PHIL 150c1 1st Edition Lecture 11 Outline of Last Lecture I. Hobbes’s ArgumentII. The Prisoner’s DilemmaIII. Morality as the Solution to Prisoner’s-Dilemma-Type ProblemsOutline of Current Lecture I. Some Advantages of the Social Contract TheoryII. The Problem of Civil Disobedience III. Difficulties for the TheoryCurrent LectureRachels Chapter 6 Part 2Some Advantages of the Social Contract Theory- Morality consists in the rules that rational people will accept on the condition that others accept them as well- Questions: What moral rules are we bound to follow, and how are those rules justified? We could not live in peace if we justified murder, assault, theft, lying, promise breaking and so on. The rules forbidding those acts are justified by their tendency to promote harmony and cooperation. What people do behind closed doors is outside the scope of the social contract and therefore has no claim on us. Why is it rational for us to follow the moral rules? We agree to follow the moral rules because we benefit from living in a place where the rules are accepted. We actually follow the rules because they are enforced and it is rational for us to avoid punishment Under what circumstances is it rational to break the rules? If we benefit from the overall arrangement of rule breakingThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. If other people do their part How much can morality demand of us? Requires you to be impartial You or 5 others to die, whom would you choose? Supererogatory- above and beyond the call of duty, admirable when they occur but not required Social Contract Theory does require moral heroism People’s fear of death is more likely to overcome their fear of punishment Natural limit to the amount of self-sacrifice that the social contract can requireThe Problem of Civil Disobedience- Moral theories should help us understand concrete moral issues- Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.- If our legal system is basically decent, then defying the law is a bad thing because it might weaken people’s respect for the law generally- The Social contract is not being honored if some citizens are denied their basic rights- By asking the disadvantaged group to obey the law and respect society’s institutions, we are asking them to accept the burdens of social living while being denied its benefits- Civil disobedience is not an undesirable “last resort” for socially disenfranchised groups- It is the most natural and reasonable means of expressing protest- When the disadvantaged are denied the benefits of social living, they are released from the contract that would otherwise require them to follow society’s rulesDifficulties For the Theory- The Social Contract theory is based on a historical fiction We never were isolated from one another. We never came together to make a social contract to one another Immigrants who promise to obey the law when they are granted citizenship are the exception- Should be called Implicit Social Contract- Some individuals cannot benefit us According to the theory, they have no claim on us We may ignore their interests Three vulnerable groups: Nonhuman animals Future generations Oppressed populations- The Social Contract Theory is grounded in self-interest and reciprocity It seems unable to adequately recognize the moral duties we have to individuals who cannot benefit