PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Political Philosophy and Justice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Rawls's difference principle holds that social and economic inequalities are just only if they:
- Result from free market competition
- Are attached to offices open to all under fair equality of opportunity and benefit the least advantaged (Correct answer)
- Reflect natural talent differences
- Are approved by a democratic majority
Correct answer: Are attached to offices open to all under fair equality of opportunity and benefit the least advantaged
The difference principle permits inequalities only when they make the worst-off members of society better off than they would be under strict equality.
Question 2: Which political philosopher argued that a just society requires rectifying historical injustices in the acquisition and transfer of holdings?
- John Rawls
- Robert Nozick (Correct answer)
- G.A. Cohen
- Michael Walzer
Correct answer: Robert Nozick
Nozick's entitlement theory includes a principle of rectification requiring correction of unjust past acquisitions or transfers that taint current holdings.
Question 3: Republicanism in political philosophy (as defended by Philip Pettit) defines freedom primarily as:
- Absence of interference with one's choices
- Non-domination—not being subject to arbitrary power (Correct answer)
- Positive capacity to participate in self-governance
- Conformity with natural law
Correct answer: Non-domination—not being subject to arbitrary power
Neo-republican freedom (non-domination) requires that no agent have the arbitrary power to interfere in your choices, even if they happen not to exercise it.
Question 4: The concept of 'negative liberty,' associated with Isaiah Berlin, refers to freedom as:
- The power and resources to act as one wishes
- Absence of external obstacles or coercion by others (Correct answer)
- Participation in collective self-determination
- Liberation from inner psychological compulsions
Correct answer: Absence of external obstacles or coercion by others
Berlin's negative liberty is freedom from external interference—the absence of deliberate human obstacles placed in one's way.
Question 5: Positive liberty, contrasted with negative liberty by Berlin, refers to:
- Absence of legal restrictions on action
- The power and resources to realize one's potential and self-determination (Correct answer)
- Freedom guaranteed by constitutional rights
- Liberty secured by property ownership
Correct answer: The power and resources to realize one's potential and self-determination
Positive liberty concerns the capacity for self-mastery and self-realization—having the actual power and opportunity to live as one chooses.
Question 6: Deliberative democracy holds that political legitimacy requires:
- Majority rule through electoral competition
- Decisions emerging from inclusive, reasoned public deliberation among equals (Correct answer)
- Expert technocratic decision-making
- Protection of individual rights from democratic interference
Correct answer: Decisions emerging from inclusive, reasoned public deliberation among equals
Theorists like Habermas and Rawls argue that laws are legitimate only when they result from free and equal public reasoning among citizens.
PhB Bachelor of Philosophy Political Philosophy and Justice 2
Rawls's difference principle holds that social and economic inequalities are just only if they: