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1. According to Rawles, what follows if the so-called talented people don\'t end

ID: 1195390 • Letter: 1

Question

1.

According to Rawles, what follows if the so-called talented people don't endorse the difference principle?

A. The talented people deserve rectification.

B. Their society is unjust

C, Talented people ought to be punished

D. Wealth ougt to be redistributed

2.

A. unequal holding

B. ineqaulities that aren't to benefit of the least well off

C. Imposed restriction on the freedom of citizen

D. Unequal distrubation of wealth

3. T/F

4. T/F

5. T/F

Rawls advocates for perfect equality in society.

6. T/F

Nozick judges fairness by the procedures by which goods get distributed: As long as we acquire goods in fair ways, he argues, the outcome will be fair.

7. T/F

8. For Rawls and Nozick:

A. None

B. only Rawls believes govt must play essential role in society

C. both believe govt must play an esssential role in society

D. only Nozick believe govt must play an esssential role in society

9. T/F

10. T/F

According to Rawles, what follows if the so-called talented people don't endorse the difference principle?

A. The talented people deserve rectification.

B. Their society is unjust

C, Talented people ought to be punished

D. Wealth ougt to be redistributed

2.

Given what you know about Rawls' view of justice or fairness, how do you think he would define injustice?

A. unequal holding

B. ineqaulities that aren't to benefit of the least well off

C. Imposed restriction on the freedom of citizen

D. Unequal distrubation of wealth

3. T/F

Once behind “a veil of ignorance”, Rawls says that free and rational people will choose whatever procedures produce the fairest end-result.

4. T/F

According to Rawls, the social policies and institutions we agree upon should improve the circumstances of the least advantaged members of society.

5. T/F

Rawls advocates for perfect equality in society.

6. T/F

Nozick judges fairness by the procedures by which goods get distributed: As long as we acquire goods in fair ways, he argues, the outcome will be fair.

7. T/F

The principle of transfer of holdings says that to be fair, an exchange must be voluntary.

8. For Rawls and Nozick:

A. None

B. only Rawls believes govt must play essential role in society

C. both believe govt must play an esssential role in society

D. only Nozick believe govt must play an esssential role in society

9. T/F

According to Robert Frank, in recent years, all significant income growth has been concentrated at the top of the scale.

10. T/F

Robert Frank is critical of the fact that few economists confront the reality of the rising income inequality in the US. Frank points out that Adam Smith—the father of economics—was a moral philosopher and considered moral questions, and hence economists today should as well.

Explanation / Answer

1. A. The talented people deserve rectification

Explanation:

The Difference Principle regulates inequalities: it only permits inequalities that work to the advantage of the worst-off. This is often misinterpreted as trickle-down economics; Rawls' argument is more accurately expressed as a system where wealth "diffuses up". By guaranteeing the worst-off in society a fair deal, Rawls compensates for naturally-occurring inequalities (talents that one is born with, such as a capacity for sport).

2. B. ineqaulities that aren't to benefit of the least well off

According to Rawls, social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are to everyone's advantage and attached to positions open to all. He argues for this by arguing against the prevailing ideology of equal opportunity. That ideology can be summarized in the following argument:

1. Inequalities are just only when conditions of equal opportunity obtain.
2. Conditions of equal opportunity obtain only when a person's fate is not determined by morally irrelevant factors.
3. One's fate is not determined by morally irrelevant factors only when it is determined by one's choices and efforts.
4. One's fate is determined by one's choices and efforts only if it is not determined by social circumstances.
5. Therefore, inequalities are just only when not determined by social circumstances.

3. False

The main distinguishing feature of the original position is “the veil of ignorance”: to insure impartiality of judgment, the parties are deprived of all knowledge of their personal characteristics and social and historical circumstances. They do know of certain fundamental interests they all have, plus general facts about psychology, economics, biology, and other social and natural sciences. The parties in the original position are presented with a list of the main conceptions of justice drawn from the tradition of social and political philosophy, and are assigned the task of choosing from among these alternatives the conception of justice that best advances their interests in establishing conditions that enable them to effectively pursue their final ends and fundamental interests.

4. True Explained above

5. False Explained above

6. True

7. True

Explanation for 6 and7

Nozick espouses an “entitlement theory” of justice, according to which individual holdings of various social and economic goods are justified only if they derive from just acquisitions or (voluntary) transfers.

8. B. only Rawls believes govt must play essential role in society

Nozick suggests that “the fundamental question of political philosophy” is not how government should be organized but “whether there should be any state at all,” he is close to John Locke in that government is legitimate only to the degree that it promotes greater security for life, liberty, and property than would exist in a chaotic, pre-political “state of nature.” Nozick concludes, however, that the need for security justifies only a minimal, or “night-watchman,” state, since it cannot be demonstrated that citizens will attain any more security through extensive governmental intervention.

9. True

According to Robert Frank: During the ... last three decades..., all significant income growth has been concentrated at the top of the scale... Yet many economists are reluctant to confront rising income inequality directly, saying that whether this trend is good or bad requires a value judgment that is best left to philosophers. But that disclaimer rings hollow. Economics, after all, was founded by moral philosophers...

10 True

Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, was a professor of moral philosophy... “Wealth of Nations,”... was ... peppered with trenchant moral analysis. Some moral philosophers address inequality by invoking principles of justice and fairness. But because they have been unable to forge broad agreement about what these abstract principles mean in practice, they’ve made little progress. The more pragmatic cost-benefit approach favored by Smith has proved more fruitful, for it turns out that rising inequality has created enormous losses and few gains, even for its ostensible beneficiaries. ...