PHILOS 1B03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Validity, Body Politic
21 Jan 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Features of a good argument: logically validity, conclusion follows from its premises (it"s logically valid). Meaning: if you accept the reasons then you"ve got to accept the conclusion too: example, p1: 2+2= 4, p2: 4+4= 8, conclusion: political authorities do not enjoy any moral justification whatsoever, point: conclusion is super interesting. But there is no logical connection between the premises and the conclusion: plausible premises. Its conclusion is interesting or useful: example, p1: all governments are governments, p2: canada has a government, conclusion: canada"s government is a government, point: this argument has plausible premises and is logically valid but totally uninteresting. Political authority consists: right to rule: moral justification for a political authority"s (government"s), obligation to obey: moral justification for citizens. If governments, like vigilantes, lack moral justification for their authority then incarceration is clearly unjust: problem of agency not of action, e. g. - forms of government decide who, what and when taxes are paid.
