Study Guide for the 3^th Quiz

1.       There will be at least one review question covering material from the first part of the class.  There may also be questions that ask you to compare the viewpoints of the new philosophers we have studied with the views of the philosophers we studied in the first part of the semester.

2.       Understand the libertarian conservative theory of Hospers and Nozick (liberty with an emphasis on property rights, no taxation to support social welfare or positive rights, a distribution is just if everyone is historically entitled to the portion he or she has and there has been no violation of negative rights , no evaluation of the justice of the end-state). You should also be able to offer criticisms of this perspective.

3.       Understand the liberal theory of John Rawls (Kantian liberalism, social contract chosen by a rational person behind a veil of ignorance, two principles of justice are liberty and fairness, inequalities in distribution are just as long as it works out to the advantage of all and everyone has an equal opportunity to compete). You should also be able to offer criticisms of this perspective.

4.       Understand the philosophical basis of Marxism (two sets of premises: human beings as self-creating beings and human beings as ensembles of social relationships, theory of alienation as a description of the situation of workers under capitalism, six aspects of alienation, why Marx condemns capitalism, degradation and manipulation of human needs and powers, the values presupposed by Marx’s analysis, Marx’s conception of socialism or communism). You should also be able to offer criticisms of this perspective.

5.       Know the definitions of  negative rights, positive rights, and distributive justice.

6.       Know the basic points of King’s “Letter.”  Emphasize his views on what justice requires of us and on when breaking a law is just.

7.       Be able to articulate some of the arguments given by those who argue that the U.S. should have an empire (such as Krauthammer) and be able to offer criticisms of this view.

8.       Chapter 9 of Does the Center Hold? may be of great help to you.  Also, if you go to the web page for the class, you will find a summary I have written describing Marx’s theory of alienation.

9.       There will be extra credit questions relating to current events worth two points.  Read the Sunday New York Times before the exam for assistance with this.