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Plato’s republic
-series of dialogues
-individual named
-better going through life trying to screw other people

-Origin of Justice
-Practiced Unwillingly

-Gloucon says that to do wrong is naturally fun

-It is not fun when someone is evil to you
-It is not fun when someone hits you in the head with roller skates, so you just quit

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Leviathan
-sea monster, seabeast, whale
-the origin of justice
-persons in a state of nature are basically equal
-everybody is more or less equal
-everything is pretty much equal
-Andy and Bob
-both have 3.72
-LAST – LAST
-sometimes for arbitrary reasons, people are denied access into law school
-two women get a crush on the same guy; two men get a crush on the same girl
-when two persons desire the same thing, they become enemies
-persons secure themselves best by anticipation
-first strike initiative
-make the first strike initiative
-leads to war of each against every
-everyone is quit literally trying to kill each other
-no culture, no industry, no civilization, state of pure chaos
-covenant is established where one person lays down arms if the other does the same

-when you are willing to lay down arms insofar that your brother is willing to do the same, that is a social
contract
-we should band together
-let’s all agree that the next time we have a conflict, let’s let her decide
-judge, arbiter, lawmaker, government
-hence the social contract
-Hobbs believes that there is no justice until there is civilization
-civilization is the salvation of man
-the framers of the American Revolution were very well read
-Franklin had a doctorate
-dig a whole instead of finishing the pool
-have to give him some money, but not $10,000
-13 original colonies became states
-became known as the United States
-every state was known to be sovereign of it

-last of western countries to abolish slavery

-the south knew that slavery was on their way out, but they did not want the slaves to be freed all at
once
-when Lincoln gets elected, the 13 confederate states decided that they don’t wanted to be united
anymore
-should be allowed to get out of elks and knights of Columbus
-the Union said that once you’re in, you’re in forever; that is why southerners refer to the American Civil
War as the war of northern aggression

American Vietnamese contract

1950-75
-Are you going to Canada or are you going to go fight?
-social contract; you consented
-you didn’t complain that we gave you a fire department, you don’t complain about unemployment, you
don’t complain that we fluoridated your waters
-it is time to pay Uncle Sam back

-Rousseau – it is civilization which keeps us from acting as if we are civilized

-invented the concept of private ownership
-Locke – if you employ industry to benefit yourself, then you have a right of ownership
-a lot of apples are going to get used
-there are a lot of people who do not have their own property
-give property to son who never did a damn thing
-people who have not continue to get less and less
-live in a world of scarce commodities
-human history is the study of class struggle
-those who have want to keep what they have and get more
-those who have nothing want a bigger slice of the pie
-Rousseau would say that civilization is not the foundation by the destruction of justice

-Marx
-Marx wanted a fair distribution of the wealth
-The Soviet Union collapsed because everybody misunderstood human greed
-government would take 96% of everything you grow and distribute it to the commonwealth
-allow the peasant his own small plot
-everybody put much effort into what they own and put little effort into what was going to somebody
else
-you’ll work hard for yourself, you won’t work for somebody else
-wealthy people who have enough money will keep getting richer and richer
-some impoverished person will not be able to buy their kid a new laptop
-poor are getting richer at a rate much slower than the wealthy
-justice is practiced unwillingly
-gyges
-earthquake opens up huge underground vault
-shepherd finds tomb of king
-turns ring so that he can become invisible
-shepherd starts fooling around with other people’s wives
-he becomes king of kingdom just because of powers
-what would you do if you knew you couldn’t get caught
-either there is no God or God is so forgiving everybody goes to heaven no matter what you do
-magical powers ensure that you’ll never get caught and never get punished
-we are not just because we want to be, we are just because we’re forced to be

-John Stuart Mill –famous ethician

-reason discerns what is good and what is bad
-to be a good utilitarian, you have to act in such a fashion to act for the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of persons
-referred to as consequentialism
-emphasize the consequences of your action

-Go through all objections to doctrine

First Objection:
-the bread and circuses objection
-story of ancient roman emperor
-give the people bread and circuses
-if people are well fed and have entertainment on the weekends, they will never revolt
-entertainment and a full belly

-treats people like swine

-objection:
-what if we find out that most people would be best fit looking for food, finding left over
liquor bottles, and going back to sleep
-Mill argues that humans have certain higher order cognitive pleasures
-we will never really be happy unless we are pursuing higher order cognitive pleasures

-What is the greatest rock group ever?

-Led Zepplin
A) $7.00, 24 hrs.
B) $2,000 4 Bose 1 hr.
-Why would you give up quantity?
-You want quality over quantity.
-Always have to take quality into consideration

Ecclesiastes 118
-He that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
-rocks
 -rocks have no feelings rocks have no pain
-virus
-probably do not feel pain
-crustacean
-do not know enough about a lobster’s CNS; do not know if they experience pain or
pleasure
-reptiles and amphibians
-respond to cutaneous stimuli
-frog will avoid an open flame
-mammals
-experience same physiological pain that we do
-had to anesthize own live rats
-dogs get homesick
-dogs mourn themselves to death
-humans
-heartache
-agonies of a tortured mind
-depression, anxiety, existential angst
-when you are really dumb, not much bothers you
-genius
-walks razor’s edge between sanity and insanity
-philosophers who went insane
-John Stuart Mill had an I.Q. of 190; had a nervous breakdown at age 21
-William James had to spend 6 years in an asylum following a nervous breakdown
-Edgar Allen Poe married his thirteen year old cousin
-Berkley had coprofilia
-Freud was a cocaine addict and he used to hear voices
-the more intelligent you are, the more tortured you are, because you see more of
reality

-people do not want to lower intelligence because we are not happy unless we are pursuing
higher order pleasures
-people are not happy unless they are pursuing intellect
-the bread and circuses objection is dumb because people will never live like pigs
-if you are not using your mind, you are not going to be happy

2)
-Happiness is not obtainable
-have to understand what is meant by happiness
-nobody is in the state of bliss all of the time
-by happiness, we mean that we seek a preponderance of pleasure over pain
-51/49 split – can still seek to maximize pleasures in this world

-you can prove that there is pain through sitting on a tack

-minimize pain over the long run; if you minimize pain, you are still being a utilitarian
3)
Martyrs and heroes
-Abnegate – give up, surrender
-abnegate our own happiness
-how can she be happy if her guts are all over the place
-she may not be happy but she maximized the happiness overall
-greatest happiness for the greatest number
-she would have tried to run out into the hallway
-she would not have taken her life for no reason, she would only do it to save others

4)
-Throughout history, there have been large groups of people who believe that we should abnegate the
pleasures of the flesh
-give up pleasures of the flesh
-person could mummify themselves by not drinking water and only drinking honey
-Christians tied themselves up with rope so every movement hurt
-St. Francis at the most disgusting food possible
-mixed ashes with his food
-You should not support happiness, you should support virtue

-Mills
-Any sacrifice that does not advance the greatest happiness for the greatest number is a waste

-If you care about animals you could write articles about animal abuse, give public lectures about the
plight of the animals
-disturbed that we live in the wealthiest nation, and there are people in our own vicinity that have no
shelter
-if you care about homeless, you could volunteer for the soup kitchen, habitat for humanity
-many things you could do to help people besides lacerating your feet

-William James
“Pray as if everything depends upon God, but act as if everything depends upon you”
-Aunt Laura is at Laurel Crest
-could say Rosary until you are blue in face
-could go visit Aunt Laura
-One might work, but one is certain to work
-lacerating yourself will not do anything

Not an objection but clever point

Ties utilitarianism in with Golden Rule of Jesus of Nazareth
-Complete spirit
-to do as you would be done by
-love you neighbor as you love yourself
-the golden rule is the acme of utilitarianism; hence, it is compatible with Christianity
-Buddhism, Islam, Hindu, Judaism
-If a religion has ethics, the ethics always centers around compassion
-treating people the way that you would like to be treated
-first amendment has drawn a line of separation between church and state
-cannot innact a law because the Catholics like it; if it is based upon theology it will not go beyond wall
of separation
-need a means by which to morally judge
-physician assisted suicide
-legalization of medicinal marijuana
-utilitarianism can be used as a tool to measure morality of legislation without having a barrier set up by
first amendment

Next Objection:
5)
Godless doctrine
Mill is writing in nineteenth century in Victorian England; uptight, sanctimonious about religious belief
system
-“I don’t see God in any paragraph”
-how can you call this a doctrine of ethics?
1) Throughout the Christian tradition we are taught that God has ordained humans toward happinees
-do you like trying to fall asleep at night with the view that God hates me and I am going to rot
in Hell no matter what I do
2) Every revealed religion is inherently vague and ambiguous; you can fold spindle scripture to make it
say what you want it to say

Mills says we need a tool to interpret religion

-one that is compatible with golden rule, with all world religions, wants to make everyone happy
-where are you going to find a better machine than that

6)
-Stigmatized immoral doctrine by giving it name of expediency-taking the easy way out
-Utilitarian’s will sometimes fib
-you have to lie if you want to get ahead in business
-you have to lie on job interviews
-half of human conversation is not exactly correct
-make distinction between the short run and the long run
-In the short run, you are allowed to fib, but that does not mean that as a long term principle, a
utilitarian is allowed to lie
-does not mean you are always allowed to steal
-allowed to steal bread from Wal-Mart if starving; allowed to speed if you are driving wife to hospital
-does not mean you can always do this
-an inflexible attitude toward ethics will always be unworkable
-human beings find themselves in situations where they have to make little violations of moral rules;
does not mean you can do it all of the time

7)
-Time
-Sometimes you don’t have enough time to figure out what you want to do
-Mill argues that since the memory of human kind, we have been calculating what sorts of actions
progress the greatest happiness for the greatest number and which do not
-grandparents found out that it is not a good idea to let baby get run over by buffalo, horse and buggy,
model T, 57 Chevy, don’t let any sentiate being get run over by anything if you can prevent it
-It is impossible to guide our conduct by Christianity because there is not time to read through the new
and old Testaments
-if you assume everyone is an idiot, no ethical theory will work
-if you assume everyone has a grain of sense, utilitarianism makes sense and works

Berkley paragraphs principle 1 principle 2 principle 3

-Principles in conjunction with Mill---Study!

-Advance greatest happiness for greatest number

-2 new objections:

-open to a variety of objections

-appear as if a majority of people could afflict a great hardship on a minority
-Greenland 60% of inhabitants are green
-40% of inhabitants are blue
-Those of us who are green will enslave those who are blue
-Singer
-sexism, specism is wrong
-Also, the minimization of pain
-Want to minimize pain
-Schopenhouer – how man deals with man is shown by slavery; the final end of which is
sugar and coffee
-Henry Sidwick – The lost soul argument
-proposes to demonstrate how utilitarianism would not allow the disenfranchisement of one
member
-would not allow anyone to be mistreated

-cannot calculate the consequences of your actions

-you do not have to know all of the possible consequences, you only have to know the
foreseeable consequences
Mill is worried about Utilitarianism forming a Tyranny of the Masses
Minority rights are being trampled and those who disagree are given disrespect

On liberty “One should have unfettered liberty over one’s own life and person insofar as the
exercise of such liberty does not seriously encroach on the welfare of others”
-principle of harm

The only part of the conduct of anyone is that which concerns others; the part which concerns
himself

You do not have the right to encroach upon my personal freedom

No person ought to be punished for being drunk, but a soldier or policeman should be punished
for being drunk while on duty