| Philosophical Elements | Locke | Hobbes |
|---|---|---|
| Ontology |
both material
and nonmaterial || e.g., rights known by... |
only material:
"matter and its motion" known by... |
| Epistemology |
reason
coupled w/ senses |
senses
(problematic role of reason) |
| ==> World |
includes religious, philosophical views + scientific views.
Reason is capable of discerning natural laws, natural rights which exist (as non-material entities) independently of the particular conventions enforced by a given society (i.e., as universally valid values). ==> the possibility of revolution, i.e., the overturning of an existing society (status quo) on the basis of appeal to a more universal moral standard (==> Jefferson, Cady Stanton, abolition movements, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc.) |
atomistic / deterministic
(fully knowable/predictable according to scientific [= physics] law) moral terms are purely conventional - i.e., they mean only what a given power (the sovereign) defines them to mean - a definition which holds only as long as the sovereign has the power/force to impose those definitions. (Ethical relativism) |
| Human Nature |
both rational +
desire-driven => both social (altruistic, other-regarding) + self-interested |
atomistic:
self-interest only, desire-driven |
| Definition of Freedom |
liberty =
positive freedom: freedom through reason to determine one's own ends/goals + rules as means of achieving these; as distinct from license, negative freedom only.
|
negative freedom only =
freedom from constraint, freedom to fulfill one's desires, whatever they may be. |
| State of Nature | because human beings are naturally rational, capable of discerning the natural laws and rights which lead to "peaceful coexistence" => natural societies prior to the establishment of political institutions |
individual self-interest,
freedom as fulfillment of individual desire => competition / the war of each against all / in which life is "nasty, brutish, and short." |
| Political Arrangements |
Democratic institutions justified as they emerge from the "consent
of the governed" -- i.e., they preserve human nature as rational
freedom,
and they serve as the arena in which human beings, defined as capable of self-rule can exercise that self-rule - and thus remain human. |
Authoritarian institutions justified as the absolute power of the sovereign is needed to impose civil society on a human nature otherwise necessarily driven to the war of each against all. |
(First formal) Writing Assignment
1. Utilitarianism as a consequentialism
A. Summarize briefly (one paragraph) the decision-making procedure offered by Mill under the name of ultilitarianism. (Be careful to support your description with properly documented references to Mill's article in our textbook.)B. Summarize briefly (one to two paragraphs) how your group applied the utilitarian approach to the speed limit question.
That is, what consequences did you identify as following from the choice to either raise or maintain the current speed limits?
How did you determine which set of consequences constituted "the greatest good for the greatest number"?
What was your decision?
(Alternatively, if you wish to apply utilitarianism to another significant topic of interest to you, please do so.)
C. Are you personally satisfied with utilitarianism in this case - first of all, did the utilitarian approach lead to the decision you believe to be "ethical" or "moral"?
If not - what would your decision have been?
Can you say what approach you're using to arrive at this decision?
In answering this question, you may want to point out one or more of the critiques of utilitarianism that we have examined, as reasons for considering an alternative approach, such as the one you may propose.
2. Ethical egoism as a consequentialism
A. Thomas Hobbes provides for the modern world the primary philosophical justifications for ethical egoism.Summarize this account briefly (one-two paragraphs), being sure to include discussion of his account of human nature and freedom. Be sure to support your summary with carefully documented references to the Hobbes' selections in our textbook.
B. How would a Hobbesian ethical egoist approach one of the case studies we have examined?
Explain this decision-making procedure carefully.
Contrast this decision-making procedure with either
utilitarianism
or
your own
as you have started to develop it in "1," above.
C. Which of the two positions/approaches you have described in "2,B," above, seems the stronger account?
In particular, what arguments, evidence, and/or other forms of support would you offer your reader as helping him/her conclude that you are correct — i.e., that the position you take to be the stronger account is the stronger account?