SEMINAR REVIEW

SEMINARS

Machiavelli Bacon Hobbes Locke Rousseau Burke Mill

MACHIAVELLI

Work: The Prince Political treatise Advice to a Prince on how to rule his kingdom Writes on the basis of his experience Importance of war

Prince must know how wage a war Essential art of all those who govern

Dealing with subjects and friends “for he who wants to be a good man all the time

will be ruined among so many who are not good” Prince needs to learn how to and how not to use

goodness Princes who are too good will crumble to those

Avoid a bad reputation Avoid those vices which will endanger his

position Stingy vs. Liberal

Be generous Spending the money of others does no harm to you Ex. When you loot other places share the loot with

your military Do no spend in excess

Giving all your fortune to your subjects is not smart

Prince should fear two things Those from within Those from outside

Loved vs. Feared Is being loved by subjects better than being

feared by them or vice versa?

MACHIAVELLI QUESTIONS

1. Using the guidelines provided by Machiavelli, discuss how a Prince should rule his kingdom effectively. Provide examples from the reading of rulers that were effective or not effective.

2. Discuss if it is better for a Prince to be feared or loved. Provide reasoning using Machiavelli’s writing.

BACON

Work: Novum Organum, Aphorisms Concerning the Interpretation of Nature and the Kingdom of Man

Man vs. nature Man: servant and interpreter of nature Nature: to be commanded must be obeyed

Axioms and dogmas Scientific method

Guiding the mind Unguided mind goes off track and misses the point

Present knowledge Due to change and experiment rather than to

sciences

Four Idols Idols of the Tribe Idols of the Cave Idols of the Marketplace Idols of the Theatre

BACON QUESTION

1. Define and describe the Bacon’s Four Idols. Compare these idols with the present day world.

Identify the idols Define the idols

 2. Define and discuss Bacon’s scientific

method. How does this method differ from modern day scientific method?• Identify his method• Describe his method• Identify modern day method• Describe modern day method• Compare methods

HOBBES

Work: Leviathan Man vs. Nature The difference between men is not great but men

are still unequal Principal causes of quarrel

Competition Diffidence Glory

Laws of nature Right of nature Liberty Law of nature Transferring rights Contract

HOBBES QUESTIONS

1. Why does Hobbes emphasize the need of a strong central government?

Define government according to Rousseau War which arise due to lack of government Causes of quarrel Laws of nature How do people follow a government Why can’t people do what they can when there is a

government in place

2. Hobbes describes the covenant, or social contract, as a "real unity" among the multitude of natural men who have chosen to escape the state of nature. But Hobbes also says that this "multitude naturally is not One, but Many; they cannot be understood for one." If a multitude cannot be a unity, how are we to understand Hobbes claim that the covenant is a "real unity"?

LOCKE

Work: Second Treatise of the Government State of nature

State of freedom Order their actions and dispose of their

possessions and persons as they think fit State of equality

All power and jurisdiction is reciprocal No one has more power than the other

Governed by a law of nature Being all equal and independent no one should harm

another in life, health, liberty or possessions Everyone has a right to punish those who break the

law

Property When man puts labour into something that

object now belongs to him Ex. Man clears the land and it now belongs to him

Civil society Men united into one body Have common established law and judicature Have authority to decide controversies between

them and punish offenders By entering the civil society man submits himself

to the majority Why do people give up their natural rights?

LOCKE QUESTIONS

1. Many philosophers of the Enlightment wrote about the nature of man. Using the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke discuss if are humans naturally good or evil.

How people would act in a society with laws and a society with no laws

Do people know ‘right’ from ‘wrong’? How?

2. Locke emphasizes that the protection of private property is and should be the central purpose of civil society, yet he discusses the need for universal human rights. Are his ideas contradicting? If so how?

ROUSSEAU

Work: A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind

Inequality 2 types

Natural or physical Moral or political

Men drawn out of the state of nature are unequal

Civilized man vs. Savage man Domesticity Infancy, old age and sickness

Man powerless against these Wants vs. Needs of man

ROUSSEAU QUESTIONS

1. Compare and contrast Rousseau's savage man and Rousseau's civil man. According to Rousseau, which man is in a better state?

Define savage man and civil man

2. Discuss the two types of inequalities as described by Rousseau. Provide examples of each type of inequality.

What are they Natural or physical

Infancy, old age, disease Differences in class and living

Moral or political How do they come into being

BURKE

Work: Reflections of a Revolution in France Writing against the French revolution Why is revolution bad?

Distorts the natural society Men don’t suffer oppression due to state, state

suffers oppression if such men are allowed to rule Property

Acquisition and conservation is suppose to be unequal Society

Passions of individuals should be subjected Inclinations of men should be thwarted Will of men should be controlled Passions of men should be brought into subjection

The nature of man Complex Unpredictability is a reason as to why it must be

studied

BURKE QUESTIONS

1. Compare and contrast the views of Burke on the French and American Revolution.

Why revolutions happen Who leads revolutions Who benefits in revolutions Why was he against the French Revolution Why did he support the American Revolution

2. What is wrong with the philosophy of the revolutionaries and what bad consequences, according to Burke, will flow from their errors?

MILL

1. Explain how Mill defends the emancipation of women on utilitarian grounds.

Immediate greater good Enrichment of society Individual development

2. Mill writes that it is hard for those who write against the opinion of the majority to get a hearing. What views and opinions of society is Mill writing against? What are Mill’s personal views and opinions?