Deontology

Professor Roberts-Cady's notes from yesterday's lecture!

Starter

​Read  this checklist for test review.

• Then, flip through your note-taking packet and highlight or mark sections you need the most help with.  
• Write down questions you have about the content on the board

Agenda

1. Go over your questions
2. Deontology lecture from yours truly!  Take notes!
3. Ch. 5 Study Group Discussion
4. If time remains: Rawls' philosophy taken to the extreme: an Egalitarian Nightmare?! We'll check out slides 26-31 of the powerpoint and talk about a short story called "Harrison Bergeron"

SEMINAR QUESTIONS

1. What is your analysis of “Harrison Bergeron”? Is it rhetorical? How so? What ideology is it transmitting?
2. ​What are the similarities and differences between Rawls’ philosophy and Vonnegut’s dystopic view of equality as shown in “Harrison Bergeron”??
3. What do you value more: Liberty of equality?
4. Do you think your talents are your own doing? Do you deserve the rewards your talents produce? What about the rewards your hard work produce? What does Rawls think? (read pages 162-164)
5. ​Is the possession of a right to pursue happiness empty if we lack the ability or opportunity to exercise it? Do the sharp divisions between haves and have-nots—whether of wealth, opportunity, or natural talents—mean that equality is not achievable, without government intervention?
6. Why do Americans love equality? Should we? Can the desire for it ever be satisfied? Where did our value on equality come from (historically?)
7. ​What do we owe those of our fellow citizens who are worse off through no fault of their own? 
8. ​Would you object if society sought equality not by handicapping the gifted but by lifting up the not-gifted, say through genetic engineering or biotechnological enhancement? Evaluate the pros and cons of “lifting up.”