Dirty hands, many hands

18 important questions on Dirty hands, many hands

What is the difference between a politician and a civil servant, according to Weber?

The politician needs to take responsibility because the civil servants just executes the decisions that the politician has made

Why does the ideal-type of a civil servant from Weber not work in the real world?

Because each and every decision you make, even just executing decisions that have already been made, has a normative dimension which cannot be closed-off

What are the two reasons that you are always responsible when you act, according to Walzer?

- You are an autonomous person that can choose to apply the rules, or not
- Rules are never complete
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What is a just society according to Walzer when he formulates his theory of social justice in a response to the theory of justice from Rawls?

A society in which a citizen can strive in each separate sphere of equality

What is the idea behind complex equality, as formulated by Walzer?

Ensuring that you cannot be dominant in other spheres, just because you are dominant in one of them

What is a dilemma?

A situation in which there are two wrong choices and you will get dirty hands and feel bad whatever decision you make

What is a consequentialist way of dealing with dilemmas?

Measuring the things in a cost/benefit way. Add dimensions to your list, and when you still feel bad, you just add more dimensions

What do deontologists think of dealing with dilemmas?

It makes them sick. No matter what you would choose, you will do evil. It makes you less of a human

Why is it that in politics the protest against policy is always at the public level?

Because the stakes are higher in politics and they do not want to be confronted with the harm that they can cause to some of the public when they make a decision

Why is a dilemma always about absolutes?

The nature of a dilemma is that it is unsolvable. There is no way out and no guidelines that you can follow

How does Machiavelli suggest that politicians should handle the problem of dirty hands?

Politicians must learn not to be good. That it is a form of effective political leadership and not just any kind of evil acting

How does Wissenburg disagree with Walzer's opinion on terrorists and dilemmas in which he presents them as a kind of tragic heroes?

He thinks that you need to feel pain, have no rest and get no reward in order for a situation to be a dilemma

Why is it that we should separate the questions of who is responsible and who should take responsibility, considering the example of climate change?

The party who is the cause of the problem, is not necessarily the one that is able to solve that problem

What are the three models of responsibility, according to Thompson and his article on many hands?

- the hierarchical model
- the collective responsibility model
- the personal responsibility model

What is the problem with the models of responsibility as is presented by Thompson?

They are all three insufficient to understand the problem of joint responsibility. They do however help us understand the problem better

What are assumptions of personal responsibility, a model of responsibility considered by Thompson?

- causal responsibility
- free choice
- determinate role
- indeterminacy is no excuse

In which dimensions must causal responsibility be split up?

- necessary or sufficient
- contributory
- degree
- knowledge and information
- responsible for causation or solution

What is the basic idea of the model of collective responsibility?

No individual has concrete responsibility, so each share in the collective result. Meaning, when you were present at a robbery, victim or perpetrator, you are responsible

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