Please refer to the course syllabus for the full specifics of the essay requirements. Keep in mind the base requirements as they are – a word count minimum of between 650-800 words and two appropriate in-essay citations – one relevant citation from our course textbook and one appropriate citation of a primary document from our reader/document text. Please be sure that you follow an appropriate citation method – MLA is the standard citation/bibliographic method at NCC – follow the OWL link on our Blackboard page for a tutorial on such.
Choose one (1) essay from the options offered and compose and submit as complete an ‘answer’ to the question at hand. Remember that while the essay is relatively brief you are required to provide citations to buttress and demonstrate your argument – ideally you will have a minimum of one relevant citation from the Cole/Symes text and one from the Brophy, Perspectives from the Past reader. Please refer to the syllabus for full guidelines on the essay. Students must include their chosen essay question option at the ‘head’/top of their submitted essay – this DOES NOT count in the required word-count of the essay. Remember to submit your essay in the ‘Write Submission’ box and not the ‘Comments’.
1) Discuss the viewpoints and apparent significance of the “Enlightenment Trio.”
2) John Locke argued that all men possessed the unalienable Natural Rights of Life, Liberty, and Property. Put simply, why these three and what was the basis of his reasoning? A complete answer will also consider Locke’s concept of Tabula Rasa as a part of the analysis.
3) Classical Liberalism developed out of the work of the French philosophes of the 18th century and English/British scholars before them. What are the three central propositions/presumptions of Liberalism and whose work, of those we discussed most directly contributed to the ideas underlying it?
4) The Environmental Geopolitics of Charles de Montesquieu ultimately had far-reaching effects on the development of the modern nation-state. How so and be sure to be as complete as possible.
5) The work of Jean Jacques Rousseau was extremely influential going forward from his time at the end of the 18th century. Offer at least two[2] specific examples of what is indicated immediately above.
6) For the philosophes of the 18th century, Bourgeoisie, did not simply mean being part of an economic middle class; instead it meant to taking part in a ‘middle way.’ What does this mean and who might have exemplified this idea in his life and work?
7) It’s been argued here that the concepts of ‘race’ and the development of the nation-state quickly became intertwined by the end of the 18th and into the 19th centuries. How and why was this the case, particularly perhaps as regards the development of the United States – be sure to provide as much detail and relevant example as you can.
