Essay Prompts
“Foundations of Political Theory”/ POLS 3720
Dr. M.L. McLendon
1) “Despite Plato’s attempt to turn him into a hero, the fact is that Socrates was dangerous elite who
deserved to die. Athens was right to kill him.” Carefully analyze and evaluate this claim.
2) “Plato goes on and on about the dangers of passions and appetites. The fact is that they
are necessary, and even preconditions, for the development of rationality. As bad as it
sounds, the development of rationality depends more on vice than on virtue.” Carefully
analyze and evaluate this claim using Plato and Mandeville.
3) According to Mandeville, what motivates economic behavior in commercial society? Is his
analysis complete? Or has he left anything out? Carefully analyze and evaluate his
claims.
4) Carefully analyze and evaluate Mill’s argument for “experiments in living” and “eccentrics” in
chapter three of On Liberty. Is Mill right that eccentrics will advance society, promote the
development of individual reason, and are in need of protection from majority tyranny?
5) Nietzsche vigorously complains society is dominated by slave moralities that overvalue
pity, sympathy and weakness. The truth is that all social living is dependent upon such
emotions. Carefully analyze and evaluate this claim using Nietzsche and any other author
or authors from the course.
6) “Malcolm X’s calls for violence are self-defeating and in the end will end up harming the
cause of African-Americans. Since whites are in the majority and control the government,
they are in a much better position to successfully use violence.” Carefully analyze and
evaluate this claim using Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
