Social Contract Theory

Transcription

1 Social Contract Theory Phil240, Ethical Theory Benjamin Hole April 2 nd, 2012 Agenda 1. Administrative Items 2. Transition: Social Contract Theory 3. Hobbes, The Leviathan

2 Administrative Items Text book editions No class Thursday, 4/5/2012 Quiz (CS) The rightness or wrongness of an action may depend in part on facts about the agent and her circumstances, where her circumstances may include facts about the norms for what counts as constituting insults, a person s privacy, proper respect for others, and so forth (Timmons, 33).

3 DATE Week One: March Moral Theory Primer Week Two: April 2 6 Social Contract Theory Week Three: April 9 13 Utilitarianism Week Four: April Utilitarianism Week Five: April Kantian Ethics Week Six: April 30 May 4 Against Utilitarianism & Kantian Ethics Week Seven: May 7 11 Virtue Ethics Week Eight: May Virtue Ethics Week Nine: May Feminist Perspectives Week Ten: May 28 June 1 Contemporary Moral Problems READING Required Plato, Timmons (electronic) Recommended Shafer Landau, 1 17 Shafer Landau, Required Hobbes, Hardin (electronic) Recommended Shafer Landau, Required Nozick (electronic) Bentham, Recommended Shafer Landau, Shafer Landau, Required Singer, Mill, Recommended Shafer Landau, Shafer Landau, Required Kant, Recommended O Neil (electronic) Shafer Landau, Required Williams, Stocker (electronic) Recommended Anscombe, Required Aristotle, ; ; Recommended Shafer Landau, Required Nussbaum, Wolf, Recommended Annas (electronic) Required Held, Baier (electronic) Recommended Shafer Landau, Required TBD (class vote) Final Review

4 Social Contract (Definition) The imaginary device through which equally imaginary individuals, living in solitude come together to form a society, accepting obligations of some minimal kind to one another and immediately or very soon thereafter binding themselves to a political sovereign who can enforce those obligations (Honderich, T., The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 2 nd eds, OUP 2005, pg. 174)

5 Contractarianism Contractarianism: the view that morality is based on a social contract (RSL, 188) The challenge in Plato s Republic.

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7 Contractarianism Equality of Parties Basis for Cooperation Role of Agreement Descriptive Mutual Advantage Underwrite a stable system of social interaction between actual agents

8 a) Multiple individual interests b) Common resources

9 Prisoner's Dilemmas A prisoner's dilemma is any situation in which all people would be better off if all could agree to scale back their pursuit of self interest. This happens in situations in which there is fierce competition for scarce resources.

10 a) It is individually rational not to cooperate. b) It is collectively rational to cooperate.

11 Standard Solutions Appeal to broader self interests Appeal to some notion of reciprocity or fairness

12 Discussion Questions 1. Glaucon & Hobbes both express certain psychological assumptions about human nature. Lay out both sets of assumptions as clearly and concisely as possible. Compare and contrast the two views. 2. How does each set of assumptions motivation a prisoner s dilemma where it is collectively rational to cooperate, but individually rational to not cooperate? Describe an example.

13 Translated Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War (1628) The English Civil War ( )

14 a) The founder of modern contractarianism. b) Hobbes imagined a state of nature, in which there is no central authority with the power to enforce its will on others. c) Life in the state of nature, Hobbes said, would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. d) To escape the state of nature, people would establish a social contract a set of rules to promote social cooperation.

15 Hobbes's Fool The Fool is someone who admits that breaking his promises is unjust but doesn't care if he behaves justly or not. If self interest is the fundamental reason for acting, and behaving unjustly is sometimes in our interest, it is sometimes rational be behave unjustly.

16 The Free Rider Problem When lots of people cooperate in a way that brings about a common good, all people can benefit from it even those who didn't contribute. If the point of morality is to promote one's self interest through mutually beneficial agreements, why refrain from free riding when you can get away with it?

17 What Social Contract? The Consent Argument 1) We have a duty to obey the law only if we have consented to do so. 2) Many have not given their consent to obey the law. 3) Therefore, many people do not have a duty to obey the law. One reply: tacit consent?

18 Hobbes on The Good Good and evil Whatsoever is the object of any man's appetite or desire, that is it which he for his part calleth good; and the object of his hate and aversion, evil (Hobbes, 237). Good and evil are therefore relative to the person making the judgment. The human good There is no summum bonnum, or ultimate state of satisfaction for which we all strive. I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death (Hobbes, 239).

19 Human equality and its consequences a. All people are roughly equal in body, mind, and hope of attaining their ends. b. This leads to conflict, when more than one person desires the same thing. c. To be secure against others, people use force against one another. d. The result is a war of every person against every other, and a state in which life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

20 Contractarianism Equality of Parties Basis for Cooperation Role of Agreement Descriptive Mutual Advantage Underwrite a stable system of social interaction between actual agents

21 Discussion Question Hobbes holds a view of human nature according to which human beings are self interested individuals for whom society is of value only if and to the extent that it leads to greater security or other concrete advantages Others have held views according to which human beings are essentially social creatures, incapable of having satisfactory lives outside of society. What do you think about this question? Is Hobbes right? If not, how seriously does this undermine his arguments? (B/B, 458)

22 Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan The right of nature The liberty each man hath, to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature. Laws of nature A law of nature is a precept or general rule, found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that, which is destructive of his life, or taketh away the means of preserving the same.

23 Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan First law of nature It is a precept, or general rule of reason, that every man, ought to endeavor peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of war. Second law of nature A man [ought to] be willing, when others are so too, as far-forth, as for peace, and defence of himself, he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men; as he would allow other men against himself.

24 Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan Justice Justice if failure to perform a covenant. Whatever is not unjust is just. Covenants are only meaningful if there is some coercive power to back them up. Thus, nothing can be just or unjust until a government is established with the power to enforce covenants. Until then, there is no such thing as property, or injustice.