Reference no: EM133328806

Assignment:

1. Which of the following are criticisms Socrates gives of the view which says the just person harms his enemies? (Check ALL that apply)

• The just person never harms anyone.
• This implies that the just person makes his enemies less virtuous instead of more virtuous.
• A person's justice has no effect on those around him.
• We can sometimes be wrong about who are real enemies are.

2. Which of the following are problems with Thrasymachus's view of justice (justice is the benefit of the stronger) which Socrates raises over the course of Book 1 of The Republic? (Check ALL that apply)

• he unjust person is alike and similar to the clever and wise person
• injustice on a large enough scale becomes justice
• ruling is a craft, and crafts benefit the thing they rule over rather than harm it
• the rulers are sometimes wrong about what is to their benefit

3. Which of the following are problems with expecting individuals to protect their own rights in the state of nature, according to Nozick? (Check ALL that apply)

• some people are incapable of defending themselves
• some people can afford protective services and some cannot
• protecting one's own negative rights might violate another individual's positive rights
• people are biased and will always think themselves in the right

4. Which of the following is an inconsistency in the classical liberal defense of the minimal state, according to Nozick?

• They claim that protection of rights is the sole purpose of government, but then in order to protect people's positive rights, they must violate other people's negative rights.
• They claim that protection of rights is the sole purpose of government but then fail to provide people with positive rights, like the right to an education.
• They claim that protection must be provided on a voluntary basis so as to not violate people's rights, but then leave people unprotected (and hence more vulnerable to rights violations).
• They claim that protection of rights is the sole purpose of government, but then must violate people's rights (through taxation) in order to defend those rights.

5. Rawls' difference principle states that inequalities are to be considered just if

• they make it so that there's a chance to become very, very rich, even if this leaves others in society in poverty.
• they result from a natural genetic lottery.
• they are to the benefit of the least well off in society.
• they result from a social lottery.

6. According to Rawls, fair equality of opportunity

• obtains when utility is maximized.
• obtains when there are no laws restricting certain groups of people's access to various positions of authority.
• obtains when lifeplans are equally accessible to individuals regardless of their social position.
• involves funding school districts in accordance with how wealthy the residents of that district are.

7. What does Camus mean when he refers to "the absurd"?

• he fact that free will is impossible in a deterministic universe but that we nevertheless cannot refrain from making moral judgments
• the fact that human beings long for meaning in a meaningless universe
• the fact that we feel as though we must posit a first cause of the universe but nevertheless don't feel like that first cause needs explaining
• the fact that human beings long for authenticity but are simultaneously essentially social creatures

8. Where is wisdom found in the virtuous city, according to Plato?

• in the deliberation of the ruling guardians
• in the strength of the auxiliary guardians
• not in a single place - wisdom is the unity of the city acting as a single agent
• not in a single place - wisdom is each part of the city recognizing its proper role

9. What does justice provide to an individual, according to Plato? (Check ALL that apply)

• It provides a way of resolving internal disputes, such that when appetites and spirits pull one in differing directions, justice settles the issue in one way or another.
• It provides power over others in that the just person is capable of convincing others to do what he would like them to do.
• It provides unity within the self, such that that the appetitive and spirited parts of the soul follow the dictates of reason.
• It provides coherence to the self, which allows a person to better achieve the goals they set for themselves.

10. In Book 2 of the Republic, which of the following are reasons which Glaucon and Adeimantus give for think that the unjust person is better off than the just person? (Check ALL that apply)

• he unjust person can receive all the benefits of injustice while also avoiding any problems in the afterlife by performing the correct prayers and rituals to appease the gods.
• The real benefit of being just is being regarded as just, so if the unjust person can convince others he is just, he is better off than were he to be truly just.
• The unjust person has internal harmony, such that different parts of himself are not constantly at war with one another.
• The unjust person can receive worldly benefits for his injustice (high reputation, wealth, honors, etc.).

11. According to Nozick, why are end-state principles of distributive justice always unjust? (Check ALL that apply)

• because they will not reward innovation.
• Because in order to maintain a favored distribution of goods, a centralized government must consistently interfere with people's free choices.
• Because they do not ensure fair equality of opportunity.
• Because they ignore historical realities of how people came to be in possession of their holdings (i.e., whether they deserve what they have).

12. Which of the following are true of Rawls's "original position"? (Check ALL that apply)

• In it are placed rationally self-interested negotiators in an initial position of equality.
• It describes the circumstances under which the principles of a just society would be agreed upon.
• Negotiators in the original position must be placed under the veil of ignorance.
• The original position is intended to be an abstract description of the founding of the United States.

13. What does Mills mean by the "de facto" stage of the Racial Contract?

• The initial stage of European exploration of the globe which initiated the Racial Contract.
• The current stage of the Racial Contract where the inferiority of non-whites is ensured by means other than legal regulations.
• The stage at which inferior status of non-whites under the law was official policy.
• The future stage at which the Racial Contract will eventually be overcome and true justice achieved.

14.Which of the following describes the epistemological aspect of the "norming of space" which Mills talks about?

• That certain spaces on the globe were seen as "wild" and "undeveloped" and hence the people there were seen as subpersons.
• That certain spaces on the globe were seen as "wild" and "undeveloped" and hence incapable of complex or advanced rational thought.
• That certain spaces on the globe were seen as "wild" and "undeveloped" and hence incapable of moral enlightenment.
• That certain spaces on the globe were seen as "wild" and "undeveloped" and hence that the people there were in the state of nature and not part of the social contract.

15.What explanation does Mills offer for the economic dominance of Europe and the US in present day?

• the massive shifts in wealth and resources from colonized to colonizing nations through things like plantation slavery and the extraction of valuable resources
• the advanced state of science and education in Europe and the US
• the cultural norms of Europe and the US which provided a backdrop against which financial innovation was inevitable
• laws in the Europe and the US which encouraged freedom and innovation.