Description
First Essay (20%)
Choose one of the following topics:
1. Harvey Mansfield says of Machiavelli that his treatment of the question of corruption in The Discourses on Livy is “of a piece with the other disturbing novelties of his republicanism.” Why is Mansfield “disturbed” by Machiavelli’s republicanism, and is his interpretation a fair assessment of Machiavelli’s contribution to political thought? Is Machiavelli the initiator of modern political utopianism, as Mansfield believes? Argue with direct references to both Machiavelli’s writings and Mansfield’s interpretation of them.
2. According to Machiavelli, is there a place for morality in politics? If Machiavelli believes that moral doctrines cannot define political ends, then what should the goal of politics be? Does Machiavelli provide any insight on the existence or nature of a properly political morality, which is neither simply the imposition of a religiously-defined personal morality on political conflicts, nor the simple jettisoning of any but purely self-interested motivations on the part of politicians? Argue with direct references to both The Prince and the Discourses.
3. According to Hobbes, what are the most important characteristics of human nature? How does his theory of human nature influence his views about the role and powers of government later in the book? Is his account of human nature sufficient to the task of establishing a coherent and sustainable account of government? What might be some risks to basing a theory of government on such an account of human nature? Argue with direct reference to the text, as well as class discussion.
4. Hobbes characterizes the sovereign state (aka The Leviathan) as a “mortal God”. Using Mark Lilla as your guide to Leviathan, account for the way in which Hobbes both rejects classical theology and uses it to build his account of the sovereign state. To what extent does this double-sided reaction to religion, on Hobbes’ part, foreshadow the political totalitarianisms of the 20th Century? Or does Hobbes provide sufficient protections for individual rights to make possible his “liberalization” by subsequent theorists? Argue with direct references to both Leviathan and Lilla’s text.
Your answer should take the form of a well-written, detailed short essay. You may consult additional sources if you wish, but your essay should focus on your own understanding of the texts in question. If you choose to use additional sources, note that: 1) all sources that you refer to in your paper must be included in your list of works cited; and 2) Wikipedia and non-peer-reviewed sources, both on- and offline, are not appropriate for an academic essay such as this; If you are in doubt about the quality of a source, ask before using it. Moreover, use of any text derived or paraphrased from ChatGPT (or any other generative AI application) is strictly prohibited.
The completed assignment should be 4-6 pages in length, not including the title page (if used) and list of works cited. Essays must be typed double-spaced in 12-point font, and must include proper citations and a list of works cited in either MLA, APA or Chicago style. For more information on how to cite properly in any these styles, see https://biblio.uottawa.ca/en/research-help/biblioexpert/citation-styles.
Essays are due at the beginning of class time on Monday, February 12th. Essays, whether on-time or late, should be submitted through the proper portal on Brightspace (in the “Assignments” tab). Late essays will be penalized 5 percent per day, including weekends and holidays. Essays more than one week late will not be accepted.
use these primary text resources first thanks !
Unformatted Attachment Preview
University of Ottawa
School of Political Studies
POL 2108A Modern Political Thought I
Winter 2024
First Essay (20%)
Choose one of the following topics:
1. Harvey Mansfield says of Machiavelli that his treatment of the question of corruption in The Discourses
on Livy is “of a piece with the other disturbing novelties of his republicanism.” Why is Mansfield
“disturbed” by Machiavelli’s republicanism, and is his interpretation a fair assessment of Machiavelli’s
contribution to political thought? Is Machiavelli the initiator of modern political utopianism, as Mansfield
believes? Argue with direct references to both Machiavelli’s writings and Mansfield’s interpretation of
them.
2. According to Machiavelli, is there a place for morality in politics? If Machiavelli believes that moral
doctrines cannot define political ends, then what should the goal of politics be? Does Machiavelli provide
any insight on the existence or nature of a properly political morality, which is neither simply the
imposition of a religiously-defined personal morality on political conflicts, nor the simple jettisoning of any
but purely self-interested motivations on the part of politicians? Argue with direct references to both The
Prince and the Discourses.
3. According to Hobbes, what are the most important characteristics of human nature? How does his
theory of human nature influence his views about the role and powers of government later in the book? Is
his account of human nature sufficient to the task of establishing a coherent and sustainable account of
government? What might be some risks to basing a theory of government on such an account of human
nature? Argue with direct reference to the text, as well as class discussion.
4. Hobbes characterizes the sovereign state (aka The Leviathan) as a “mortal God”. Using Mark Lilla as
your guide to Leviathan, account for the way in which Hobbes both rejects classical theology and uses it
to build his account of the sovereign state. To what extent does this double-sided reaction to religion, on
Hobbes’ part, foreshadow the political totalitarianisms of the 20th Century? Or does Hobbes provide
sufficient protections for individual rights to make possible his “liberalization” by subsequent theorists?
Argue with direct references to both Leviathan and Lilla’s text.
Your answer should take the form of a well-written, detailed short essay. You may consult additional
sources if you wish, but your essay should focus on your own understanding of the texts in question. If you
choose to use additional sources, note that: 1) all sources that you refer to in your paper must be included
in your list of works cited; and 2) Wikipedia and non-peer-reviewed sources, both on- and offline, are not
appropriate for an academic essay such as this; If you are in doubt about the quality of a source, ask before
using it. Moreover, use of any text derived or paraphrased from ChatGPT (or any other generative
AI application) is strictly prohibited.
The completed assignment should be 4-6 pages in length, not including the title page (if used) and list of
works cited. Essays must be typed double-spaced in 12-point font, and must include proper citations and a
list of works cited in either MLA, APA or Chicago style. For more information on how to cite properly in
any these styles, see https://biblio.uottawa.ca/en/research-help/biblioexpert/citation-styles.
Essays are due at the beginning of class time on Monday, February 12th. Essays, whether on-time or
late, should be submitted through the proper portal on Brightspace (in the “Assignments” tab). Late essays
will be penalized 5 percent per day, including weekends and holidays. Essays more than one week late
will not be accepted.
Essay #1 Grading Rubric
Comprehension of Texts /4
The essay demonstrates a thorough knowledge of all parts of the
assigned course readings, and uses the passages that are most relevant
to construct an answer.
The essay features a clear and in-depth understanding of the source
texts and is free of factual and interpretative errors.
Quotations from the source texts that are used in the essay are
relevant to the question at hand, accurately capture the meaning of the
original text, and clearly illustrate the point being made.
Quality of Analysis /4
The essay contains a thoughtful and complete answer to the question.
All parts of the question are answered as fully and directly as possible.
The essay focuses on the points necessary to give a direct and complete
answer to the question, and does not contain unnecessary or irrelevant
material.
The focus of the essay is consistent, i.e. the same overarching argument
is maintained throughout the essay, and the claims made do not
contradict one another. If the question calls for the statement of an
opinion, this demonstrates good judgment and relates logically to the
argument of the essay as a whole.
Structure and Clarity /4
The essay meets the length requirements specified for the assignment,
not including the title page (if used) and list of works cited. It is no
shorter than the specified minimum length, and no more than one page
longer than the maximum length.
The essay is well-structured. This includes:
i)
ii)
iii)
A one-paragraph introduction, including a brief introduction
(see requirements for introduction in following element)
A one-paragraph conclusion that briefly restates the main
argument of the paper.
The body of the essay consists of a series of well-organized,
thematically coherent paragraphs presenting information or
arguments in support of the thesis.
All points are presented clearly, and are explained in sufficient detail.
The connections between points, between paragraphs, and between
subsections (if used), are clear and easy to follow. The title of the essay
accurately reflects its content.
Introduction and Thesis Statement /2
An opening paragraph that provides the following elements
a) A brief account of what the topic is. This need not involve hazy
establishing sentences or superlatives (e.g. “Hobbes is one of the
most important philosophers in world history that has been the
foundation of all major debates in Western political theory”) or
extraneous historical or biographical detail. A simple statement
will suffice, for e.g. “This paper will consider the role that power
plays in Machiavelli’s political theory.”
b) An account of what the central research questions the paper will
be considering with respect to the basic topic. This need not be a
direct cut and paste from the Topic Question, but it should be in
keeping with it.
c) A thesis statement which makes clear what argument the essayist
will be making in response to the research questions introduced
above. Depending on the complexity of the question, such a
statement may take the form of a number of (brief) sentences,
but the final sentence should be clearly legible as the central
argumentative point of the essay.
d) A brief, itemized account of the structure that the essay will
follow in order to argue its thesis with regard to its research
question concerning the topic at hand.
Style /4
The essay is written in a clear, easy-to-read style, free of grammatical
errors and spelling mistakes. Punctuation and capitalization are used
properly.
The language used throughout the essay is appropriate for a formal
essay at the university level. Informal language, clichés, and jargon are
not used.
Gender neutral language is employed wherever possible.
Quotations from the source texts contain no errors, and are
incorporated into the essay in a grammatically appropriate fashion.
The title of the essay is grammatically correct and attracts the attention
of the reader.
All sources consulted are included in list of works cited, and are cited
in-text in the body of the essay where appropriate.
Each in-text citation and each item in the list of works cited contains
complete and accurate information, and is ideally properly formatted in
MLA, APA or Chicago style. If students are using on-line versions of
required texts that lack any kind of pagination, then in addition to
following the rules for citing on-line material appropriate to any of the
above-listed styles, they should indicate relevant Book and
Chapter/Part/Section information to help the reader specify the location
of the cited portion of the text.
If sources are used in addition to the assigned readings, these sources
are appropriate for an academic essay at the university level. Use of
any text derived or paraphrased from ChatGPT (or any other
generative AI application) is strictly prohibited.
Formatting /2
Top and bottom margins are 1″, and left and right margins are 1″ or
1.25″ throughout. The essay is double-spaced throughout, with the
exception of block quotations and footnotes (if used).
There is no extra space at the beginning of the paper or between
paragraphs. Page numbers are centered at the bottom of each page.
Page 1 is the first page after the title page (if used). The list of works
cited is titled and appears as a separate page at the end of the essay,
complete with a page number.
The title is either underlined or boldfaced, and is centered at the top of
the page. All parts of the essay, including the title page (if used) and list
of works cited, are printed in 12-point font, with block quotations and
footnotes in 11-point font.
The same font is used for all parts of the essay. Quotations of more
than 50 words in length are placed in block format. Expressions in
languages other than English and book titles (but not titles of articles or
essays) are italicized. The essay title and section titles (if used) are
either underlined or boldfaced. Boldface, underlining, and italics are
not used to present quotations or for emphasis.
Total Marks
/20
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
