Paper Topics

Paper topics for your first writing assignment. This assignment is due via email (to vood@cummings-good.com) by Wednesday March 13th. Papers should be min. 4 pages double-spaced.

Choose one of the following topics

1. Does Socrates give a compelling response to Glaucon’s challenge to him to refute the commonly held belief that justice is the advantage of the stronger? How does he attempt to refute Glaucon’s challenge and is it successful?

2. Plato argues that social hierarchy in political society is natural. What is his argument and how does his doctrine of eros inform his argument? Is hierarchy natural?

3. Why is it desirable for the rulers of Plato's Republic to know the Form of the Good?  What sort of knowledge is this?   What benefits is it supposed to bring? How does the possibility of philosophical wisdom underpin the structure and purpose of Plato's just society?

4. In what ways does Socrates’ picture of the perfect regime (kalipolis) embody compelling principles of justice and in what ways is it problematic?

5. According to Plato, is democracy a just form of government? If so, why? If not, why not?

6. Members of the Neoconservatism political group who designed and successfully advocated for the invasion of Iraq were inspired by Plato’s authoritarian picture of the just regime in Republic. Use what you know about Plato’s arguments to interpret the events and philosophical assumptions leading up to the war, evaluating their cogency with respect to what is right and good. Read Shadia Drury’s “Saving America: Leo Strauss and the Neoconservatives” for guidance and/or watch Rachel Maddow’s new documentary “Hubris” 

7. Make up your own topic.