Nielsen states ”I shall argue…that autonomy cannot be widespread or secure in a society which is not egalitarian: where, that is, equality is not also a fundamental value which has an operative role within the society” (Munson 708). This is to mean, as reconstructed above, that for a society to be autonomous (in that its citizens are “capable of self-direction” (708)) it must also be egalitarian. The first premise of Nielsen’s argument relies on the idea of “moral equality,” which is to mean, as Nielsen says, “the life of everyone matters and matters equally“ (708). From this definition, I propose that the first premise is a self-evident claim. Nielsen later states, “Liberty cannot flourish without something approaching this equality of condition, and people without autonomous lives will surely live impoverished lives….In fine, a commitment to achieving equality of condition, far from undermining liberty
By combining the doctrines of government by consent and constitutionalism, modern liberals have found a way of reconciling effective government with the right and freedoms of both the individual and intermediate groups. This effects the policies of the other mainstream parties as it provides a more secure relationship within society leading the other parties to follow this. Classical liberals are largely inspired by the philosophy of John Stuart mill. Mill described the scope of liberty as “absolute freedom of opinion and sentiment on all subjects, practical or speculative, scientific moral or theological….” Mill believed that freedom would maximise human progress by promoting innovations, creativity and self-fulfilment. This shows that Mill saw humans as creative individuals thus leading to an interest of tolerance as a political virtue i.e.
The counter to elitism are the theories of egalitarianism and populism, which are doctrines in which they support the rights and powers of the common people in their ongoing struggle with the political elitism, they believe that all people are equal. Also, a strong belief that the common people can work together and have an equal opportunity to participate in democracy. (Abramowitz, 2003 pps.3-5) Each doctrine can be attached to a specific political party, to help understand who the elites are. Egalitarianism and Populism are best associated with Democrats. Whereas self reliance is associated with Republicans.
Utilitarians fixate on this exact notion. The idea is that nothing is intrinsically right or wrong, consequences are all that matter. Utilitarians focus primarily on welfare in order to make the best decision, or rather the more just decision. It is based on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, in the long run. Utilitarianism emphasizes the idea of welfare as a means for justice because it primarily defers to the masses.
'Modern liberals have abandoned individualism and embraced collectivism.' Discuss The core values of liberalism are individualism, rationalism, freedom, justice and toleration. The liberal belief that human beings are, first and foremost, individuals, endowed with reason, implies that each individual should enjoy the maximum possible freedom consistent with a like freedom for all. However, although individuals are 'born equal' in the sense that they are of equal moral worth and should enjoy formal equality and equal opportunities, liberals generally stress that they should be rewarded according to their differing levels of talent or willingness to work and therefore favor the principle of meritocracy. Modern liberalism is a development within liberal ideology that has revised some of the ideas of classical liberalism.
'Critically assess Rousseau's distinction between the ‘general will’ and the ‘will of all’ In this short essay I am going to briefly examine Rousseau’s argument and the distinction between the ‘general will’ and the ‘will of all’. I will then look to evaluate and critically assess Rousseau’s argument with particular relation to the aforementioned distinction. Rousseau suggests the State can only be directed towards the common good by the ‘general will’. Moreover, he proposes that only when political authority is consented to by the people does it become legitimate. By ‘general will’ he means the coming together of the people to contribute to the collective good of all.
There are three broad perspectives on the nature of the state. A conservative approach, that argues that there is consensus of values in society , and that individual rights in return for giving up of certain rights to use the state. The state is viewed as neutral. It should play a minimum role in society, given that it’s main task is to protect individual rights & to ensure freedom from coercion. The state never the less has a role to play in upholding the core values & morals of a society.
Examine the important concepts relating to justice and/or law and punishment Justice is about treating society fairly and equally. The government uses its authority to distribute a number of goods in society. The question of how these goods should be shared out comes under distributive justice. This is partially solved by the idea of a social contract which is described as “A minimalist theory of rights in which the individual is understood to be morally bound only by the ‘don’t harm me and I won’t harm you’ doctrine” Within justice there are two many lines of argument, individualist and communitarian theories. Ethicists use these two theories to argue whether the community or the individual is more important, question whether we should follow distributive justice should society just focus on protecting themselves without harming other people?
Explain Moral Relativism Moral Relativism argues the claim that there are no universally valid rules for all people at all times, thus implying there are no intrinsic rights and wrongs. This results in Morality being relative to the individual, to their culture and their age group. In contrary Moral Absolutism is the antonym to the theory that morality is relative. Kant for example was not a moral relativist; he held the belief that we had ‘categorical imperatives’ which were always right. He believed as Absolutists believe today , we should be able to apply moral rules to everyone without making allowances for different people or circumstance , thus suggesting laws should be ‘universalisable’ .
Fairness according to Webster’s Dictionary is: Fairness is “marked by impartiality and honesty: free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism” Fairness, I believe, is the most important thing to consider in a voting system, after all voters do not only pursue their own political interests when they vote, they also care about fairness. To further understand what fairness entails other than just a simple definition we will apply the fairness criteria set forth by University of Alabama. There are many different criteria when dealing with fairness, but we will only consider two of them, they are as follows: The Majority Criterion, the Condorcet Criterion, and the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Criterion. The Majority Criterion states: “Any candidate receiving a majority of first place votes should be the winner.” In other words, this means that if candidate A receives 100 first place votes, while Candidate B received 98 votes, and declaring the B the winning would be deemed