POLSCI 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Feudalism, Individual And Group Rights, Social Inequality
24 Dec 2015
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We exit the state of nature because people can"t punish each other accordingly. Property in person: labor= capacity to work, work of your hands= what you make, person= choices are own; autonomy. Smith thought capitalism was more materially and morally more preferable than feudalism. Smith thinks capitalism is ethically preferable to feudalism because it involves exchange on the basis of mutual self-interest which can preserve the independence and dignity of both parties. He may be worse for frivolous spending but world is better off. Global production/consumption is preferable to rustic hospitality because: you do not know the people whom you support, you contribute only a small fraction of your well being. Burke does not like innovation for these three reasons: innovation breaks tradition, innovation comes from individual selfishness, innovation comes from confined views. French revolution similar to american revolution: rebelled against taxes, revolted against social hierarchy (domination for u. s. , believed in universal rights, all men created equal.
