Philosophy 366 Political Philosophy Darwall Winter 2002

SECOND PAPER ASSIGNMENT

Write a 6 to 8 page essay on any of the following topics. Your papers should be turned in at the beginning of the lecture on Monday, April 8.

1. “A just society would secure basic liberties as well as freedom from exploitation.” Discuss this proposition with particular attention to the texts we have studied of at least two of Locke, Marx, Mill, and Rawls.

2. In Part IV of Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (not assigned), Rawls discusses the political institutions that would be required by his theory of justice and, in particular, defends his conception against criticisms of it that might be made by Marx (176-179). Critically discuss whatever issues you think there might be between Marx and Rawls.

3. In 2001, Congress passed a law, proposed by the Bush administration, which gradually reduces the estate tax, eliminating it by 2010. Critically discuss the question of whether a just society should have an estate tax, with special attention to texts we have studied of at least two of Locke, Marx, and Rawls.

4. In the same spirit as topic 3, you may suggest some other specific political issue and critically discuss it with special attention to texts we have studied of at least two of Locke, Marx, Mill, and Rawls. If you would like to do this, you need to clear your topic with your section leader in advance.

5. Rousseau’s Social Contract makes a strong case for popular sovereignty as necessary for political legitimacy. Mill’s On Liberty makes a strong case for the necessity of protecting individual liberty in the face of a possible “tyranny of the majority.” Write an essay in which you explore whether Rousseau’s and Mill’s ideas are in irreconcilable conflict here.