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PHIL 1100- Final Exam > Political Philosophy > Flashcards

Political Philosophy Flashcards

1
Q

The institutions of government

A

The State

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2
Q

A community of citizens linked by common interests and collective activity

Everything other than government and business

A

Civil Society

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3
Q

The State of Nature

A
  • What humans would be like before society or government
  • Supposed to reveal human nature, what humans do when left to their own devices
  • May or may not be something that humans were actually like at some point
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4
Q

Hobbes’ account of the state of nature

A
  • All humans are more or less equal in faculties of mind and body
  • With equal ability comes equal hope to achieve ends or goals
  • This leads to conflict, as fulfilling one person’s ends or goals often means not fulfilling another’s
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5
Q

With equal ability comes equal hope to achieve ends or goals

A
  • Everyone has, or thinks they have, equal chance of getting what they want
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6
Q
  • This leads to conflict, as fulfilling one person’s ends or goals often means not fulfilling another’s
A
  • The best way to gain security is to control as many other people as you can, so they don’t have enough power to be a danger to you
  • Some are greedy, will want more power than they need, so
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7
Q

Some are greedy, will want more power than they need, so

A
  • Leads to control over others being necessary for survival
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8
Q

All humans are more or less equal in faculties of mind and body

A
  • Everything taken together, every person is an equal threat to the others
  • Even the weakest can kill the strongest, by wits or number
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9
Q

Hobbes’ viewpoints of the state of nature

A
  • A constant state of war of all against all
  • No security
  • No society
  • No justice or injustice, no right or wrong
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10
Q

Reason forbids people from doing what is destructive to their life, or what takes away means of preserving their life

A

The Law of Nature

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11
Q

The freedom of each person to use their power however they judge necessary to preserve their life, and do anything they judge by reason is the best method to preserve their life

A

The Right of Nature

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12
Q

The law and the right of nature lead humans to leave the state of nature and form government

A
  • People want to make peace because they are afraid of dying, so they are willing to do what is necessary to achieve survival and pleasant living
  • This includes giving up certain freedoms
  • Establishing peace requires government, and that requires a social contract
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13
Q

Why leave the state of nature

A

The law and the right of nature lead humans to leave the state of nature and form government

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14
Q

Contracts:

A
  • An agreement to the mutual transfer of a right
  • Can be done expressly or by inference, but must involve a clear sign of transfer
  • Must be made with genuine and honest intent to fulfill the government
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15
Q

“a multitude united in one person”

A common power, which keeps everyone in line because of fear of punishment if their authority is not followed

A form of government

A

Commonwealth

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16
Q

A common power, which keeps everyone in line because of fear of punishment if their authority is not followed

A
  • Necessary, because our natural passions push against the laws of nature
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17
Q

A form of government

A
  • Hobbes thought this should be an absolute monarchy
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18
Q

Locke’s account of the state of nature

A

A state of perfect freedom, where you can act and do with your belongings whatever you want within the law of nature

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19
Q

A state of perfect freedom, where you can act and do with your belongings whatever you want within the law of nature

A
  • A state of equality
20
Q

Everything is just determined by your faculties, capacities, and abilities

All power is reciprocal

No one has more power than another

There is no subordination or subjection

A

A state of equality

21
Q

Locke’s the law of nature

A
  • Reason governs the state of nature
  • Reason tells us that because all are equal, “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions”
  • No one has the right to destroy or control anyone else
  • Everyone is required to preserve their self (to do what you can to keep yourself alive)
  • As long as your own life is not at risk, you ought to do what you can to preserve the rest of humanity
22
Q

As long as your own life is not at risk, you ought to do what you can to preserve the rest of humanity

A
  • If you want to survive and flourish, reason tells us that others like you (other rational beings) will want the same
23
Q

Punishment

A
  • In the state of nature, everyone is responsible for carrying out the law of nature
  • Everyone has the right to punish those who violate the law of nature, in proportion to their violation
  • Punishment must be done following calm, rational thought and proportionality
  • When someone breaks the law of nature, that person shows they are no longer following reason and the common equity, so they are a danger to all humans
24
Q

Everyone has the right to punish those who violate the law of nature, in proportion to their violation

A
  • If no one enforces a law, it would be pointless
25
Q

Punishment must be done following calm, rational thought and proportionality

A
  • Punishment can only be rationally justified if its purpose is reparation (making it up to the victim) and restraint (stopping them from doing it again)
26
Q

When someone breaks the law of nature, that person shows they are no longer following reason and the common equity, so they are a danger to all humans

A
  • That danger has to be removed
27
Q

The State of War

A
  • One person declares the intent to take another person’s life, or to gain absolute power of the other
  • Other people will then come to the defense of the one who’s life is threatened, according to the law of nature
  • With no neutral arbitrator, conflict will continue to build, with people joining each site
28
Q

One person declares the intent to take another person’s life, or to gain absolute power of the other

A
  • If someone wants power over me without my consent, I can reasonably assume they want to do something I won’t like
29
Q

Other people will then come to the defense of the one who’s life is threatened, according to the law of nature

A
  • We should always defend the innocent first in the preservation of human kind
30
Q

With no neutral arbitrator, conflict will continue to build, with people joining each site

A
  • Hard to end once it has begun
31
Q

Property

A
  • All the world is given to humans in common, shared, for everyone to use
  • Each individual only owns their person, and their labor
  • An individual can gain ownership over a portion of the rest of the world if they mix their labor with it
  • The amount you own is limited by what you can use
32
Q

An individual can gain ownership over a portion of the rest of the world if they mix their labor with it

A

Example: farming the land, the food that grows is yours because you put in the work to make it grow

33
Q

The amount you own is limited by what you can use

A
  • You cannot take so much that it spoils
  • You have to leave enough of similar things for others
34
Q

Why form civil society and government?

A
  • When it comes to punishment for breaking the law of nature, people are unlikely to be calm, objection, and partial
  • Government is needed as an objective arbitrator
35
Q

When it comes to punishment for breaking the law of nature, people are unlikely to be calm, objection, and partial

A
  • They will be lenient towards themselves and those they care about
  • They will punish those who harm themselves and those they care about too harshly, because of passion and revenge
36
Q

Government is needed as an objective arbitrator

A
  • Decide conflicts without preferential treatment
  • Deal punishment equally
37
Q

Consent

A
  • Express Consent
  • Tacit Consent
38
Q

Express Consent

A

Explicit agreement, like applying for citizenship

39
Q

Tacit Consent

A

Implicit agreement through other action, like owning property or using services

40
Q

Jean Jacques Rousseau’s account of the state of nature

A
  • Humans were in a state of equal, primitive independence
  • All people are born equal
  • There were no stable, consistent relations between them
  • The nature of humans is common freedom, and it is not given up without getting something in return
  • Family is the only natural society
41
Q

Family is the only natural society

A
  • Men and women come together to reproduce, but once children are self-sufficient, people only remain together voluntarily and by agreement
42
Q

Legitimate authority

A
  • Political authority is only legitimate if it is based on agreement
43
Q

Political authority is only legitimate if it is based on agreement

A
  • Legitimate authority is the only kind of authority we are morally obligated to obey
  • Authority based on strength and force is not legitimate
  • Authority based on giving up all freedom like a slave to a master is also not legitimate
44
Q

Why create civil society

A
  • Moving away from the state of nature
45
Q

Civil society changes humans

A
  • From being ruled by instinct to ruled by morality and justice
  • From consulting inclination to using reason and principles
46
Q

Key Points of Rousseau’s Social Contract

A

1, All humans are equal

  1. The state of nature is a state of mutual independence and indifference
  2. The need for security is what leads to the creation of society and government
  3. Social is a contract between individuals, rationally giving up some freedoms and rights in exchange for protection
47
Q

All three theories agree that we need government because it

A
  • Takes us out of the state of nature, which is unpleasant and unsustainable
  • To provide security, arbitration, and the goods of cooperation

PHIL 1100- Final Exam (12 decks)

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