Study Questions for First Midterm in Phil 512

(Modified 3/7/01)

1) What are a person's natural rights, which ones does she keep when there is a legitimate government? Describe and critically evaluate Locke's arguments for the natural rights to life and liberty. Describe and critically evaluate Locke's argument that a person may have a right to private property without the consent of the community and without violating God's commands. What are the roles of work, getting there first, and money in this argument? What are its controversial or doubtful premises?

2) Discuss the historical reality of the social contract in Locke. What is the role of tacit consent in his theory? What shows that Locke may not be talking about an explicit, datable agreement? Why would such "contract" obligate anyone Under what circumstances is revolution morally permissible in Locke's theory? What assumptions about human nature does Locke make in his argument that government is necessary, but revolutions are sometimes right?

3) Describe the original position in justice as fairness. What is known and what is unknowns to the parties? What assumptions are made about human nature in the original position (including assumptions about primary goods) and how does Rawls justify these assumptions? In the Kantian interpretation, why is it allegedly reasonable to adopt and live by whatever principles would be adopted in the original position, provided others do so as well? What is the Aristotelian principle, and how does it figure in the Kantian interpretation of the theory of justice?

4) Describe the two principles, giving their general conception and detailed formulation, including the democratic interpretation of positions open to all. Contrast the democratic interpretation with the liberal interpretation, and give reasons for preferring on to the other. Under what circumstances are inequalities in the distribution of primary goods justified according to the two principles?

5) Describe the reasoning that leads to adoption of the two principles, including the priority of liberty. In what ways are two principles allegedly superior to utilitarianism? How is the maximin principle involved? Why is it an appropriate way to reason in the original position? What is the role of self-respect in the argument for the priority of liberty? What is the Kantian conception of the person, and what role does is play in the in the argument for the priority of liberty. What controversial or doubtful claims are part of this argument for the two principles and the priority of liberty? In what way is the Kantian conception of the person controversial?

6) Outline and evaluate Doppelt's critique of Rawls. Explain his criticism of Rawls' treatment of self-respect. What empirical claims does Doppelt make to dispute Rawls' view of self-respect? How do capitalist social relationships and control of the production process threaten the self-respect of workers? What are the bourgeois-democratic liberties, and how do they fail to implement the Kantian conception of the person, according to Doppelt? What does Doppelt mean by "ideological?" Is Doppelt right that Rawls' theory is ideological? Why or why not?