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here are 2 essays. one is required essay. i do need this. and also have an elective essay. you can choose any topic you are good at it. please follow every requirement on this paper. the only book can support this essay is Classics of Moral and Political Philosophy. 5th Ed. ISBN 13:978-1-60384-442-0

FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

FALL ‘16 - EXAM

Instructions for the Essays

•  Each essay should be 2.5-3 double-spaced pages and use standard fonts and margins
•  You may only consult the text and your notes. Any evidence of outside sources will

result in a failure for that question.

•  Citations from the text should simply follow your quotation
•  Example: “One should not listen to that Anytus because for verily he is a

jive-turkey (291).”

•  No works cited page is needed
•  Each essay must contain at least five (5) citations from the text to support your

explanation and reasoning. Use quotations strategically and feel free to use “...” to focus

in on specific aspects of the text.

•  The essays are due at the start of the last day of class. Late papers will be penalized a

the letter grade for each day late.

Your grade will be assessed in the following way:

•  20% Technical (grammar, spelling, overall clarity, and organization)
•  60% Completeness in answering the question, including sub-questions fully and

coherently

•  20% Meeting your quotation quota such that the quotations are relevant

Extra Credit

You may answer one (1) additional question for extra credit. This can bring your overall essay

grade up as much as one letter grade (e.g., from a B- to an A-)

Section A: Required Essays

Please answer the three (3) following questions:

Plato - The Republic

What role does censorship play in Plato’s Gallipolis? Summarize the “allegory of the

cave” and discuss how it explains Plato’s reasoning for banning and censoring certain

forms of art and poetry? Should censorship ever play a role in holding political power?

Machiavelli - The Prince

Provide a detailed and as exhaustive as possible definition of Virtù as the term is used

by Machiavelli in The Prince. How is Virtù unlike our concept of virtue? Should a leader

cultivate Virtù? (Pro-Tip: your translation will note the different manners in which the

term is used by placing the original Italian next to your translation, find the textbook on

google books and use the search function).

Hobbes - Leviathan

What is the “State of Nature,” why does Hobbes imagine such a state, and how do we

escape it using the “passions” and the “laws of nature”? What is the relationship between

our natural ‘rights’ in the state of nature and our ‘rights’ in the commonwealth? According

to Hobbes, why must sovereignty be absolute if we are to leave the state of nature? Can

the subjects of the commonwealth rebel? Why or why not?

Section B - Elective Essays

Please select one (1) essay from this section. You may also select an additional essay for extra

credit.

What role does the “myth of the metals” play in keeping the Republic just? How might

this apply to the individual human being? Should peace can be maintained through the

use of a “noble lie” as in the case of the “myth of the metals”?

Describe how Plato thinks that a Republic declines and falls. How does the same

process occur in human beings? Why is only the just man happy?

Summarize the definitions of justice given by Cephalus, Polemarchus and

Thrasymachus, then provide Socrates’ respective counter-arguments. Which of these

three definitions seem the strongest to you? Why or Why not?

Describe Socrates’ definition of justice in terms of the hierarchy and composition of the

city he envisions. How does this structure relate to the individual human being? Why

does he envision a city in order to describe justice? How is this a break with Socrates’

actual method, the elenchus?

How does Machiavelli’s methodology differ from his predecessors (e.g., Plato, Aristotle,

Aquinas, etc)? In other words, describe Machiavelli’s method for understanding and

advising a would-be prince. What role does “fortune” play in his thinking and how is this

a break with Christian political theory?

What are the different kinds of principalities? Rank them in terms of ease of conquest

and management and gives the reasons why Machiavelli ranks them so.