Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Amy Winehouse, Atomism, Communitarianism
18 Nov 2013
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The action in question harms interests that ought to be considered rights: not all interests should be considered rights. Why do we have rights: three prominent answers, self-evident. Just think about it and you will agree. This answer begs the question: custom and convention. We have the rights that are already respected by the law. Makes it impossible to question a legal right: recognizing them maximizes utility. Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness (pleasure) Choose the system of rights that maximizes utility (happiness) Can justify a set of rights to liberty, security, property. Example: from free thought to truth to utility (free thought leads to truth, and therefore happiness) Couldn"t we sometimes produce more happiness by intervening for a person"s own good? (paternalism) J. f. stephen: mill is wrong; liberty is not always valuable it is like fire: depends on the use to which it is put.
