Overview
I have attached excerpts from the books for you to be able to read and reference for the paper. If there is anymore you need or anything else, let me know and I will give whatever materials are necessary. Please answer ONE of the following questions in 3-4 double-spaced pages. Papers must be uploaded by 5 pm, Sunday April 5.
Footnotes and bibliographies are NOT necessary. Please use in-text, parenthetical citations referencing the chapter and page number of the cited work.
1. According to Machiavelli, what obstacles does one who aspires to be a new prince in a new principality face in trying to gain power for himself? What is Machiavelli's advice for overcoming these obstacles? Answer with reference to Cesare Borgia (Prince, ch. 7), Moses (Prince, ch. 6, Discourses 3.30), Philip of Macedon (Discourses 1.26), and Severus (Prince, ch. 19).
2. Does Machiavelli consider religion necessary for a well-functioning society? If so, which human qualities does he think religion ought to promote? If not, which human qualities does he think make religion unnecessary? Answer with reference to (a) the control that the patricians (the ruling class) exercised over the plebs (the common people) in Rome; and (b) the differences between pagan religion and Christianity.
3. Why, according to Machiavelli, does domestic freedom lead republics to adopt a policy of foreign imperialism? Does Machiavelli think that the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire could have been prevented? Answer with reference to the end of the republic (Discourses 2.3, para. 4) and to Machiavelli's judgement on Caesar (Discourses 1.10, Discourses 1.52).
4. In the Preface to Leviathan (p. 1), Hobbes expresses his hope that his "endeavor to advance the civil power" will reconcile the competing claims of liberty and authority. Is Hobbes's endeavor successful? If so, how does the civil power (the sovereign) achieve this reconciliation? If not, which claim does Hobbes end up siding with (i.e., is his doctrine too "authoritarian" or too "libertarian")? Answer with reference to Hobbes’s distinction between the right of nature and the laws of nature, and between the rights of the sovereign and the rights of subjects.
5. In Leviathan ch. 17 (p. 106, para. 1), Hobbes claims he has proved that the war of everybody against everybody necessarily follows from man's "natural passions."Which passions cause this war and why are they natural?In what sense does the institution of sovereignty end this war?Answer with reference to Hobbes’s treatment of sensual and intellectual desire, and to his distinction between opinion and science.