Philosophy
Episode 3. The previous episode of this fascinating series of lectures on ethical and political philosophy from Harvard University focused on some of the implications of the aggregative requirements of utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill's advocacy of rule-utilitarianism as a mechanism capable of securing and justifying the primacy of justice and individual rights doesn't quite seem to measure up to intuitive conceptions of why these concepts ought to be taken seriously.
Enter libertarianism, a political theory that takes the idea of rights so seriously, it becomes its philosophical basis and demands that we re-evaluate virtually all our beliefs about the role of government. Philosopher Robert Nozick (pictured above) began his masterpiece, Anarchy, State and Utopia, with the following lines: "Individuals have rights... So strong and far-reaching are these rights that they raise the question of what, if anything, the state and its officials may do. How much room do individual rights leave for the state?" According to Nozick, the answer is simple: not much.
As in previous occasions, Professor Sandel presents a fair articulation of the theory's rationale, and then masterfully demonstrates what always happens in philosophy: you start with an idea that seems obviously true, and you end up in the twilight zone :)
I must confess that although I personally tend to lean in the libertarian direction, I've always been bothered by the unquestioned assumption of the idea of rights.
To me at least, the ontological status of rights is not self-evident, and that creates the possibility that if the theory rests on the assumption of a false claim, the whole thing becomes questionable, even while containing some nuggets of truth :)
And is it just me, or does the idea of self-possession seem painfully question-begging?
- Unto Each Their Own
Chris Reed September 6, 2005 Response: ?Are the young or old better equipped to philosophize?? - Unto Each Their Own - The Republic of Plato immediately addresses the issue of age affecting the quality of one?s philosophy. Plato makes Socrates?...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 12. When we, post-colonial citizens of liberal democracies in the 21st century, deliberate about principles of justice and the distribution of rights, we tend to think that respect for the plurality of competing conceptions of the good requires...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 9. Affirmative Action is a notoriously contentious social, ethical and political issue, so before we let our emotions get the better of our judgment, it may be worth our time to consider its raison d'être: it stems from the recognition that...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 7. As we saw in the previous episode, the essence of Kant's categorical imperative is its absolute and universally binding force: since the moral status of our actions does not depend on consequences or contingent conditions, the moral law...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 2. It seems Harvard University is making Michael Sandel's popular course on justice publicly available in its entirety, so I will continue to post episodes on a regular basic (most likely weekly). The first of today's lectures presents...
Philosophy
Justice - What Is the Right Thing To Do?
Episode 3. The previous episode of this fascinating series of lectures on ethical and political philosophy from Harvard University focused on some of the implications of the aggregative requirements of utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill's advocacy of rule-utilitarianism as a mechanism capable of securing and justifying the primacy of justice and individual rights doesn't quite seem to measure up to intuitive conceptions of why these concepts ought to be taken seriously.Enter libertarianism, a political theory that takes the idea of rights so seriously, it becomes its philosophical basis and demands that we re-evaluate virtually all our beliefs about the role of government. Philosopher Robert Nozick (pictured above) began his masterpiece, Anarchy, State and Utopia, with the following lines: "Individuals have rights... So strong and far-reaching are these rights that they raise the question of what, if anything, the state and its officials may do. How much room do individual rights leave for the state?" According to Nozick, the answer is simple: not much.
As in previous occasions, Professor Sandel presents a fair articulation of the theory's rationale, and then masterfully demonstrates what always happens in philosophy: you start with an idea that seems obviously true, and you end up in the twilight zone :)
I must confess that although I personally tend to lean in the libertarian direction, I've always been bothered by the unquestioned assumption of the idea of rights.
To me at least, the ontological status of rights is not self-evident, and that creates the possibility that if the theory rests on the assumption of a false claim, the whole thing becomes questionable, even while containing some nuggets of truth :)
And is it just me, or does the idea of self-possession seem painfully question-begging?
Episode list: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
.
- Unto Each Their Own
Chris Reed September 6, 2005 Response: ?Are the young or old better equipped to philosophize?? - Unto Each Their Own - The Republic of Plato immediately addresses the issue of age affecting the quality of one?s philosophy. Plato makes Socrates?...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 12. When we, post-colonial citizens of liberal democracies in the 21st century, deliberate about principles of justice and the distribution of rights, we tend to think that respect for the plurality of competing conceptions of the good requires...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 9. Affirmative Action is a notoriously contentious social, ethical and political issue, so before we let our emotions get the better of our judgment, it may be worth our time to consider its raison d'être: it stems from the recognition that...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 7. As we saw in the previous episode, the essence of Kant's categorical imperative is its absolute and universally binding force: since the moral status of our actions does not depend on consequences or contingent conditions, the moral law...
- Justice - What Is The Right Thing To Do?
Episode 2. It seems Harvard University is making Michael Sandel's popular course on justice publicly available in its entirety, so I will continue to post episodes on a regular basic (most likely weekly). The first of today's lectures presents...