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PHIL 181 - Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature

Lecture 21 - Equality. The discussion of the legitimacy of government is continued with an introduction to a major 20th century work of political philosophy, John Rawls' A Theory of Justice. Professor Gendler explores John Rawls' central claims: that "justice is the first virtue of social institutions," and that the just society is that which rational and self-interested individuals would choose for themselves from behind a "veil of ignorance" (that is, not knowing what role in society they would occupy). The lecture concludes with an exploration of two substantive principles of justice which Rawls derives from his framework: the equal liberty principle, and the difference principle. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 21 - Equality

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Justice as the First Virtue of Social Institutions
[00:11:33] 2. Rawls on Justice
[00:28:09] 3. Testing Rawls in the Classroom

References
Lecture 21 - Equality
Instructor: Professor Tamar Gendler. Resources: Reading Guide 21 [PDF]; Credit List [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - The Ring of Gyges: Morality and Hypocrisy
Lecture 03 - Parts of the Soul I
Lecture 04 - Parts of the Soul II
Lecture 05 - The Well-Ordered Soul: Happiness and Harmony
Lecture 06 - The Disordered Soul: Themis and PTSD
Lecture 07 - Flourishing and Attachment
Lecture 08 - Flourishing and Detachment
Lecture 09 - Virtue and Habit I
Lecture 10 - Virtue and Habit II
Lecture 11 - Weakness of the Will and Procrastination
Lecture 12 - Utilitarianism and its Critiques
Lecture 13 - Deontology
Lecture 14 - The Trolley Problem
Lecture 15 - Empirically-informed Responses
Lecture 16 - Philosophical Puzzles
Lecture 17 - Punishment I
Lecture 18 - Punishment II
Lecture 19 - Contract & Commonwealth: Thomas Hobbes
Lecture 20 - The Prisoner's Dilemma
Lecture 21 - Equality
Lecture 22 - Equality II
Lecture 23 - Social Structures
Lecture 24 - Censorship
Lecture 25 - Tying up Loose Ends
Lecture 26 - Concluding Lecture