Length: 8-10 pages (2000-2250 words) Due date: December 2nd, 2019
Worth: 35 %0
Papers must be submitted to Turnitin (PHIL 2060 Moodle page).
No extensions will be generally granted for papers, other than in some officially documented exceptional circumstances (illness, bereavement, disability, special needs.) Late papers will be penalized 2 points per day. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Write an paper on one of the following topics:
1. Both Locke and Rousseau propose a theory of the conditions that must be satisfied by the acquisition of private property to be legitimate or just. Provide a rigorous examination of their respective arguments, making sure you provide a careful analysis of the precise meaning and implications of their proposals. Wwhich of the two theories is more compelling?
2. Why is, according to Marx, labour alienated in capitalist societies? What is ‘alienation’ and what are its social and political implications?
3. With direct reference to Mill's conception of the 'tyranny of the majority' and the harm principle, establish and evaluate how much lee-way, if any at all, society should afford social dissident groups that espouse extreme views (i.e. Holocaust deniers, KKK, Islamophobic groups). Is there a tangible difference between how society ought to treat these groups and, say, gay rights groups, euthanasia advocates, etc.?
4. Feminist philosophers have asserted that the universality of much male-centred political philosophy from Hobbes to Rawls is both false and paradoxical. What is the nature of this paradox, and on what assumptions about human beings does it rest? Make sure to support your answer with solid arguments.
SOME USEFUL REFERENCE BOOKS Strunk, William Jr. The Elements of Style. Turabian, Kate . Manual for Writers
The Writing Department has some links to useful resources: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/writ/resources.html
ESSAY WRITING INSTRUCTIONS.
1. Type in double space.
2. Leave margins of 3.5 cm on the left, 3 cm on the right, and 2.5 cm on the top and bottom borders.
(Over →)
3. Head your essay with a title page, including the title, your name, the date the essay is handed in, the course number, and your TA’s name
4. Number the pages (except title page).
5. Do not place headers with your name in every page.
6. Provide proper reference notes and a bibliography of the sources you use.
Sources:
Sources for your papers must be chosen carefully. Encyclopedias generally are not
good sources; they may provide some general information, but they do not provide the original research you should be learning from. Wikipedia is not acceptable at all. Use books published by good academic publishers, such as university presses, academic journals, etc. You should be particularly careful about internet publications. Use Library materials only, whether they are in printed or electronic form.
Organization.
A paper must be very sharply focused on the topic or question; it must provide a
rigorous analysis of the relevant concepts and arguments, and provide a critical understanding of the issues.
Writing.
“One can only achieve clarity in language, yet language itself is a threat to it.”
[Terry Eagleton, After Theory (London: Penguin Books, 2004), p. 203]
The two most important rules in writing are: a) Write what you mean and not something else; b) "At the risk of being understood, speak plainly." To fulfil these very demanding rules, one must pay particular attention to sentence structure, (punctuation, word order, agreement between different parts of the sentence, etc.) diction, as well as some general rules that make the writing fluid, even perhaps elegant. Write always in full sentences. Whatever you want to say, say it in well-chosen words. Avoid colloquialisms and slang, for they are too vague