A Theory of Justice: Bibliotheca Webinar

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Dr. Michael Sugrue earned his BA at the University of Chicago and PhD at Columbia University.

[starhaze]

The Man, The Myth, The Legend, .. Dr. Sugrue has returned in the flesh <3

[onehumanhistory]

So glad to see Michael Sugrue! Love his lectures

[xenoblad]

I didn't know Dr. Sugrue was alive. I'm glad I could still see him while he's around.

[mileskeller]

Profoundly well spoken. Professor I have seen almost all of your lectures and never get enough. I really wish I had the chance to have attended one of your classes.

[BigJamesGraham]

Surgrue livestreaming! What a blessing. Share this with your friends and family!

[thattimestampguy]

4:02 A Complex Account of Justice
Justice = Fairness From Birth

*Replacing Utilitarianism*
5:12 Utilitarianism fell out of favor
7:27 Not a Silver Bullet

Evil Delights in Evil
The Numbers are Happy, but are they Good?

*The Social Contract*
Myth of Lawless War (instead of Lawless Peace)
8:12 The Social Contract
9:58 Fairness does not allow slavery
People choose a Safety Net
13:55 Equal Liberty, Equal Access
Stop Bad Inequalities 17:26 No Tyranny, No Malevolent Oppression 18:24 “How does it affect the least of us?”

Universally-Applied Rules

19:34 I find him unconvincing
20:32 The worlds longest meditation on The Golden Rule

21:26 Who owns Man’s Capacity’s ?
Society
Individual
Abolishing Deserving
Gnostic

*Q&A*
25:22 Different Vocabulary, Different Lenses
27:54 Utilitarians, Epicurean, Pleasure Is Only Desire
29:22 Kant: There are certain lines we do not cross
Man is a rule-breaker
Man has a heart
32:44 _Veil of Ignorance_
36:08 Politics and Ethics
37:15 Do Opinions connect to reality?
38:47 Justifiable Inequality
Competence differences
Occupational differences
Life-Goal differences

40:15 Rawls was a lapsed Christian

42:44 Liberalism is meaning a lot in the 2010s/2020s
44:56 Discovered Not Invented

57:06 Phronecis

57:51 Robert Nozick
Who owns the fish?
The person who caught it
The Nation, The Society
(Tangibly, the person)
(Intangible, anyone who enabled the person to catch it)

[gspurlock]

This is one of my favorite lectures. Part of it is because Dr. Sugrue made reference to toolkits and judgment. We are not all equal, we never will be, we weren't intended to be. We need to use good judgment to determine the best course of action based upon the current circumstances. But, we all need to be equal in the eyes of the law and to have equal rights to fail or succeed based on our own initiative and judgment.

If we were all equal, the world would be incredibly boring and there would be no one to do the grunt work and no one of vision to lead us forward. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if we were all equal, all but one of us would be redundant and useless.

My problem with most philosophers traces back to Plato's idea of the philosopher king. That's the worst idea ever documented! You see, the brilliant philosopher has no idea at all of how to navigate life with average or below average intelligence. How to provide for a family, achieve happiness and career satisfaction and solid personal relationships with limited talents and intellect. Brilliant philosophers haven't got a clue on how to do that, yet they seem to want to create some kind of foolproof governmental/societal structure that will be ideal and impose it upon those people who they do not understand and for whom they often have contempt. Some of the most noble spirited people I've known have been very average to all outward appearances.

I love learning about all of these philosophers through Dr. Sugrue's lectures, because I don't have time to wade through all of their writings and it helps me hone my critical thinking skills. Occasionally, I get a new idea worthy of contemplation. Learning about the ebbs and flows of history and philosophy helps me understand how we arrived at our current very contentious circumstances.

[shiangjeoushyu]

Plenty wonderful examples of "compare & contrast" and "graying areas" in Dr. Sugrue's discussion. I was thinking hard to follow thru the whole presentation, then those smiling faces at the end made me smile too.

[josepharimathea]

I worry for your health, dear philosopher. This is wisdom: let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food. Then fast. God bless you.

[taryn.gesmundo]

Lots of great gobbets of useful information here and I especially liked that reference to Alexander Pope!

[bvokey]

These are great! Please keep them coming.

[kimborice]

the most immediate solution may be as simple as teaching philosophy in elementary school. Helps one finds one identity, helps society quantify and tally who latches on to what predominent philosophy. From there atleast a discourse can start. I believe at discourse most things can reach a resolution, including justice

[brucemcgraw]

I read Rawls a while back. I'll do a rereading tonight

[juanjuan-xrvc]

Recently discovered this great lectures. Thank you very much Dr. Surgue.
Isn't all Rawls theory based on a consequensialist premise? Just like the utilitarianism he was trying to opose?

[camorinbatchelder]

I’m not a moral individualist, but I can still acknowledge that humans aren’t categorical. They are incremental. You can’t allow a third party to decide people’s “collective entitlements”.

[RobinHerzig]

Suggest you keep that website Bibliotheca listed above in the show notes

[TheMap]

One of the first book I read when I got into law school. How refreshing it is to relearn it again. Can you do Amartya Sen's Idea of Justice?

[yuda]

Dr. Sugrue, any chance you give a lecture on Altered States of Consciousness as they relate to Religion?

[josephasghar]

We need better production values of these recent recordings for posterity.

[MorphieArse]

There was mentioned made that the next webinar is for Moby Dick - when will this be posted on Youtube? Thanks - loving hearing Michael's thoughts and views again.