philosophy-nussbaum Essay

1.Who is John Rawls?

John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher who is known for his work in the fields of moral and political philosophy. Among them are: A Theory of Justice (1971), which considered to be at the time of publication "the most important work in moral philosophy since the end of World War II," (Gordon, David (2008-07-28) Going Off the Rawls, The American Conservative) and is now regarded as "one of the primary texts in political philosophy."(Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, "Rawls, John," Cambridge University Press, pp. 774-775.)

2. What was his main idea?

According to the reading strictly, the main idea of John Rawls in his work “A Theory of Justice” is to provide us with a guide for somewhat of a social contract; to give us, humans, of all cultures and traditions a list that provides the basics of a good and dignified life. “to put forward something that people from many different traditions, with many different fuller conceptions of the good, can agree on, as the necessary basis for pursuing their good life.” After such hypothetical agreement has been found it will serve as the base for a political policy; “the object of a specifically political consensus”.

3. Does he do social contract theory?

Rawls use a form of the social contract theory in a very abstract way when it comes down to the actual construction of a society. First of all, in comparison to Hobbes and Locke basic point of view on the human nature, Rawls give humans much more credits in terms of their capabilities and natural tendencies as can be understand from the list of good functions that is described in the reading. Second of all, there doesn’t seem to be any form of government mentioned in the text, meaning the contract to which Rawls is referring to, is to be decided on by the individuals of society and held among them. The emphasis on human capabilities together with the lack of mentioning any kind of authority, only suggest the first step that we as human should be able to achieve in order to later on construct any kind of a society. There are no examples of what was or what should have been or be in terms of the details of a specific social contract, though the concept of nation state is mentioned as the basic unit.

4. What does it mean for something to be a function for Nussbaum?

I believe that when constructing the list, Nussbaum was referring to as the list of capabilities in the sense of having the right or freedom to pursue all of those capabilities rather then being able to actually achieve them. For we as a society can not be responsible for the decisions and actions a person takes in order to achieve his or her goal, but we do have the responsibility to provide him with his naturally given rights and opportunities.

5. What does “A priori” means?

“Relating to or derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions; presupposed by experience; being without examination or analysis: formed or conceived beforehand”
(Merriam-Webster dictionary)

6. Why does Nussbaum does not reduce human being to biology?

Nussbaum recognize that a good life, which is in fact the our basic right, is not merely to survive but to maximize are individualistic potential as human being, according to

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