PHIL 2103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: List Of Countries By Intentional Homicide Rate
7 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Hugh LaFollette Gu Cotol
• do itizes hae a seious ight to ea as?
• A moral vs. constitutional question
• Fudaetal ights: a fudaetal ight is a o-derivative right protecting a fundamental
iteest.
o Author does not think owning a gun is a fundamental right
• Fudaetal iteests ae itegally elated to a peso’s hae of liig a good life, hatee
her particular interests, desires, and beliefs happen to be
o Examples of fundamental interests: happiness, freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom of association, life
o Fundamental rights: self-defense
• “o the uestio is this: is the ight to ea as a fudaetal ight?
• Gu adoates ust sho that ad ho gatig the ight to ea as potets idiiduals’
fundamental interests, and they must be prepared to respond to objections that granting the
right will harm society
o Argument 1
▪ P1: if a ight is fudaetal, the gatig it sees to potet a idiidual’s
fundamental interest
▪ P2: gun ownership is not a fundamental interest
▪ C therefore, gun ownership is not a fundamental right
o Argument 2
▪ P1: guns are inherently dangerous (i.e. they are designed to cause harm, and
their nature is such that we can confidently predict that they will cause harm)
▪ P2: we are justified in controlling inherently dangerous objects
▪ C therefore, we are justified in controlling guns
▪ Empirical evidence:
• There is a strong correlation between the presence of guns (especially
had gus) ad highe ude ates…
• if e outla hadgus, the oly outlas ill o gus
o ho do iials get gus?
▪ Steal them
▪ Buy or steal them from the legal gun market
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