POLS 3136 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Harm Principle, John Stuart Mill, Liberal Democracy
7 Oct 2016
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Lecture: evolution of human rights in canada and pre-charter protection of civil liberties. You need more than a constitution to protect civil liberties. Having bill of rights that is entrenched in constitution is minimum guarantee that your rights will be protected. What does it mean when a law is legitimate: widely accepted, valid, created by proper authority, backed by authority of state, usefulness and utility, consent, something about law that generates consent, made in lawful way. Law makes normative claim, begs you to obey. Law has to provide reasons for its existence. Laws prohibit things that are universally agreed against: ex: rape, murder, theft. Compatible liberty: freedom stops when they infringe upon others. Some laws can cause controversy when their usages aren"t useful to everyone. John stuart mill: utilitarianism, danger when state attempts to pass laws based on morality. John rawls: principle of justice that everyone must agree with at a minimum. No certainty that we might agree on morality.
