The individual vs society

Question 1

Who was John Stuart Mills?

Answer 1

(1800s philosopher) who was concerned to protect the individual from encroaching society. He had a conception of liberty that justified the freedom of the individual.
- his works are still applied today - Abbott made a speech citing from a poem “unconquered” emphasising liberty “i am the master of my fate”

Question 2

Ultilarianism (mills and bentham)

Answer 2

The best action is that that produces the greatest level of happiness/utility
-applied to the ethics of raising animals for food

Question 3

Collectivism

Answer 3

• a theory linked to communism
• a focus on nations, groups, cultures
• people should prioritise the good of the society over the welfare of the individual - contrasting with liberalism?
• Margart Thatcher “no such thing as society” - just a collection of souls/a view of a minimalist government

Question 4

FH Bradley

Answer 4

British philosopher 1846-1924

• he believed we cannot understand the individual without understanding the society
• one cannot just define oneself as an individual
• “society is an organism which precedes any individual”
• “tabula rasa is false”
• “a woman is what she is because she is born into a community”
• “the child is not fallen from heaven”`

Question 5

Opposing views of Bradley

Answer 5

• one has duties and obligations/if one feels they are just linked to this community and do not live anything else a depressing blind adherence to the world is formed
• the nation too has duties to the individual

Question 6

Karl Marx (conservative)

Answer 6

-The political theory of Karl Marx, including its analysis of society in terms of the class struggle and its belief in the replacement of capitalism by communism.

His critiques of capitalism are well known. However, Marx expressed a mixed view of capitalism. While he held that it was inherently flawed, he viewed it as a natural progression for cultures. In his view, capitalism was a necessary step on the road toward a socialist, and eventually communist, society.
The fall of the Soviet Union and other communist nations did not signal an end of communism. China, for example, continues to embrace Marxist ideals, and leaders believe that their recent embrace of capitalist principles is a necessary step in achieving a truly communist nation. Nations in Northern Europe also implement a number of socialist policies influenced by Marx’s work.

Question 7

Conservatism

Answer 7

favouring free enterprise - traditionalist

Question 8

Michael Oakeshott

Answer 8

Radical views/british philosopher and political in the 1900s
- “To be conservative … is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.”

Question 9

neo-liberalism

Answer 9

favour free market capitalism

Question 10

communism

Answer 10

a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.