer 31

The liberal distribution of goods does not hinder the commitment to community. Only primary goods (= means for leading a good life) are the object of justice, not the good life itself.

(Questions whether community commitment should be a personal choice)

Question 32

What is the emptiness argument against Rawls?

Answer 32

Liberal notion of the individual self is empty. It is against the original position. “Complete freedom would be a void in which nothing
would be worth doing, nothing would deserve to count for anything.”. What is freedom supposed to be used for? It is required to be embedded in a community that provides meaningful goals in life.

Question 33

What are the liberal arguments against the emptiness argument?

Answer 33

Rawls’ point is not that the liberal individual actually has complete freedom to choose her goals. But the individual is always free to distance himself from any particular goals that are set out for him. Even in a ‘void’ individuals would still choose social primary goods.

Question 34

What is the self-perception argument against Rawls?

Answer 34

Our perception we have of ourselves is formed by ‘fundamental believes’. Some of our believes are so basic to our identity that it is impossible to distance ourselves from them. Fundamental believes originate from the communities to which we are committed. Problem for the original position argument.

Question 35

What is the liberal argument against the self-perception argument?

Answer 35

Nonetheless, people can still change their fundamental believes. Strive for a society that allows individuals to leave their community after conversion.

Question 36

What is the embedded self argument?

Answer 36

The good life is not a choice but a discovery. This discovery is dependent upon the presence of others. It sees ‘the self’ as an embedded agent in a society. The individual is embedded in a society with its own value system that precedes and constitutes this individual.

Question 37

What is the liberal argument against the embedded argument?

Answer 37

Even if the good life is discovered, the individual is still autonomous to accept the calling. Freedom to choose not to accept the calling.

Question 38

What are some criticisms to Rawls’ social contract

Answer 38

Although it can be seen as an ideal the theory, the circumstances are non ideal. Rawls’ approach lacks is ahistorical (example of kidneys). There is a disconnect between the theory and the real world scenarios. Liberal social contract requires a previous decision. Original position can lead to unfair outcomes. May not be the best theory to think about resource allocation in a society.

Question 39

What is Charles Mills’ racial contract?

Answer 39

Social contract. Sustained critique of the liberal political tradition but still believed in liberalism. Neutral with respects to race and ethnicity. This is because modern liberals embodied ideals of freedom and equality with the presence of racial oppression and colonization. This was justified by dividing the polity between persons and sub-persons. It explains the economic dimensions as the “European industrial miracle” is just based on exploitation and colonization.

Question 40

How was the racial contract and sub-personhood enforced?

Answer 40

A: Violence. Both state and non-state violence. Gave rise to black live matters

B: Ideological conditioning. Interpellation (Its just how things are)

Question 41

The racial contract as economic reality. What is Marx’ and Luxemburgs’ perception on ‘private accumulation’?

Answer 41

The original stock of investment capital came from the government taking a way land, homes and natural resources from people(enclosures-> creating private wealth). In turn, people had to work for wages in order to make a living (even when method of life is self-sustaining). It puts the profits back into the methods of production (preferably machines as they are more efficient) and neglects the working class. Luxemburg believes that the accumulation is not primitive at all as a continued need of exploiting resources is needed.

Question 42

What are the deep disagreements against Rawls and the liberal world? Define and explain them.

Answer 42

1: The tolerance paradox. Liberal order must be tolerant to different conceptions of the good life. But how tolerant should it be of illiberal ways of life?
2: The paradox of liberalism (C. Mouffe): Who decides what count as ‘reasonable’ or ‘justice-related? Who can be considered as a relevant voice?

Question 43

What is the political realm ultimately about?

Answer 43

• Procedures that determine public policy
• The fundamental conflicts of society

Important is distinction! Good vs bad politics. “The specific political distinction to which political actions and motives can be reduced is that between friend and enemy.”– Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political

Question 44

What is mouffe’s distinction between politics and political?

Answer 44

Politics: Official procedures for the deliberation and implementation of governmental policy. (Parliament, government, state administration)

The political: Fundamental conflicts of a society. Passionate attachments to our way of life and our fundamental believes. -> Anything can become political!

Question 45

Where and how do Mouffe and Rawls clash?

Answer 45

Rawls: Attempts to ‘depoliticize’ society. Danger can occur when appeals to universal reason are invokes. This can worsen political conflict. Schmitt: “whoever invokes humanity or morality is cheating.

Mouffe: Political conflict and deep disagreement are unavoidable. These must be accommodated by democratic conflict. No single ideology can ever be dominant, only hegemonic.

Question 46

What is hegemony (Gramsci)?

Answer 46

Different conceptions of the common good life compete for influence:
• Competing attempts to define ‘common sense’
• Struggle for control over social institutions
• Importance of interpellations

Examples

1) Fox News
2) Ecological education