Philosophy 213 Dilemmas of Loyalty Day 17 Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do? Chapter 9 ~ What Do We Owe One Another Dilemmas of Loyalty Day 17

Bentham? Kant? Rawls?

The doctrine of moral individualism does not assume that people are selfish. It is rather a claim about what it means to be free. For the moral individualist, to be free is to be subject only to obligations I voluntarily incur... (213).

For Kant & Rawls... Individual Rights Precede “the Good” Governments/Institutions Should Remain Neutral The Dangers of Coercion, Partiality and Prejudice

So Why Apologize? “The weakness of the liberal conception of freedom is bound up with its appeal. If we understand ourselves as free and independent selves, unbound by moral ties we haven’t chosen, we can’t make sense of a range of moral and political obligations that we commonly recognize, even prize. These include obligations of solidarity and loyalty, historic memory and religious faith—moral claims that arise from the communities and traditions that shape our identity…” [p. 220]

Moral Ties Social Contract Universal Imperative Your Communal Narrative Your Nature Your End

Overarching Narrative Virtues In Pursuit of ... Telos End/Goal

Back to MacIntyre I can only answer the question, ‘What am I do do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’

Membership & Belonging Virtue Phronesis Prudential Reasoning Value Claims Responsibilities

Sandel ~ Page 225 Natural Duties: universal; don’t require consent Voluntary obligations: particular; requires consent Obligations of solidarity: particular; don’t require consent

Competing Stories Nation Family Livelihood Ethnicity Region Religion

When does Solidarity border on Prejudice?

Public Discourse— Over-lapping Consensus? or a Meta-Narrative that’s Out-There?

Overlapping Consensus A Pluralism of Incompatible Yet Reasonable Comprehensive Doctrines (p. 13). A Conception of Justice that would be Acceptable by Anyone Accepting the Essentials of a Democratic Regime... Limited... to the Political Essentials... Rawls Defines “Justice” for the sake of a well- ordered and Reasonable Pluralism.

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions...” ~John Rawls But in the Post-Modern World, We Doubt Whether Reason Can Establish Our Concept of Equality and Fairness (Justice) As Foundational.

Tradition or Religious This Belief In Equality Must Be Free-Standing Not Dependent Upon Any Extraneous Tradition or Religious Institution

“While not necessarily denying outright the existence of objective reality, order or truth, the postmodern pragmatist posits an a priori methodological skepticism regarding the possibility that human reason could ever demonstrate its existence, or correspond consciously and evidently to it if it did happen to exist…" ~Thaddeus Kosinski

A Story of All Stories?

For Next Class Read Pages 315—328 in Justice: A Reader Quote #9 is due.