1 GVPT 241 Political Philosophy Ancient Modern Notes 1 30 2014 Political Philosophy I Why we study it A Understanding Complexity B Our Tools and their Histories II What it is A A Social Practice 1 Reading Writing 2 Normative Questions B Tradition 1 The Individual and the Community 2 Ancient and Modern Tasks III Understanding Complexity A Fig Spaghetti Map Understanding Afghanistan War It s Success B Similar complexities with many issues problems C Slow thinking vs Fast thinking 1 Bulk is fast information in small pieces and de contextualised social media a Part of Complexity speed of moving ideas money 2 Need ability to slow think to solve complex problems a Unpack elements understand the relation ways to interpret the information b Books Conveying strong ideas IV V VI Political Philosophy as a Social Practice People seek to achieve certain goods take certain skills virtues to achieve them through a complex social activity Dedicated to the good of understanding politics A Slow careful reading and clear analytical writing 2 B Normative questions 1 Questions when you are trying to evaluate or assess something 2 Should Ought Just Unjust morals norms 3 Political Philosophy as a Tradition VII A tradition is a social practice considered in the dimension of time social practice looked at in terms of history A The Individual and the Community B Ancient and Modern Approaches VIII Too vast and complex to study all A Focusing on a sub tradition focusing on one specific normative question What is the proper relationship between the individual and the community B Power Conformity Family etc C 2 millennial old 2 4 14 Philosophy Public Lectures The Duty to Disregard the Law Michael Huemer 5 00 6 30 pm 2 4 14 Free Market Fairness John Tomasi 5 00 6 30 pm 2 11 14 Territory Expulsion and the Right of Return Anna Stiltz 5 00 6 30 pm 3 4 2014 What do We Owe the World s Poor Loren Lomasky 5 00 6 30 pm 3 11 2014 Justice and Future Generations Joseph Heath 5 00 6 30 pm 4 15 2014 The Bullshit Lecture I Bullshit A Theory A Professor Harry Frankfurt 1 3 Claims a Bullshit speech is characterized by complete indifference to whether or not the statement you are uttering is true or false Different from lying lying you care about what is true For this reason Frankfurt thinks bullshitting may be ethically worse b When Why It Happens We speak this way when we find ourselves in situations where we feel pressured to say intelligent sounding things about topic which we know nothing Our egos are fragile and we are terrified of saying I don t know Rare to find people who have maturity to say that c Some kind of deception going on speaker is deceiving you about the extent of their knowledge and that they have some kind of authority over you B Why does this matter 1 It can start to affect they way we make judgements and how public opinion is formed on important issues Also a problem for expert elite opinion 2 Harold Laski Essay in Freedom of Expression a Understand politics in competing interest groups b Most politically educated can also bullshit 3 II Bullshit Detection Orwell s Critique A Detecting bullshit discerning types and how to avoid it 1 Nominalization Creating vague terms 2 Passive Voice Ducking responsibility Removes agent or group acting a Who is accountable 3 Terrible Metaphors Creates a problem of understanding 4 Bad Language Habits Thoughtlessness a Not thinking about the concepts we are applying to describe our world 5 Pretentious Diction Purple Prose Alliteration Trying too hard to impress B Orwells Categories 1 Dying Metaphors 2 Operators or Verbal False Limbs 3 Pretentious Diction 4 Meaningless Words Bullshit Avoidance Orwell s Rules III A Rules 1 Never use a metaphor simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print a Avoid dead metaphors meteoric rise b Be Creative 2 Never us a long word where a short one will do a Don t be extraneous b If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out 3 Never use the passive where you can use the active 4 Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent a Avoid unnecessary Latin expressions when there is an ordinary equivalence 5 Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous Not IV The Goals of Philosophical Writing absolute 4 2 6 2014 The Ethics and Politics of Piety I Ethics and Politics A The Ethical Question 1 How ought I to live B The Political Question 1 How ought we to live together II III Reading Plato Setting the Scene A Piety Narrower Sense B Piety Broader Sense 1 Knowledge of what is pleasing to the gods at prayer and sacrifice 1 A kind of justice that which involved just acknowledgement of the sources of our existence and progress through life That which sustains both private houses and public affairs of state 14b IV Piety Four Attempts at a Definition A Euthyphro The pious is to do your mother or anyone else 5e 1 What Euthyphro is doing his example a Problem Only an Example No essence Euthyphro I say that pious is not to prosecute is impious 5d e B Euthyphro Well then what is not is impious 7a 1 What is loved by ALL the gods a What is loved by the gods 1 Problem Ostensive vs Essentialist definition Disagreement between gods b Problem the Law of Non Contradiction 1 Homerical Ethics a Contradictory within itself b Both pious and impious 2 Basic laws of logic cannot be both C Euthyphro I would certainly is the impious 9e 1 Problem The Euthyphro Paradox a Socrates Consider this being loved by the gods 10a D Euthyphro I think Socrates that remaining part of justice 12e 1 Concerned with the care of gods a Problem Circularity Back at the same place don t know what piety is 2 18 14 Apology of Socrates I The Polis A Representing Ancient Greek states with an autonomous democracy 5 B Doxa 1 Shared norms beliefs and values a Commitments both religious and civil in nature 1 Most important of shared commitments Everyone pull their own weight 2 Put the common good of the city ahead of own interests 3 City remain a democracy 4 Especially important City remain faithful to its goddess 2 Created a social cement or purpose for each person and civil responsibility 3 Also created 2 important figures C The Rhetor 1 Rhetoricians Well known accomplished speakers who would try to persuade voters people in the assembly to come to their position by appealing to Doxa 2 Train with a professional teacher 1 The professional teacher of Rhetors who would train to argue