Philosophy 353
Study questions:  Feinberg, "Offensive Nuisances"


1.  Explain briefly Feinberg's "offense principle".  How does it clash with Mill's principle of harm?

2.  In what way does Feinberg want to qualify his discussion of offense?  How does he explain
       the relationship between offense and harm?

3.  Feinberg suggests that determining how law should constrain offensive behavior will require
       a balancing.  What kinds of factors does he think must be balanced?

4.  Choose one or two of the examples that Feinberg develops "on the bus."  How might the
       balancing he advocates work out in this case?  To what extent could legal constraints
       on this activity be justified?

5.  Feinberg's discussion presents a fundamental challenge to Mill's view of appropriate legal
       constraint on liberty.  To what extent do you think it is a plausible challenge?  Is there
       any role for the law in constraining merely offensive behavior?