Phil Flashcards
What is the fundamental difference between consequentialism and deontological etics?
- Consequentialism is worried about the consequences of our action, which should determine out choices. Deon means duty, and argues that we should stick to certain principles regardless of the consequences.
What did Kant argue about the ethics of duty?
- Act is morally right if motivated by a good will, not if the outcome is good. Good will means that the action is done from a sense of duty. A duty is an act out of respect for the moral law.
What is the first formulation of the categorical imperative?
Act in such a way that you can also will that your maxim should become a universal law = apply the tests of universalizability and reversibility:
1. Can we wish all people to act upon this principle we act on?
2. Would you like it if others would treat you in this way?
What is the second formulation of the categorical imperative?
Act in such a way that you treat others never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.
What are the characterstics of perfect duties?
- Allow no exception
- Mostly negative duties
-Can be enforced by law - Correlate to rights
- Most easily derived from the first formulation of Categorical Imperative
(think of them as constraints in an economic model)
What are the characteristics of imperfect duties?
- Some latitude in executing
- Mostly positive duties
-Cannot be enforced by law - No correlating rights
- Most easily derived from the second formulation of CI
(think of them as preferences in utility functions)
What is the difference between prima facie duties and all things considered duty?
Prima facie duties are the different duties you are confronted with when making a decision, all things considered duties is the greatest balance of right and wrong which dictates your decision after having evalueted all prima facie duties.
What is the view of Robert Nozick? What does it imply?
Libertarianism: only basic right is the right to be free from coercion of others. It is defended by Kant’s second formulation of CI. Nozick only defends a negative right: duty of others to not interfere with certain activities of the person who holds a given right.
It implies the right to prive property, right to conclude contracts, market without government regulation.
What were Friedrich Hayek’s views?
Neoliberal economics:
- Individual freedom as a moral principle
- No responsibility for the collective
- Opposes central planning by government
- Gov. should be limited to providing the rule of law
- Everyone is free, within the known rules of the game
What was Friedman’s model?
- Shareholder model, firms’ only social responsibility is to increase profits
What is the Lockean proviso?
Earth is common property of humanity, but property rights are needed to enable persons to appropriate the yields of the earth to sustain their lives. BUT there must be enough and as good left in common for others
What is the formal criterion of justice?
Equals should be treated equally
What is Nozick’s procedural justice?
Any distribution is just if as a result of free choices by individuals.
Procedural justice consists in the unhindered operation of just procedures:
- Justice in acquisition: Lockean provision
- Justice in transfer: by voluntary transactions
- Justice in rectification: rectification of injustice in acquisition or transfer
What is Rawl’s veil of ignorance?
It’s Rawl’s though experiment to assure impartiality and reveal the principles of justice. If people do not have information about their own position in society, people will be risk averse and apply maximin.
What are Rawl’s three principles of justice?
- Principle of equal liberty
- Principle of fair equality of opportunity
- The difference principle
What does Rawl’s law of people apply to?
To justice between people of different nations
What are the conclusions/implications of Rawls’ theory of justice?
- We should hand to the next generation a situation no worse than we received from the generation before
- Implies we should not save to make next generation better off
What are the 8 distributive justice standards?
- Absolute egalitarianism
- Difference Principle of Rawls
- Socialist principle of Marx
- Capability principle of Sen
- Utilitarianism of Bentham
- Equal opportunities principle of Rawls
- Capitalist principle/meritocracy
- Freedom of Nozick
What is the socialist principle of Marx?
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
What is the capability approach?
Capability that increase freedom
Non-welfaristic concept of consequences
What is capitalist justice?
Distribution is fair if it is in accordance to contribution to society. Technocratic and broad versions.
What are the 5 indicators of economic freedom?
- Small size of government
- Rule of Law (protection of property rights)
- Sound monetary policy
- Openness of international trade
- Freedom from government regulation
What are the indicators of positive rights?
- No absolute poverty (positive right to subsistence)
- Human development index
What are the indicators to evaluate free markets from a justice ethics point of view?
- Index of economic freedom (indicator for free market)
- Indicators for income inequality within countries: net Gini coefficient of income distribution in countries, share of income of 1% richest income group.
-Indicators of income inequality between countries: differences in GDP per capita, Gini coefficient of income distribution of all world citizens
What is the Kuznet curve? Does it always hold?
Income inequality rises with income, but for rich countries it decreases. No, it held in the US until 1970, but since 1970 onwards we see that inequality is on the rise again. In the Netherlands a similar but less clear trend is aloe observable. In practice, the Kuznet curve does not hold anymore.
How is income inequality at the world level dependent on within/between countries inequality?
30% within, 70% without. This means that income inequality at world level is mostly due to inequality between countries.
What question does virtue ethics try to answer?
What kind of person should I be?
What is a virtue?
An acquired disposition that is socially valued as part of the character of a morally good person being exhibited in the person’s habitual behaviour.
What are the main points of arisotle’s virtue ethics?
- Virtues enable a person to obtain a good life: happiness is the goal of human life
- Virtues are acquired by habit formation (cannot change overnight)
- Choose the reasonable middle ground between the vices of going too far and not going far enough
What are the main points of Adam Smith’s virtue ethics?
- Context of commercial society (every man lives by exchanging)
- Prudence and self command, benevolence, justice
What is the importance of Adam Smith’s prudence and command principles?
- Central virtues of the homo economicous
- Prudence is careful attention of the consequences of every action insofar they affect own happiness (combines self-interest and rationality)
- Self command is abstinence from present pleasure to obtain greater pleasure in some future time (necessary to act prudently)
- Prudence and self command comprise several lower virtues
What is the importance of Adam Smith’s benevolence principle?
- Care for the happiness of others, but to an appropriate degree.
What is the importance of Adam Smith’s justice principle?
- Sacred regard to not hurt or disturb the happiness of others
- It is stricter and more important for society than benevolence
Maclntyre’s virtue ethics
- Virtue is an acquired human quality, which allows to achieve internal goods in given practices (for examples being good at chess, where the internal good is excellence at the game). Institutions are concerned with external goods, which are not related to specific practices (money, fame, power).
The three professional virtues are integrity, due care, quality and accuracy.
What is care ethics?
- We should preserve concrete and valuable relationships with specific persons. We should exercise special care for them, particularly when they are vulnerable and dependent of our care.
- Therefore, it is not impartial
What is Hirschman’s debate on effects of market operations on virtues?
- Doux commerce thesis: commerce has favourable impact on the manners of men
- Self-destruction thesis: the market undermines the virtues that are essential for the good functioning of the market
How does Smith support the Doux commerce thesis?
- Wealth of Nations: free competition obliges bankers to be more liberal in their dealings with their customers
-Lectures: commerce promotes probity and punctuality. frequent interactions also reduce incentives to cheat/lie
How does Smith support the self destruction thesis?
- Wealth of Nations: if a man spends time only doing one simple operation, he becomes stupid and ignorant
- Lectures: commerce sinks the courage of mankind, heroic spirit is estinguished
