Term
| What was the primary criticism of Aristotle by his modern critics? |
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Definition
| He failed to provide adequately for the basic needs of human beings. (The argument was that in attempting to create human excellence, traditional politics failed to satisfy human beings' basic needs.) |
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Term
| True or False: The modern critics of traditional politics argued that the goal of the political community should not be to arrange the community so that the people would achieve happiness. |
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Definition
| True. (Even though it may be true that people will not attain happiness unless the power of politics is used to shape things so that people can do so, the critics of traditional politics argued that the goal of political rulers should not be the people's improvement or happiness. Instead they argued, the political community should seek merely to satisfy basic needs well.) |
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Term
| True or False: In stating the key political principles in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was merely trying to articulate opinions about politics that were widely believed in the American Colonies. |
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Definition
| True. (Jefferson said that he was trying to "state the American mind." The principles in the Declaration were principles the Americans had held and discussed for years.) |
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Term
| True or False: The Declaration of Independence declares independence from rule by the British Parliament. |
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Definition
| False. (The Americans believed that they had never been legitimately ruled by Parliament. They rejected King George III's rule in the Declaration in part because he had not defended them from attempts by Parliament to rule them.) |
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Term
| In what way is it self-evident that all people are created equal? |
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Definition
| All people belong to the same species. |
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Term
| True or False: The truth of something is self-evident if there is consensus among the people that it is true. |
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Definition
| False. (To say that something is self-evident is not to say that it is obvious or generally agreed to. It might be, but it does not need to be. A statement that is self-evidently true is one that contains the evidence for its truth within its words. It is a statement that a rational, unbiased mind which understands the words will appreciate as true.) |
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Term
| True or False: Jefferson's emphasis on the equality of human beings stems from him embracing the goal of politics argued for by Aristotle's modern critics. |
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Definition
| True. (The emphasis on the equality of human beings as opposed to their inequalities of prudence shows that for Jefferson those inequalities are not as important as they are for Aristotle. They are important for Aristotle since the key function of the political community is to help people understand what is good. For Jefferson, however, the key function of the political community focuses on people's basic needs.) |
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Term
| What did Thomas Jefferson mean in the Declaration of Independence by "All mean are created equal..."? |
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Definition
| That it is not clear that anyone has the right to rule. (Since people are all basically the same, it is not clear that anyone has a fundamental natural superiority.) |
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Term
| True or False: To say that it is self-evident that people are equal means that no one could have the right to rule another. |
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Definition
| False. (Even if people are equal, it is possible for one or more to have the authority to rule. That authority, however, is not derived from any natural fundamental difference between human beings. For that reason it is not self-evident that anyone has the right to rule. That right would have to be demonstrated or created by human beings.) |
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Term
| True or False: The moral concept of individual rights limits what people may do because they must respect the rights of others. |
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Definition
| False. (Rights do not limit behavior. They permit it. To say that someone has the right to do something means they may do it, regardless of other people's rights or desires.) |
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Term
| What is an unalienable right? |
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Definition
| Something that may be violated or infringed upon, but not separated from human beings. (Jefferson asserts that all human beings by definition have these rights, even if nobody realizes it or respects the rights.) |
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Term
| True or False: A person with a right or liberty may morally do whatever he thinks necessary to maintain that liberty so long as he doesn't violate someone else's right to liberty. |
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Definition
| False. (A person's moral rights are not limited by others rights. Such obligations to respect others rights are legal obligations, not moral ones.) |
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Term
| According to the Declaration of Independence, what is the purpose of government? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| An absence of moral obligation to be concerned about other people when one is seeking certain goals. (If a person has a right to liberty, she may do whatever she thinks necessary to secure her liberty.) |
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Term
| True or False: That many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves shows that they did not really believe that there is a natural right to liberty. |
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Definition
| False. (Almost all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence professed to be aware that slavery was a violation of the enslaved people's natural right to liberty and was therefore an evil thing.) |
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Term
| When people give their consent to a government to exist, what are they allowing? |
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Definition
| They are allowing the government to create constraints on individuals' pursuit of rights. (People give up some of their natural right to all things and permit the government to tell them what to do and not to do in certain cases.) |
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Term
| True or False: Jefferson writes that government should by founded by the consent of the governed because a government that does not do what the people want is likely to be unstable. |
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Definition
| False. (Government must be founded by consent because human beings have the natural right to do whatever they think useful to secure their own happiness. The only way they could justly be required to obey another and limit their choices would be if they agreed to do so.) |
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Term
| Why would people give up some rights and consent to be governed? |
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Definition
| Rights without government produce chaos. (When people all have the right to do whatever they think useful to make themselves happy, people become threats to one another, unless they agree to mutual limits to be enforced by a government.) |
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Term
| True or False: According to the argument in the Declaration of Independence, people consent to be governed for purely selfish reasons. |
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Definition
| True. (People consent to be governed because it appears to them as the best thing to do to get what they want: to secure their lives and liberties and to enable them to pursue happiness effectively.) |
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Term
| What is the purpose of government according to Thomas Jefferson and other founders of the United States? |
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Definition
| To enable people to work to make themselves happy. (The purpose of government is to secure peoples' right to pursue happiness. It is up to them to use or not to use that right well.) |
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Term
| True or False: The Declaration of Independence demonstrates the American founders' belief that all monarchies are bad governments. |
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Definition
| False. (According to the argument of the Declaration of Independence, governments are to be judged good or bad on the question of whether they secure rights effectively. It is possible for a monarchy to secure rights well, and therefore be a legitimate government. It is also possible for a democracy or a republic to fail to secure rights well, and this, be an illegitimate government.) |
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Term
| According to the Declaration of Independence, what must a government do in order to be just? |
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Definition
| It must secure individual rights, and be created by consent. |
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Term
| According to the Declaration of Independence, when may people alter or abolish their government? |
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Definition
| When it does not secure their rights. |
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Term
| True or False: According to the Declaration of Independence, people may revolt only when their government is actively violating their rights. |
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Definition
| False. (The people may alter or abolish their government fails to secure their rights effectively. This might happen either when the government itself violates peoples' rights, or when the government fails to protect its people from others who violate their rights.) |
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