Choose one of the two questions listed below and to write approximately 800 – 1000 words on the question
you choose. Papers will be evaluated on the following criteria: Papers should (1) answer the question clearly
through an organized and coherent discussion, (2) demonstrate comprehension of the readings included in
your response, and (3) use proper grammar and sentence structure. Papers should be double-spaced and
written in Times New Roman, size 12-point. Please make sure to cite your readings properly. A bibliography
page is not required.
OPTION #1 – LIBERTY AND THE STATE
Discuss John Stuart Mill’s theory Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion. Outline his theory and then
evaluate his theory by considering the role of discussion in the progression of one contemporary social issue of
your choice. You may refer back to any of the readings we have done so far in class for additional support in
your discussion.
OPTION #2 – POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Adam Smith is often referred to as the “father of modern-day capitalism”. Outline Smith’s market theory and
detail some of the main predictions about capitalism that he had made in his theory? What were Marx’s
criticisms of capitalism?
We are mainly using excerpts from “Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts from Plato to
Populism, Second Edition” (Princeton University Press, 2018), written by Mitchell Cohen. The full text is
accessible through jstor. Use as many readings as you deem necessary:
Most pertinent readings to this essay:
LIBERTY AND THE STATE
– John Stuart Mill, On Liberty – Introduction and Chapter 4 (See attached)
– John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Cohen 369-380)
– Declaration of the Rights of Man (Cohen 334-335)
– Marie-Olympes de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens (Cohen 342-346)
– John Stuart Mill, On Liberty “On the Subjugation of Women” (Cohen 380-387)
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
– Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Cohen 298-315)
– Aristotle, Politics Book I – 8 (See attached)
– Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy and Estranged Labour (Cohen 428-438)
– Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto (Cohen 438-454)
Readings of lesser pertinence:
– Leo Strauss, “What Is Political Philosophy” (Cohen 592-602)
– Aristotle, Politics (Cohen 96-106)
– St. Thomas Aquinas, Politics and Law (Cohen 124-129)
– Machiavelli, The Prince (Cohen 145-162)
– Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Cohen 176-207)
– John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (Cohen 213-243)
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract (Cohen 269-280),
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men (Cohen 280-97)
– Federalists and Anti-Federalists (Cohen 319-333)
– Plato, The Republic (Cohen 40-59)
– John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cohen 685-708)
– Amartya Sen, The Idea of Justice (Cohen 746-757)
– Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Cohen 709-717)
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, Liberal America (Cohen 567-572)
– Iris Marion Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference (Cohen 729-738)
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (Cohen 621-631)