Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Philosophy and ethics

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Philosophy of Society and Property

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) offered profound insights into human nature, the state of nature, and the origins of society. His ideas challenged conventional wisdom and continue to influence political thought.

Rousseau's State of Nature

Rousseau posited a state of nature distinct from that of his contemporaries like Hobbes. While Hobbes described a "war of all against all," Rousseau envisioned a more peaceful, pre-social existence:

• Absence of Scarcity: Unlike Hobbes, Rousseau believed the state of nature was one of abundance, where nature provided for human needs.
• Undeveloped Imagination and Desires: Early humans were simple and ignorant, their minds undeveloped. Consequently, their desires

Core Police Functions and Patrol Principles

Robert Peel's Principles

According to Robert Peel, key police functions include:

• Deterring crime
• Enhancing the feeling of public safety
• Making officers available for service

Wilson's Patrol Theory

James Q. Wilson explains that patrol aims to create an impression of police omnipresence, thereby eliminating opportunities for misconduct.

Types of Police Patrol

Hot Spot Patrol

Officers are assigned to patrol locations receiving an above-average concentration of crime. This method has proven effective in numerous studies (20-25 cited).

Foot Patrol

Officers are assigned to patrol designated areas on foot rather than in vehicles.

Organizational Styles in Policing (James Wilson)

James Q. Wilson identified three primary... Continue reading "Police Patrol Methods, Styles, and Supervision" »

Philosophical Perspectives on Desire and the Meaning of Life

In Ellis’s paper “Desire, Infinity, and the Meaning of Life,” she and Schopenhauer both agree that a meaningless life has what she calls an “on and on” structure.

Schopenhauer's View: Desire, Suffering, and Meaninglessness

Schopenhauer states that we are, by nature, desire-driven individuals, and that it belongs to our essence to be motivated by desires. However, he denies that this is sufficient to endow our lives with meaning since he believes that desires themselves exemplify this “on and on” structure, thus leading to meaninglessness.

Desires for Schopenhauer always involve suffering in the person who desires, due to the simple reason that the relief felt once they are... Continue reading "The Philosophy of Desire: Schopenhauer, Nozick, and Meaningful Existence" »

Taylor on Subjective Meaning in Life

Taylor uses a paradigmatic example... it lies outside him.

Our life is like... We wonder what the point of it all is. If “the point of any living thing’s life is, evidently, nothing but life itself,” then why do we do anything at all? So then Taylor introduces the concept of impulses...

This is the “subjective meaning”: what makes our life meaningful depends upon one having the desire to do the activities that make up one's life. Taylor states that although we cannot have an objective meaning of life, we can still have subjective meaning...

Wiggins' Critique of Taylor's View

Wiggins thinks that Taylor’s position is incoherent. On Wiggins' view, a purpose has no permanence, and even if it did, its... Continue reading "Subjective vs Objective Meaning: Taylor, Wiggins & Schopenhauer" »

What Is Art?

Aesthetic taste should be understood as a person's ability to detect beauty, and an aesthetic experience is the emotional state of someone contemplating an aesthetic object in a disinterested way.

• Art: Art is an activity oriented toward the production of objects that cause an aesthetic experience in people who have aesthetic taste. An object is created with the purpose of provoking this kind of experience in those who observe it.
• Beauty: Beauty is an aesthetic value attributed to various objects. It has been associated with objective qualities — harmony, proportion, goodness, and truth — and with subjective feelings such as pleasure or attraction.

Natural Beauty Versus Artistic Beauty

What is the difference between natural and artistic... Continue reading "Understanding Art, Beauty, and Aesthetic Experience" »

Solidarism and the Enforcement of International Rule

The classical English School scholar, Hedley Bull, defined solidarism as the collective enforcement of international rules and the guardianship of human rights. Solidarism is driven by states for the purpose and interests of the people they serve.

In a solidarist order, individuals possess basic rights (e.g., not to be killed or harmed). If harm is being undertaken and the state is unable to prevent it, solidarist theory holds that the members of the international society have a duty to intervene.

The Challenge of Humanitarian Intervention in the UN Order

Within the UN framework, the primary problem regarding humanitarian intervention was not the danger that external powers showed no regard for... Continue reading "Solidarism, Pluralism, and the R2P Doctrine in International Relations" »

Clause Fragments and How to Correct Them

Clause fragments occur when:

• A dependent clause is not attached to an independent clause.
• A sentence is missing a verb or a subject.

How to Correct a Fragment

• Give the subject an adequate verb or give the verb a subject.
• Combine the fragment with the sentence before or after it.
• Change a word or two in the fragment to make it a complete sentence.

Avoiding Double Negative Constructions

Double negation is grammatically incorrect; any negative proposition must only contain one negative. Some pronouns or adverbs, such as no, nothing (not anything), nobody (not anybody), and never (not ever), are called negative terms.

When negation already exists in the sentence, the following are used:

• Any instead of no
• Anything instead

Beowulf: Key Events and Literary Elements

Early Danish History

Hrothgar Builds Heorot

Grendel Attacks

Beowulf Hears the News

The Coast Guard Greets Beowulf

Wulfgar Greets Beowulf

Hrothgar Greets Beowulf

Unferth Challenges Beowulf; Beowulf Replies

Wealhtheow Greets Beowulf

Beowulf and Grendel Fight

Celebrations at Heorot; Beowulf Rewarded

The story of Sigemund and the Finn episode is told.

More Celebrations

Grendel's Mother Attacks

Beowulf Comes to Hrothgar's Aid

Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother

Beowulf sinks into the mere, fights Grendel's mother, and cuts off Grendel's head.

Celebrations and Thanks

Hrothgar's Prophecy and Warning

Gifts and parting.

Home to Hygelac and Queen Hygd

Contrast between Queen Modthryth and Queen Hygd revealed.

Beowulf Recounts His Adventures

(... Continue reading "Beowulf: Summary of Key Events and Literary Elements" »

The Evolution of Social Rights and Neoliberal Critique

Although during the 20th century fundamental social rights were extended to include social, economic, and cultural requirements—such as education, health, pensions, and unemployment protection—recent decades have seen neoliberal voices challenge this expansion, advocating for a return to a pure liberal model.

Friedrich Hayek and the Road to Servitude

Friedrich Hayek, the 1974 Nobel Prize laureate in Economic Sciences, argued that the social and political evolution of Western societies stems from the free market's capacity to balance individual interests. He maintained that:

• Market outcomes should be accepted without moral judgment regarding justice or injustice.
• Political interventionism