Political Philosophy

Syllabus and assignments:

• syllabus

• first essay assignment

• second essay assignment

• guidelines for writing a philosophy paper

• first quiz

• first quiz, make-up no. 1

• first quiz, make-up no. 2

• second quiz

• second quiz, make-up no. 1

• third quiz

• third quiz, make-up no. 1

• fourth quiz

• grades

Study notes:

To see the study notes for a particular author, click on the corresponding link below.

• Introduction
• Sophocles, Antigone
• Plato, the Crito
• Hobbes, Leviathan
• Locke, Second Treatise of Government
• Hume, “Of the Origin of Government” and “Of the Original Contract”
• Melville, Billy Budd
• Mill, On Liberty
• Marx, The Communist Manifesto

The study notes include

• background information about the authors and reading assignments
• study questions
• suggestions for further reading
• outlines of topics to be covered in class

The study questions are intended to draw attention to some of the main ideas expressed in the works to which they refer. They are given in the order in which their answers may be found while reading these works, so they may be considered as you read the works, as well as after you have finished. All of the questions that will be asked on the quizzes will be available as study questions at least 5 days before being asked.