Below are the exact, specific instrcutions provided by my professor. Please follow these instructions when writing the essay:
“Essay 1 is a 800 to 1000 word term paper worth 15% of your course grade that will give you a chance to use the material you’ve learned about Plato and Socrates, especially the material on the Apology and the Crito in weeks 4 through 7. Do a careful analysis of what Plato says in these two dialogues about what obligations he thinks people have to obeying the state and their conscience.
Make sure you consider the following questions as you analyze the Apology and the Crito: What obligations does Plato say we have to the government and its laws? What grounds those obligations? Does anything override them? If it does and we disobey the government, does Plato think we should be willing like Thoreau to incur a penalty (jailtime, fine, etc) or should we try to avoid penalties? Does the government have to earn our loyalty? If it does, how does it do so? What if it fails to do so? What does Plato say about conscience? What role does it play in obeying the state? Support your answers with references from the Apology and the Crito.
What do Thoreau and King suggest about conscience and when one should obey the state? Do they agree or disagree with Plato’s view? Point to specific sections of their readings that support your understanding.
Do you yourself agree with Plato’s position on obeying the state? How are you reaching your conclusion?
Make sure the question is thoroughly answered and shows careful understanding of Plato as well as Thoreau and King.
As you write this paper, DO NOT USE ANY RESOURCES OTHER THAN THOSE ASSIGNED IN THE COURSE.
The essay is to be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins and to be double-spaced. It must contain proper citations (MLA, APA, or Turabian style are okay), and use proper edited standard English (see Formal Writing Assignments, below). It is to synthesize the material we’ve read in the weeks covered so you should both use that material and also address questions and resolve comments that I’ve made in response to your discussion forum work in those work.”
It’s important to note that the required texts in this course, which are the texts we use to complete all of our assignments, include A Guided Tour of Five Works by Plato by Christopher Biffle. 3rd Edition. Mayfield Publishing, 2001. (Biffle Plato)—required edition
Selected Philosophical Writings. by Rene Descartes. Translated by John Cottingham. Cambridge Press, 1988. (Descartes)
