MA Political Philosophy: Essay
Questions
- Does Nozick’s
Wilt Chamberlain argument show anything of significance?
- Can a libertarian show how we
can come to have individual private property rights?
- Is taxation ‘on a par with
forced labour’?
- Does capitalism maximize
freedom?
- What does Rawls mean by the
‘Original Position’? Is his account of the knowledge and ignorance
features of the Original Position justified?
- Would Rawls’ two principles
of justice be chosen from his Original Position?
- ‘Rawls’ two principles of
justice are inconsistent.’ Discuss.
- How should Rawls respond to
the criticism that hypothetical contract have no force?
- For the purpose of his
argument Rawls assumes that everyone in society is able-bodied. What
complications arise when we accept that some are handicapped? Can Rawls’s
approach be extended to deal with such cases?
- Is Rawls’s Difference
Principle fair?
- ‘Rawls’s Difference Principle
overlooks the importance of desert.’ Discuss.
- Does liberalism presuppose an
implausible theory of the self?
- How would you characterize
the debate between liberalism and communitarianism?
Which position is to be preferred?
- 'If
Rawls's arguments are valid for domestic justice, the same arguments compel the representatives of countries
to choose a global difference principle to govern the relations between
countries.' Discuss.
- 'The
arguments in A Theory of Justice
rely on the premise that, in a well-ordered society, citizens hold the
same comprehensive doctrine. But the principles of justice rule this out.'
Discuss.
- What,
if any, is the bearing of the distinction between principles which it is
reasonable to accept and principles that it is unreasonable to reject?
- Are the primary goods defined
in Rawls's difference principle equally valuable in all conceptions of the
good?
- Are there good arguments
against equality of welfare?
- Does Dworkin’s theory of
equality of resources show how to reconcile individual responsibility with
equality?
- How should an equal society
treat issues of disability?
- How significant is the
‘expensive tastes’ objection to equality of welfare?
- ‘Resources are mere means to
well-being. Therefore any theory which makes resources the currency of
justice is confused.’ Discuss.
- Does justice require us to
bear the full consequences of our choices?
- Is the point of a theory of
equality to eliminate differences in natural fortune, or to rectify
oppression, or to do something else again?
- ‘It is important that
everyone has enough. It is not important that everyone has the same.’
Discuss.
- Is a concern for equality
‘alienating’?
- Are there good reasons for
preferring ‘priority to worst off’ over equality?
- How serious is the ‘levelling down’ objection to equality?
- ‘Priority to the worst off
strikes the correct balance between equality and utilitarianism.’ Discuss
- ‘It may be reasonable to cooperate with the
state, but this is not to say that one has an obligation to obey the
state.’ Discuss.
- Is the Principle of Fairness an improvement
upon the doctrine of tacit consent?
- How should the Principle of Fairness be
formulated? Does it solve the problem of political obligation?
- ‘It is obvious that we must have a state. Thus
there is no problem of political obligation.’ Discuss.
- Is there any plausible form of social contract
theory?
- ‘For the morally responsible person there is
no such thing as a “command”. Therefore the morally responsible person
must be an anarchist.’ Discuss.
- Is it correct to believe that in order to
justify the state one has first to refute the anarchist’s challenge?
- Do we have a ‘natural duty’ to obey the state?
- What consequences would one draw from a
utilitarian approach to the question of political obligation?
- Can Plato’s sceptical arguments against
democracy be answered?
- How appropriate is it to use Condorcet’s probabilistic argument to defend
democracy?
- ‘The only acceptable form of democracy is
direct, participatory democracy.’ Discuss.
- Can democratic states avoid the problem of the
‘tyranny of the majority’?
- ‘Too much democracy is bad for the economy.’
Discuss.
- ‘To ask whether democracies make good or bad
political decisions misunderstands why we value democracy.’ Discuss.