Social and Political Philosophy

Plato’s Crito was an attempt by Plato to explain the duties that the
individual owes the state.
a. What were Socrates’ arguments for not fleeing Athens and accepting
his sentence.
b. How is Socrates’ position consistent with his understanding of personal
virtue.
2) Both Hobbes and Locke attempted to provide a justification for the power of the
state.
a. Explain the differences in how Hobbes and Locke understand human nature
and the state of nature. How does this difference lead to a different
understanding in the nature and function of the state?
3) Karl Marx was a philosopher who attempted to explain history through a
conflict theory.
a. Explain Marx’s critique of capitalism. According to Marx, in what ways
does capitalism exploit and commodify labor? In what ways is man
alienated from his work?
b. Explain Marx’s critique of ideology. How does ideology reinforce the
fundamental economic inequalities inherent in capitalism?
c. What solution does Marx offer? How does the communist revolution
solve the ills inherent in the capitalist system? Why does Marx
consider a communist revolution to be the “end of history”?
4) John Rawls was a philosopher that sought to develop a social ethics based on social
contract theory.
a. Explain Rawl’s notion of the “original position”. What is its purpose and how is
it supposed to function?
b. Explain the three principles that Rawls says would be agreed upon under the
conditions of the “original position”?
c. How is Rawls’ notion of justice different to that of Marx? How is it similar?