John Rawls was a political philosopher who proposed a theory centered around the idea of justice as fairness. His primary concern was social justice, so more specifically, he proposed a basic structure for society that ensures major social institutions like the government fairly distribute fundamental rights and duties and optimally divide advantages brought about by social cooperation. His theory is based on the idea that the correct principles to use for the basic structure of society are those that free and rational people would agree to in attempt to advance their own self-interest from a fair and equal starting position. Rawls proposes three principles that he believes people would agree to in this situation and describes what a society based on these principles would look like. Throughout this paper, I will attempt to explain Rawls’s “Theory of Justice” and defend various aspect of the theory against common objections.

In this thesis I have examined Anti-Natalism, specifically arguments by David Benatar, which conclude that human procreation is under all circumstances wrong, and Seana Shiffrin, which concludes that procreation is a “moral hard case.” I provide objections and responses to each argument of my own, as well as those from Saul Smilansky, Rivka Weinberg, and David Wasserman. I also examine the manner in which female unemployment rates (as well as aggregate female and male) unemployment rates in a year between 2005 and 2014 impact fertility rates in the following year (from 2006-2015).

Interroger les œuvres de Jean-Jacques Rousseau à partir de la notion de territoire permet de déterminer le sens, les bornes et l’unité de son « système » philosophique. Celui-ci s’organise autour du problème du territoire et des territoires. L’existence humaine est déterminée par le fait de la naissance sur un territoire moral et politique, fait qui est le lieu d’un hasard faisant exister d’un côté ou de l’autre d’une ligne de bipartition : d’un côté les patries, terres de liberté, d’égalité, de vertu et de félicité publique, de l’autre les territoires corrompus, où les hommes sont rendus esclaves, inégaux, vicieux et malheureux par de mauvaises institutions. Ce problème comprend quatre aspects principaux. Quelles sont les conditions de possibilité de la constitution d’une patrie ? Quelles sont les conditions de possibilité de la conservation de la patrie face au danger des relations entre territoires ? Comment vivre dans un territoire corrompu lorsqu’on est né dans une patrie ? Comment les hommes nés dans un territoire corrompu peuvent y vivre sans être corrompus et le réformer pour qu’il devienne une patrie ? Ce système s’étend des écrits du jeune Rousseau, poète et musicien, d’avant « l’Illumination de Vincennes » jusqu’aux œuvres « autobiographiques » du vieux Jean-Jacques solitaire, en passant par les ouvrages « politiques » du Rousseau de la maturité, et il englobe ces écrits dans une philosophie politique de la réforme, dont l’unité réside dans la volonté d’œuvrer à la réforme du monde par la production d’une œuvre guidée par l’amour de la vertu et visant la réalisation du bonheur et de la liberté de ses semblables. / Questioning the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau through the concept of territory allows us to determine the meaning, the boundaries and the unity of his philosophical “system”. This system is organized around the problem of territory and territories. Human existence is determined by the fact of being born on a moral and political territory, the fact of it being a random place making one exist on one side of a division line or the other: on one side the countries (“patries”): lands of liberty, equality, virtue and public felicity; and on the other side the corrupt territories: where men are enslaved, made unequal, vicious and unhappy by bad institutions. This problem contains four main aspects. What are the conditions which allow the constitution of a country? What are the conditions which allow the conservation of the country in front of the danger of the relations between territories? How to live in a corrupt territory when you were born in a country? How can men, who were born in a corrupt territory, live there without becoming corrupt and reform it in order to turn it into a country? This system is present throughout the writings of the young Rousseau poet and musician before the “Illumination of Vincennes’’ up to the “autobiographical” writings of the old solitary Jean-Jacques, passing through the “political” writings of the mature Rousseau and it also unifies these writings in a political philosophy of reforming, in which unity resides in the will to work on reforming the world through the production of writings guided by love of virtue and aiming at the realization of happiness and liberty of his fellow men.

Base da postulação da comunidade política, as leis naturais são resumidas por duas frases, faça aos outros o que gostaria que fizessem a si e a outra não faça aos outros o que gostaria que não fizessem a ti. Hobbes denomina essa síntese das leis naturais de princípio de reciprocidade. Fora essas duas frases, Hobbes não apresenta maiores esclarecimentos quanto ao seu significado. A presente pesquisa pretende refletir sobre a teoria política hobbesiana a partir da problematização do sentido do princípio de reciprocidade, colocando em evidência algo que não está bem explicado e que não ocupa um lugar de pouca importância na sua teoria política. Na literatura crítica é bem conhecida a controvérsia a respeito do papel das leis naturais, da relação entre as leis naturais e leis civis, do direito de resistência, do direito de punir, silêncio das leis. Reflete-se sobre essas e outras questões tendo em vista a perspectiva da elucidação do princípio de reciprocidade. Ainda que situar adequadamente o locus conceitual das dificuldades não seja uma garantia de resolução dos problemas teóricos da formulação hobbesiana, pode-se obter um ganho no sentido de melhorar o trato com essas dificuldades. / The laws of nature, support to get into commonwealth, are synthesized through two sentences: do unto others as you would have them do unto you and do not to another what you would not want done to you. Hobbes endorses this synthesis of natural law as reciprocity principle. Except these two sentences, he didnt explain more about the principle. This work intends to reflect about hobbesian political theory through this concept and emphasize the important role for his political theory. Its well-known the controversies about the role of natural laws, the relation between civil law and natural law, right of resistance, right of punishment, silence of law. The intention is discuss about these and other question to elucidate the sense of the principle of reciprocity. The correct identification of the problematic concept doesnt pledge find a solution to difficulties of Hobbess formulation. Nevertheless, its possible to make an effort with the problems.

Thesis advisor: Richard Cobb-Stevens / The right of revolution in the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke is a curious topic. This paper discusses the differences and similarities between the two philosophers’ discussions of this topic. It is argued that Hobbes and Locke differ most drastically on the notion of who the sovereign is. While Hobbes prefers to establish the sovereign as a demigod, Locke understands the sovereign as a mortal, and thus fallible, man. It is because of this distinction that Hobbes and Locke disagree on the notion of the right of revolution. Furthermore, the American Founding Fathers, including James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, inherited Locke’s perspective on this matter when arguing for the independence of the colonies. Finally, it is the conclusion of this paper that this notion of the right of revolution continues today, when observing the numerous political revolutions around the world. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Philosophy.

This thesis explores how government policy impacts everyday support settings in UK-based learning disability social care. The empirical research took the form of an ethnography conducted within two learning disability social care provider organisations based in the South West of England. I spent time with people with learning disabilities and staff members in a range of settings, including home and day services. I also spent time with independent community organisations, including an advocacy service and a café supporting people with volunteering opportunities. Contemporary social care policy aims to reduce the exclusion and inequalities that people with learning disabilities experience by empowering them, as much as possible, with independence and equal access to community life. Within this, a range of social, political and economic philosophies have come to shape policy objectives, constructing different identities for people with learning disabilities. Yet, despite this, across the decades, services have continued to be plagued by cases uncovering fundamental failings, which at worse, have led to terrible abuses of people with learning disabilities. To unpick further the complexities of empowering people with learning disabilities, I used ethnography to understand the ways that policy objectives were experienced in everyday practice. The key findings from my research challenge current empowerment approaches which aim to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. The expectation is that aspirations of independence and community living are possible to achieve if the necessary resources are made available. However, for people with learning disabilities, their intellectual – and for some physical – impairments meant that they tended to experience difficulty in meaningfully assuming the rights and responsibilities that accompany these aspirations. Yet, the focus within policy that these are aspects of a ‘normal’ life is such that, in everyday settings, people were compelled to partake in a performance, which sustained the notion that these are realistic expectations. Ultimately, these factors undermined relationships between people with learning disabilities and the people supporting them, alienating them from each other.

Base da postulação da comunidade política, as leis naturais são resumidas por duas frases, faça aos outros o que gostaria que fizessem a si e a outra não faça aos outros o que gostaria que não fizessem a ti. Hobbes denomina essa síntese das leis naturais de princípio de reciprocidade. Fora essas duas frases, Hobbes não apresenta maiores esclarecimentos quanto ao seu significado. A presente pesquisa pretende refletir sobre a teoria política hobbesiana a partir da problematização do sentido do princípio de reciprocidade, colocando em evidência algo que não está bem explicado e que não ocupa um lugar de pouca importância na sua teoria política. Na literatura crítica é bem conhecida a controvérsia a respeito do papel das leis naturais, da relação entre as leis naturais e leis civis, do direito de resistência, do direito de punir, silêncio das leis. Reflete-se sobre essas e outras questões tendo em vista a perspectiva da elucidação do princípio de reciprocidade. Ainda que situar adequadamente o locus conceitual das dificuldades não seja uma garantia de resolução dos problemas teóricos da formulação hobbesiana, pode-se obter um ganho no sentido de melhorar o trato com essas dificuldades. / The laws of nature, support to get into commonwealth, are synthesized through two sentences: do unto others as you would have them do unto you and do not to another what you would not want done to you. Hobbes endorses this synthesis of natural law as reciprocity principle. Except these two sentences, he didnt explain more about the principle. This work intends to reflect about hobbesian political theory through this concept and emphasize the important role for his political theory. Its well-known the controversies about the role of natural laws, the relation between civil law and natural law, right of resistance, right of punishment, silence of law. The intention is discuss about these and other question to elucidate the sense of the principle of reciprocity. The correct identification of the problematic concept doesnt pledge find a solution to difficulties of Hobbess formulation. Nevertheless, its possible to make an effort with the problems.

This thesis aims to consider the contemporary relevance of the philosophical and religious project of Søren Kierkegaard by offering a systematic reading of his work against the backdrop of 19th century German idealism. Along with an emphasis on a systematic interpretation of a thinker usually considered to be wholly anti-systematic in aim and orientation, I also aim to show that through developing an ontological interpretation of the work of Kierkegaard the grounds are also created to develop a social and political interpretation of his work. Ultimately, I use the ontological and political reading of Kierkegaard developed in this work to not only show the relevance of this project to contemporary materialist philosophy, but equally to show how this version of Kierkegaard is capable of offering some crucial correctives to contemporary materialism.

This work examines how values seem to be contingent on various factors which affect their growth and development. This study is based around the ethical writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Specifically, On the Genealogy of Morals serves as the foundation for my thesis. This book contains three essays which purport to show how moral values originated as a result of certain human phenomena rather than, as many people take for granted, from moral “truths.” This contribution to ethics is important because it leaves many questions regarding the value of morality untouched. In the Genealogy, there are numerous themes of Nietzsche’s philosophy which are important to note such as anti-realism and naturalism. However, one of the difficulties of reading Nietzsche is that his writing has been misinterpreted, and it can be difficult to reach a consensus on how to properly understand his meanings. In the paper, I argue that to properly interpret Nietzsche one must recognize that his Genealogy serves two purposes: 1) to shake our faith in morality as “given” or “factual;” and 2) to provide us reasons that moral values might have detrimental effects on human flourishing. To fully appreciate these aspects of the Genealogy, I argue that the historical form of the text is a crucial component which cannot be ignored. Ultimately, if Nietzsche is successful in demonstrating these factors, then it will be shown that morality is contingent upon a plethora of historical factors.

Introduction: A Global practice of civil disobedience -- Decency, the right to disobey, and non-domination -- Undocumented disobedients as a special class of civil disobedients -- Institutionalizing the human right of the undocumented to be domestic political participants -- Unfair terms of global cooperation and the fair equality of liberty between peoples -- Executive prerogative and disobedient disclosure of government secrets -- Disobedience as an expression of global solidarity and redefining disobedience in a global perspective. This book explores a hitherto unexamined possibility of justifiable disobedience opened up by John Rawls' Law of Peoples. This is the possibility of disobedience justified by appeal to standards of decency that are shared by peoples who do not otherwise share commitments to the same principles of justice, and whose societies are organized according to very different basic social institutions. Justified by appeal to shared decency standards, disobedience by diverse state and non-state actors indeed challenge injustices in the international system of states. The book considers three case studies: disobedience by the undocumented, disobedient challenges to global economic inequities, and the disobedient disclosure of government secrets. It proposes a substantial analytical redefinition of civil disobedience in a global perspective, identifying the creation of global solidarity relations as its goal. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1124/thumbnail.jpg