David Carpenter University Ethics Adviser Principal Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy An Introduction to Political Philosophy: critical contemplation.

David Carpenter

University Ethics Adviser

Principal Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy

An Introduction to Political Philosophy: critical contemplation in the run up to the

election.

Morality and politics: the greatest good for the greatest

number: policy and unintended consequences

Session 2 April 15th 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqnc5EHZ80o

House of Bishops' Pastoral Letter on the 2015 General Election

17 February 2015The House of Bishops of the Church of England have today expressed the hope for political parties to discern "a fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be" ahead of the General Election in May of this year.In a pastoral letter from the House of Bishops to the people and parishes of the Church of England, the Bishops urge Christians to consider the question how can we "build the kind of society which many people say they want but which is not yet being expressed in the vision of any of the parties?"

What should we be looking for?

• Evidence of moral conduct (accountability)• Evidence of moral policies

– Aiming for the greatest good – outcome based – the intended action and its consequences – Bentham, Mill, Singer

– Doing as you would be done by – act based – the good will – Kant, Rawls

– Promoting human flourishing / perfectibility – Eudaimonia – Aristotle, Kant, Communitarians

Moral Conduct

• Should our politicians be moral?• Amoral• Immoral• Moral

– Nolan Standards https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2

– Promise keeping– Respect for each other

Plato’s Philosopher Kings

• Ideal ruler Ideal society Just city• Virtue and knowledge – synonymous – good reasons for

justice• Wisdom should rule the individual soul – so it must also

rule the state• Lover of truth• Knows good from bad• 50 years training!• They will have to be forced to rule – no natural inclination• Unpaid

https://philosophynow.org/issues/101/Platos_Ideal_Ruler_Today

Aristotle

• Doctrine of the mean– Look at the spheres of action on the next

slide!

Aristotles virtues - summarySPHERE OF ACTION OR FEELING

EXCESS MEAN DEFICIENCY

Anger Irascibility Patience/Good temper Lack of spirit/unirascibility

Self-expression Boastfulness Truthfulness Understatement/mock modesty

Conversation Buffoonery Wittiness Boorishness

Social Conduct Obsequiousness Friendliness Cantankerousness

Shame Shyness Modesty Shamelessness

Indignation Envy Righteous indignationMalicious

enjoyment/Spitefulness

Machiavelli - reputation• 1469-1527• cunning, deceptive, unscrupulous• spin doctor, political opportunism

• 5 initial key points:– The Prince – a leader– Advice book – genre (style of writing or book)– Apparent brutality of the book– ‘Realism’ – The ‘Discourses’ (republicanism)

Traditional advice to Princes

• Based on Cicero (106-43 BC) and Seneca (4BC-65 AD)

• Deal honestly and keep faith with people

• Be magnanimous, generous, liberal

• Always behave virtuously

• It is always rational to be moral

• Should be moral even when it’s inexpedient

Machiavelli’s advice to Princes

‘…anyone who would act up to a perfect standard of goodness in everything, must be ruined among so many who are not good. It is essential, therefore, for a Prince who desires to maintain his position, to have learned how to be other than good, and to use or not to use his goodness, as necessity requires’.

The Prince Chapter 15

Machiavelli’s advice to Princes

• Kill members of the old ruling family around whom opposition could coalesce

• Ignore your supporters• Reward those suspicious of you• But better to encourage fear rather than

love• Convince the people that you are especially

blessed by fortune

What should we be looking for?

• Evidence of moral conduct (accountability)• Evidence of moral policies

– Aiming for the greatest good – outcome based – the intended action and its consequences – Bentham, Mill, Singer

– Doing as you would be done by – act based – the good will – Kant, Rawls

– Promoting the common good /human flourishing / perfectibility – Eudaimonia – Aristotle, Rousseau, Kant, Marx,Communitarians

Session 4 Ethics and Society – Dave Carpenter

Naïve Utilitarianism

• BRINGS ABOUT• GREATEST AMOUNT• PLEASURE • PAIN

RIGHT ACTION IS THE ONE WHICH BRINGS ABOUT THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF PLEASURE OR THE LEAST AMOUNT OF PAIN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY

The Essence of Kant’s Political Thought

• Rational man with finite knowledge• Political obligation based on duty• Reconciliation of justice and individual

freedom• Cosmopolitanism• Right to legitimate political resistance

Kant – Moral Philosophy

• Central to his political thought• Explores the creativity of human reason• Duty is indispensable to practical

reasoning about action but no corresponding object in the world

• Conception of justice

Moral Philosophy – Key aspects

• Categorical Imperative

‘Act only on that maxim which, at the same time you can will to be a universal law’

• Golden Rule – Justice• Moral self-legislation• People as ends and never means

Thus, in the external sphere of interpersonal interaction, rational agency requires protection. But how to protect agency from such force and fraud in an effective and broadly based manner? Kant’s answer is a public, universal system of positive law and order which can employ coercion on behalf of rational agency against those rogue parties that threaten it. Justice is thus, for Kant, the authorization to use coercion in defence of anyone’s, indeed everyone’s, free rational agency. Kant’s universal principle of Recht, or justice (UPJ), is thus: ‘Act externally in such a way that the free use of your will is compatible with the freedom of everyone according to a universal law.’

(Orend, 2000, p21).

1. Each person to enjoy maximum liberty compatible with all enjoying similar systems

2. Social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are

a) To the greatest benefit of the least advantaged

b) Attached to offices and positions open to all

This is what Rawls calls the

difference principle

This means equality of opportunity

Combined effect is to maximise the position of the least well off – ‘maximin’

Combined effect is to maximise the position of the least well off – ‘maximin’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN_a2u6aItU

Key Labour party promises in the manifesto include:A promise to cut the deficit every year and every policy pledge funded by cuts or tax rises elsewhereA freeze on train fares for a year, to ease the pressure on commuters and rail passengers25 hours free childcare for three and four-year-olds, and guaranteed care from 8am to 6pm for primary age pupilsMinimum wage to rise to £8 by 2019, a year earlier than planned, and working tax credits to increase for 4.5million people in line with inflation

Key new pledges announced by the Conservatives today include:Free childcare for three and four-year-olds to be doubled from 15 to 30 hours a week for families where both parents work, saving up to £5,000-a-yearA guarantee that workers on the minimum wage will pay no income tax, based on working 30 hours-a-week Right to Buy to be extended to 1.3million families living in housing association homes, with discounts of up to £100,000 on buying their home