Mid Semester Review, Paper Topics & Project Scheduling

§1. Class presentations

Starting on Wed. 3/27 we will be scheduling two weeks worth of student presentations based on readings from John Zerzan’s Against Civilization. There are over 60 selections in this anthology to choose from. Students may choose one or two writings to present in class. Presentations will be 5-10 minutes in length, and should use the writing to address, augment, challenge or otherwise shed light on some issue we’ve discussed in class so far in our look at classical and modern natural right. Selections for your presentation are available on a first come first serve basis. On Wed 3/20 I will randomly assign selections to whomever has yet to choose and email your assigned writing along with the date of your presentation. Collaborative presentations are allowed.

§2. First writing assignment on themes from the natural right tradition

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

Some themes we’ve studied

Doctrine of Eros

Definitions of Justice

Moral Psychology of Being Just (Ring of Gyges and Thrasymachus’ Challenge)

Functions of Utopian Visioning

Implications of Philosophy for Cave Politics and Vice Versa

Perfectionism

Paternalism

Classical Liberalism

Moral & Psychological Justifications for Market Society

Theory of Private Property

State of Nature and Social Contract

The Commons and their tragedies

Corporate Personhood

§3. Paper topics – Choose one of the following or make up your own.

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?

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. Arguments for and against democracy. 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. Compare Locke’s labor theory of value (In Chapter 5 of Second Treatise) with what Peter Barnes argues about the value of the commons in “Capitalism, the Commons and Divine Right.” In what ways does acknowledgment of the commons require changes in our understanding of natural rights?

8. Where do rights come from and how do we know they are real? Are rights rooted in a secular or religious concept? Elucidate and evaluate Locke’s account of the origin of individual rights for human beings.

9. Is the state morally justified? What is Locke’s theory of legitimate political power, and why or why isn’t it valid?

10. Compare and contrast the views of justice and the purpose of political society in Plato’s Republic with Locke’s Second Treatise. Where do they agree and where do they differ? Are they self-contradictory or do they point to a higher synthesis?

Choose one or more of the following concepts to focus your comparison on

a) Happiness and human flourishing

b) Freedom and equality

c) Role of philosophy and wisdom within governance

d) Views of the nature and value of economic life

e) Origin and moral limits of private property

f) Nature and human nature

§4. Rubric for Writing Project

(a) CONTENT and DEVELOPMENT (80%)

1. It is personal and addresses a real question that is meaningful to you

A good paper draws on personal experiences and feelings and brings them to bear on theoretical questions listed in the assignment instructions. Note that a good essay does not need to give a definitive answer to any of the questions, and often a good philosophy reflection does just the opposite – it shows how difficult the question is answer. That is, it brings the question to life.

2. It develops and has a point to make

In terms of development, the paper poses a question at the beginning and then attempts to offer reflections, data, references, ideas, whatever, which are relevant to the question, and then ends with some statement about what has been established during the essay. That is, you want your essay to have a feeling of development, that it is going somewhere, as opposed to just listing or mentioning various ideas but in a disconnected way, so that your reader doesn’t really know what you are saying or what your point is.

3. It relates your experiences to themes discussed in class

This is not just about your ideas, but about a dialogue between your personal experiences and the ideas we’ve been developing in your class discussions. On the one hand, you are using your own experiences to help understand the philosophical concepts of Plato and others. On the other, you are using the concepts discussed in class to help shed light on your own experiences. This is the way to to think deeply.

4. It is effective as an exercise in philosophical therapy

The point of writing this paper is NOT to show me what you’ve learned, it is about learning to teach yourself something new. From a personal perspective, a good paper helps you to discover something about yourself and the material that you did not understand or were unclear about before your engaged the writing challenge. If you feel you haven’t learned anything from the exercise, something has gone wrong and you need to go back and dig deeper.

(b) READABILITY, STYLE AND MECHANICS (20%)

The writing in a first-rate paper is easy to read, engages the reader with a focused question, brings in relevant examples and makes a point. This is the hardest part about learning to write – making your ideas flow into each other. A good paper also follows the rules of grammar, usage and punctuation, has no spelling mistakes, is composed of well-constructed complete sentences, and has an appropriate tone to the content and message.