Despite the reputation of political philosophy as the hobbyhorse of tiresome cranks,
insufferable pedants, and useless stargazers, the texts attached are deeply engaged with the political and social worlds in which their authors lived. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx all wrote with an eye toward addressing serious problems in the world as they experienced it, believing that the concepts and methods of philosophy are perhaps the proper pragmatic pursuant to pressing problems of practical politics.
As you have noticed, were not exactly living at a time of enriching and
flourishing political discourse. Perhaps an injection of political philosophy from back in
the day is just what we need.
For this paper, you must identify a contemporary political concern (issue,
debate, controversy, movement, etc) and make the case for how
substantive engagement with one or two of the pre-20th century authors we
have studied this semester (i.e. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, or Marx) could
help us think more clearly or critically about the issue than we seem to be
able to do within the context of our present modes of discourse.
The paper should provide explicit evidence of the nature of the contemporary concern,
explaining what is lacking in our current discourse you should seek to be as specific as possible. The more precise you can be in articulating the problem, the more clearly you can develop your arguments.
Be thoughtful, precise, and creative. Good luck, and were all counting on you.
