Today we talked about John Rawls and his thoughts on how a
society should be constructed. We agree with Rawls that a society should have
freedom and equality. But to make everyone completely equal, or unequal with
compensation, seems to be a utopian idea that sounds great on paper, but would
probably never actually work if put into practice. We also thought about the
idea if everybody was paid based on how dangerous their job is. Professional athletes
have a dangerous job, and they get compensation for that with their
multi-million dollar paychecks. But what about the military? They risk their
lives and receive nowhere near the amount of a professional athlete. Or you
could decide salary based on the actual importance of the job, or how much work
is required to make it to that job. Like doctors. They have to go through years
of schooling before they are allowed to actually practice medicine and they
have a pretty important job. So should they be the highest paid? We never
really came to an agreement of how exactly a society should be set up, and it
will probably vary from person to person. Although if we all decide through a “veil
of ignorance” then most societies will have the two key things Rawls focused
on: freedom and equality. On Tuesday we are talking about a modern gadfly:
Peter Singer.
Questions on Singer:
ReplyDeleteWhat did Singer call those who don't give enough weight to the interests of animals?
A: speciesiest
Singer approaches moral questions based on the idea of consistency. Do you think this is an effective way to view morality questions?
I cannot find my groups post from section 13 group 3 so i will post here. we also talked about Rawls. I feel like his question of giving money to the poor to help out is a question that people ask themselves everyday. In the society we live in today, people who are given supplement money for support sometimes abuse it and end up with nicer things than the wealthy people have and then they go and complain that they have a bad lifestyle and no money and try to mooch off of everyone else for a living.
ReplyDeleteQuestions for Singer:
ReplyDeleteFactual- Singer first became famous because of his influential book on what subject?
A: The treatment of animals
Discussion- How do you feel about Singer's view that everyone should be vegetarians?
Factual: What Philosopher was called a Nazi for defending euthanasia? A: Singer
ReplyDeleteDiscussion: What do you think of Singers views on animal research?
Factual: What kind of charity did singer argue we COULD and SHOULD donate money to?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: charities that helped the needy learn to floruish on their own
Discussion: Do you feel, like Singer, that euthanaia or "mercy killings" are a viable choice when a person is only alive in body?
True or False: Singer was a consequentialist.
ReplyDeleteA: True
Discuss your thoughts on speciesism?