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Synoptic Strand 2- Common Good - Coggle Diagram
Synoptic Strand 2- Common Good
General
"the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals to reach their fulfilment more fully and easily"
common good= something that is beneficial to all members in society
Links to early church
Role of Pliny in Bithynia- looking for reasons to suppress the Christians- denying them rights to meet, secret societies
persecution under different emperors- Decius and Diocletian did not protect the common good
Constantine and Licinius issuing the Edict of Milan protecting the religious freedom of all
Philosophers
Aristotle
city state consisted of a community of individual citizens working towards the common good which was happiness or 'eudaimonia'- human flourishing
set of principles governing the way of life they wanted to follow- 'the constitution'
city state had to have a ruling authority who were responsible for setting rules and keeping social order
rules of city state should promote well-being of each individual so they can flourish
rules should be made to protect each individual within the city state from violence
Cicero
roman statesman/ lawyer
the good of the people is the highest law of the state
referred to common good as "salus populi"= "safety of the people"
"salus populi suprema les est"= 'the safety of the people is the supreme law
Paul
state has divine authority
Romans 13= christians should be obedient to the state authorities because state has been given their authority by God
"everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God"
Aquinas
"a tyrannical government is not just, because it is directed, not to the common good, but to the private good of the ruler"
drew on both Aristotle's and Cicero's ideas- developed most influential Christian account of the common good
"the good of the whole universe is that which is apprehended by God, Who is the Maker and Governor of all things"
John Locke
decided freely to set up a government to secure his liberties by entering into a "social contract" with his fellow men
puts forth belief that there should be a separation of church and state, that a government should have checks and balances, and that a legitimate government is one that represents the will of the people
felt that the role of the state was to protect each individual in society and that it is the state's responsibility to uphold the laws needed to protect the rights of each member of society
Thomas Hobbs
"to protect the natural rights of the people"
in work 'Leviathan' argued that the government should have absolute power in order to ensure that society is ordered and the rights of people are protected
"absolute power.... is the only way to maximise both the liberty and the security of the individuals who make up society"
JS Mill
applied the system of utilitarianism to society and the state in his work called 'On Liberty'
"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, it to prevent harm to others"- THE HARM PRINCIPLE
state must intervene in an individual's private life when they do something that threatens the common good
John Rawls
state must provide conditions that are "equally to everyone's advantage"
state must take responsibility for issues such as public health and safety, education a fair legal system and clean environment
The Amish
Romans 12 v 2- "be not conformed to this world"
they accept outside government as necessary and willingly pay all taxes
"give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar"
'God instituted.., for the punishment of evil and protection of the good... We should recognise the state as a minister of God... Also, we should be faithful in the payment of taxes and excises, giving what is due to the state as the Son of God taught, practiced, and commanded his disciples to do"
The Social Contract
agreement between the people of a state and the government of a state
Thomas Hobbs
without society, individuals were in a constant state of war
without society, life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"
describes how overtime people have realised that living in society benefits everyone
individuals have learnt to sacrifice certain liberties in exchange for security
become clear that the only way to have peace is for each individual to give up his natural right to acquire 'things'
"visible sovereign power to keep them in awe"- to remind them of the purpose of the social contract and to force them, for fear of punishment, to keep their promises
idea of a "social contract" aimed to "ensure maximum freedom combined with personal security"
ideas could be said to be individualistic because he is not concerned with the good of society as a whole
John Locke
"the great question is.... not whether there be power in the world, nor whence it came, but who should have it"
opposed the idea of an absolute monarchy and the 'divine rights of kings'
all humans born with 3 natural rights:
life- everyone is entitled to live
liberty- everyone is entitled to do anything they want to so long as it doesn't conflict with the first right
estate- everyone is entitled to all they create or gain through gift or trade so long as it doesn't conflict with the first two rights
"no government can have the right to obedience from a people who have not freely consent to it"
makes clear Locke's preference for a democratically elected government
"if after a long train of abuses, prevarications and artifices"
government fails in its duty the people are within their rights to withdraw their consent
"and endeavour to put the rule into such hands which may secure to them the ends of which government was first erected"
believed that if a government failed to protect the rights of the people they are within their rights to replace them with another government
How far should state go to protect the 'common good'?
Edward Snowden is american computer professional, former CIA employee and former contractor for the United States government who copied & leaked classified information from the National Security Agency without authorization
noticed far reach of NSA's everyday surveillance
began copying top-secret NSA documents, building a dossier on practices that he found invasive and disturbing
NSA tapped directly into the servers of 9 internet firms e.g. facebook, google, microsoft, to track online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism
June 2013 the Guardian newspaper in conjunction with Snowden, reported that the US National Security Agency was collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans
currently living in exile in Russia
been enemy of state in his home country
become icon for defenders of civil liberties and also a man on the run
"I'm willing to sacrifice my former life because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building"
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016
comprehensively sets out and in limited respects expands the electronic surveillance powers of the UK Intelligence Community and police
aims to improve safeguards on the exercise of those powers
Snooper's Charter
have to record sites you visit and messaging sites you use for 1 year
data used by 48 government authorities e.g. fire rescue services
meant to keep people safe from people who mean to cause harm
secret agencies were doing these things- now is legal
data doesn't stay within the UK- other countries spy agencies can access it
Relationship between Liberty and Security
Benjamin Franklin- 'those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety'
to some extent liberty requires security; one cannot be free if he or she is constantly harangued by people who might take one's property or life
Locke argued that purpose of government was to provide security of life, liberty and property
widely acknowledged that liberty and security are trade-offs, the more security we get, the less liberty we are going to have
Philip Bobbit- 'There is virtually a universal conviction that the constitutional rights of the People and the Powers of the State exist along an axial spectrum. An increase in one means a diminution of the other. On this spectrum we imagine a needle oscillating between two poles, moving toward the pole of State's power in times of national emergency or toward the pole of the people's liberty in times of tranquility'
John Locke, natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth
United States and United Kingdom's Response to Terrorism
'We are not living in a police state but we are living in a country that faces a real and serious threat of terrorism
"by closing down the open society the government seek to promote"
"we are in the middle of a generational struggle against a deadly terrorist ideology. These powers are essential to keep up with the very serious and rapidly changing threats we face. In an open and free society, we can never entirely eliminate the threat from terrorism"
"very serious and rapidly changing threats"
But we must do everything possible in line with our shared values to reduce the risks posed by our enemies"
Philip Thomas- 'The idea of trading off freedom for safety sliding scale is a scientific chimera.... Balance should not enter the equation; it is false and misleading'
Covid 19 and Civil Liberties
The Coronavirus Act 2020 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that grants the government emergency powers to handle the Covid- 19 pandemic
act allows the government the discretionary power to limit or suspend public gatherings, to detain individuals suspected to be infected by covid-19
provisions of the Coronavirus Act which were time-limited for two years
Ian Dunt- "most extensive encroachment on British civil liberties... ever seen outside of wartime"
OAHE
Hart/ Devlin Debate
Wolfenden Report- the duty of the law to concern itself with immorality
Professor Hart and Patrick Devlin contributed to debate- Hart argued for decriminalisation of homosexuality whilst Devlin argued that it should remain criminalised in order to uphold public morality
Devlin's Views
"...destroys freedom of conscience and is the paved road to tyranny"
appealed to idea of society's "moral fabric"
"There is disintegrate when no common morality is observed and history shows that the loosening of moral bonds is often the first stage of disintegration, so that society is justified in taking the same steps to preserve its moral code as it does to preserve its government"
no acts are "none of the laws business"
"What is acceptable to the ordinary man, the man in the jury box, who might also be called the reasonable man or the right minded man"
Guidelines
privacy should be respected
law should only intervene when society won't tolerate certain behaviour
law should be a minimum standard not a maximum standard
Hart's Views
warned against dangers of "populism"
reiterated Mill's Harm Principle
Devlin's view is pragmatic and focused on the majority rule, while Hart is more humanistic and individual
result of the debate was the Wolfenden Report, which suggested that it is not the duty of law/ governing to interfere with private morality