Justice Scenarios

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

Rationale: We study Justice in order to understand why people believe what they

believe.

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

1) Torture, as a matter of principle, is always morally wrong.

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

True or false?

!

Question 2: The morality of an action is determined by whether, compared to the

other available options, it maximises the sum total of happiness of all the people affected

by it. !

!

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

True or false?

!

Question 3: It is always, and everywhere, wrong to cause another person's death - assuming they wish to stay alive - if this

outcome is avoidable. !

!

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

True or false?

!

!

Question 4: If you can save the lives of innocent people without reducing the sum

total of human happiness, and without putting your own life at risk, you are morally

obliged to do so. !

!

!

borrowed from Michael Sandel’s discussion guide

True or false?

Utilitarianism

A moral philosophy which states that a particular action is moral if it results in the greatest happiness

for the greatest number compared to the alternatives.

Suppose ten thousand innocent civilians live next to a munitions factory in a

country at war. If you bomb the factory, all of them will die. If you don’t bomb the factory, it will be used to produce bombs

that will be dropped on fifty thousand innocent civilians in another country.

What’s the right thing to do? Does utilitarianism get the right answer?

Suppose a man has planted a bomb in New York City, and it will explode in

twenty-four hours unless the police are able to find it. Should it be legal for the

police to use torture to extract information from the suspected bomber? Does utilitarianism get the right answer?

When is utilitarianism correct and when is it not? Why? Can something be for the

“greater good” and still be wrong?

`Kantian concepts of Justice

Immanuel Kant

`

Imagine a storekeeper who could cheat a young child who

comes to her shop but decides not to because she’s worried

her customers find out. !

Is she acting morally?

`

Imagine a teacher who loves helping children because it

makes him feel good.

Is he acting morally?

`

Suppose someone rescues a child from drowning because

he wants a reward.

Is he acting morally?

`

What should we consider as a law of morality?

The Categorical Imperative--

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time,

will that it should become a universal law.

`

Kantianism

A moral philosophy that holds that people have a

duty to follow all moral principles derived by human

reason.

`

What about freedom and it’s connection to justice?

!

•Is a person who is addicted to cigarettes free? •Is a person who eats a boatload of pistachio ice cream free ? •If the government tries to stop people from buying large sodas are they restricting freedom?

`Libertarian concepts of Justice

`

!

!

A moral philosophy that states that liberty is the highest good and all

actions should attempt to maximize it for the greatest number of people.

Libertarianism

`

Is taxation for redistribution forced labor? !

Imagine you are Bill Gates and you are taxed for two hours and the money is

given to a poor person. Are you now being forced--against your will--to work for that person? Does this make you a temporary

slave?

`

Does taxation for redistribution violate historical definitions of justice?

!

Imagine you worked very hard becoming a heart surgeon. Now, you make a lot of

money saving lives. Should the government have the right to take your

money and give it to someone else?

`

Under what conditions does a government have the right to take

money from you and give it to someone else? What situations don’t qualify.

• If you got the money illegally • If you broke the law • If the other person needed it to survive • If enough people voted to take it from you. • If the government were going to war and needed it to buy weapons

`Liberal concepts of Justice

`

Imagine the veil of ignorance:

!

Any Society but randomly

distributed within

John Rawls

`

1st principle: !

Everyone should have the same rights and liberties.

`

2nd principle: !

There should be equality of opportunity.

`

Should the children of rich parents be allowed to get very expensive, private math lessons, or singing

lessons, or basketball lessons? What if such lessons give them a huge,

unearned advantage in the race for jobs, careers, and wealth? Is it just for

poor children to have much lower prospects as a result?

`

3rd principle: !

There should be no differences in income and wealth, except

those differences that make even the least advantaged members

of society better off.

`

!

1. Is it true that you can’t really claim credit for your upbringing? Surely, your habits and temperaments today are partly the result of your upbringing. Does this mean that you don’t really deserve what you get from making an effort?

!

2. Think of some of the advantages that you have in your life. Do you deserve them more than other people who lack them? If so, why? If not, should these advantages be provided to everyone?

`

!

3.Do you think it’s unjust if some people do not get to vote in elections merely because they are a woman or merely because of the color of their skin? 4.Do you think it’s unjust if some

people earn much less money and are much worse off than others merely because they are a woman or a member of a racial or ethnic minority?

!

`

!

5. If you answered “yes” to the last two questions, do you think it’s also unjust if some people are much worse off than others merely because they were born with fewer talents or with a debilitating disease and the need for expensive medicines? Why should people be worse off merely because of the way they were born?

!!

`

Liberalism

Among other things, a moral philosophy that holds equality as the

highest good.

`Conservative concepts of Justice

`

Canons of Conservatism

1. "Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience.”

2. "Affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems;”

3. "Conviction that civilized society requires orders and classes, as against the notion of a 'classless society'."

`

Canons of Conservatism

4. "Persuasion that freedom and property are closely linked: separate property from private possession, and the Leviathan becomes master of all."

5. "Faith in prescription and distrust of 'sophisters, calculators, and economists' who would reconstruct society upon abstract designs."

6. "Recognition that change may not be salutary reform: hasty innovation may be a devouring conflagration, rather than a torch of progress."

`

…or

Among other things, a moral philosophy that holds actions are moral if they conform to legal, traditional or religious laws.

Conservatism