MIDTERM REVIEW

1. State of Nature.

(a) Merely rational constraints?

(b) Recognizably moral constraints?

(c) Status of the Golden Rule

2. Route from the State of Nature: How do people become citizens of a civil society?

(a) Original Agreement. What are the terms of the Original Agreement/Covenant/Compact/Pact?

(b) Role of Consent: Is consent due to fear of death binding? Is the morally important type of consent tacit or express, actual or hypothetical?

(c) How do subsequent generations become citizens?

3. Civil Society

(a) What sort of binding force do laws have? When, if at all, is legislation morally binding—that is, supported by moral constraints as well as by force?

(b) When, if at all, is the exercise of executive power morally binding?

4. Are There Any Moral Constraints on the Sovereign or Government? If so, what is their source?

5. Democracy: Must a legitimate government be some sort of democracy? If not, why not? If so, what kind?

6. The Potential for Tyranny of the Sovereign (or Tyranny of the Majority):

Do individuals have any inalienable individual rights?

Do individuals have any rights against sovereign decisions or majority decisions?

Are there moral constraints on sovereign decisions or majority decisions?

7. Freedom of expression: Should the state guarantee some category of freedom of expression. Why or why not? Do individuals have some kind of individual right to freedom of expression? Why or why not?

8. Rebellion: Under what circumstances is it permissible for citizens to rebel against the government?

Is the right to rebel a source of instability for the government?