Your second Reaction Paper is aimed at evaluating what you have learned about Ethics and Politics and how they fit together. After coming to understand
the ethical theories of the thinkers we studied in the Ethics module,
and the thinkers we studied in the Political Science module, you should
be able to see some fundamental similarities and differences. For
example, you may find that a person’s ethical or political perspective
is formed by an underlying vision of human nature. That means that human nature
is even more fundamental that the ethical and political theories we
looked at – and may be a field in which we can connect them. In fact,
you may begin to notice that, given a particular view of human nature,
one will gravitate toward an ethical and political system that line up.
If one believes that people are rational and can control themselves,
then they will tend to accept an ethical system that prioritizes
individual development – and also a political system which allows for
lots of liberty. In other words, you might find that one of the ethical
theories we studied, connects with, matches or lines up with a
political theory. A political theory tries to provide “what is truly
good for the whole,” but must rely on an understanding “what is truly
good,” or ethics, in the first place. With this in mind, react to the
following prompt:
Consider the three ethical systems we studied in the
course, and the three political theories. Find a natural “pair” – that
is, an ethical system that leads to a corresponding political one. In
other words, choose from among group A (Ethics) and group B (Political
Science) to see the best example of one of group A matching one in group
B.
I want to see how well you can evaluate the assigned material, so
make sure that you engage the texts, quote the texts and think about
them from the inside so that your connection is a well informed one.
Your comparison should be based on significant aspects of the theories,
not superficial ones.
DO NOT CONSULT OUTSIDE SOURCES OR
MATERIAL IN THE TEXT WE HAVE NOT COVERED IN THESE TWO PARTICULAR MODULES
(ETHICS AND POLITICS). Choose thinkers whom we have studied in the
modules, not just anyone in the text.
Make sure to read the Rubric, the “Reaction Paper Expectation and
Guidance” page from the first Module, as well as the parts of the
syllabus which provide advice on how to write your paper so you get the
most information you can to be as successful as you can.
As a reminder – here is the advice that the syllabus stated:
Reaction Papers: You will be asked to write
short summary papers of about 3 – 5 pages in length which will test your
understanding of a given topic after you have read it, been quizzed on
it, and discussed it. You are therefore expected to be an “expert” on
the material by the time you begin to write, and will be pulling things
together on the assumption that you understand the pieces. They are
thus intended to encourage you to keep thinking about and coming to
understand a topic over a longer period of development. These papers
will be graded on both style and content. The former will include
things like how well it reads, how clear it is, and whether it is
organized and structured. The latter is basically how well you engage
the text. By “engaging the text” I mean that you should let the text
talk for you – that is, develop your opinions from the thinker’s ideas.
It is more important in this course to grapple with the ideas of the
thinkers than express your own opinions. The latter is, of course,
easier – but the point of this course is for you to deal with new
ideas. It is great to make connections to your own perspectives, but
first and foremost you want to demonstrate that you have read and
understood the text. That is the major thing I am looking for – the
footprint of the text in your paper. So, it is important to be able to
understand the material and to express that understanding clearly. If
you are not good at writing short essays, you should seek additional
help. The point of my lectures is to explicate the text, and to help
you to understand what you read, but do not quote them or refer to them –
refer to the text in your paper. Hence, for the best grade, the papers
must include references to the text (a quote a two) and must not refer
to what I have said in class.
