Exam 8: Social and Political Philosophy

Zeno rejected Stoicism.

Who said that the state was "prior to the individual"?

Do you believe that the state should provide "public goods"¾goods that can be used by as many people as wish to use them without any diminution in their availability, and which you cannot exclude people from using? (One example of such a good is the light from lighthouses.) If yes, would you force people to pay for these goods through taxation, even if they did not want them? If no, how else could such goods ever be provided, given their nature?

Which two needs does Hobbes believes drive human action?

Should there be any limits on what the state can do? Would you answer depend on the circumstances in which the state was acting, with it varying between times of peace, and times of war, for example?

What, according to Hobbes, is the "chief end" of men uniting into a commonwealth?

Rousseau was a social contract theorist.

Plato believed that individuals were naturally equal.

Thomas Jefferson was a disciple of

What assumptions about human nature does Rawls make in developing his theory of justice using the artifice of the original position? Do you think that these assumptions are justified, or not? If so, do you think that the principles of justice that Rawls develops are binding on persons who were not in the original position (i.e., us)? Why, or why not? If not, do you think that the inadequacy of these assumptions undercut Rawls' views? Explain and justify your answer.

Drawing from the Crito dialogue (discussed in Chapter 1) do you believe that you have any obligation to obey the state? Support your answer by reference to the theories of at least two of the following: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

____________________ argues that people should realize their human potential through productive work that exercises their capacities.

Who wrote of the "General Will"?

____________________ ____________________ is the philosophical study of society and its problems.

Hegel believed that the state was unnatural.

Who held that justice consisted of each person doing the job appropriate to their class?

____________________ ____________________ says that individuals give up certain rights and liberties to the state, which guarantees other rights.

According to Nozick, what sort of theory of justice does Rawls develop?

Hobbes believed that the authority of the state was justified.

The view that the wealth that is produced in society belongs to everyone in society is