PHIL 4 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Robert Nozick, Distributive Justice, Utopia
11/15/17
● Which nation do you prefer?
○ Three unlabeled pie charts
■ 92% of americans preferred sweden to the usa
■ 77% prefer absolute egalitarianism to the current distribution
■ Americans are about evenly divided between sweden and absolute
egalitarianism
● Empirical correlations on equality and wellbeing
○ Child wellbeing is unrelated to average income in rich countries
○ Child wellbeing is better in more equal rich countries
● Robert nozick
○ “Distributive justice” from anarchy, state, and utopia
○ Leading philosophically nuanced libertarian philosopher
○ Anarchy, state and utopia the most respected philosophical objection to rawls.
○ Pursued other areas of philosophy (epistemology) after he published anarchy,
state and utopia
○ Later he recanted some of his libertarian views in the examined life (1989)
● Nozick’s conception of society
○ Nozick embraces much of what philosopher john locke says of personal freedom
■ No one should threaten your life, liberty, health, or property
○ Society is an association of people who seek to have protection of these rights
○ At best, the state is a “night watchmen” - it protects these and only these rights
■ Military - protection against force by those outside society
■ Police - protection against force/theft by those within the society
■ Couts - protection against fraud/theft/force in an unbiased way against
those within society
○ A society that goes beyond these bounds compels you to use your time, money,
or social factors in a way that you might not want to , and in a way that does not
protect your basic freedoms
■ Such a society compels you against your will, and essentially requires a
form of forced labor, or slavery
● Distributive justice
○ Distributive justive : theories about what is a just arrangement in terms of the
distribution of the benefits and burdens ina system of sociel cooperation
○ Nozick's primary concern
■ The minimal state is the most extensive that can be justified
● Any more extensive state violates people’s rights
■ Distributive justice is not a neutral term
● Distribution suggests some mechanism by which a supply of
things (benefits and burdens) is given out
● Distributive justice
Document Summary
92% of americans preferred sweden to the usa. 77% prefer absolute egalitarianism to the current distribution. Americans are about evenly divided between sweden and absolute egalitarianism. Child wellbeing is unrelated to average income in rich countries. Child wellbeing is better in more equal rich countries. Distributive justice from anarchy, state, and utopia. Anarchy, state and utopia the most respected philosophical objection to rawls. Pursued other areas of philosophy (epistemology) after he published anarchy, state and utopia. Later he recanted some of his libertarian views in the examined life (1989) Nozick embraces much of what philosopher john locke says of personal freedom. No one should threaten your life, liberty, health, or property. Society is an association of people who seek to have protection of these rights. At best, the state is a night watchmen - it protects these and only these rights. Military - protection against force by those outside society. Police - protection against force/theft by those within the society.
