instructions: Choose ONE of the following topics. Write an essay on the questions it raises, tryingto produce a single, integrated paper with a clearly developed line of argument, even though the topic may consist of several distinct quotations and questions. Support your argument with lots of evidence from the required reading by providing page references, but do not use long quotations. Essays should be 3-5 pages long (approximately 900-1500 words), double-spaced, using a 12 pt. font and one-inch margins. Also, be sure to indicate the prompt to which you are responding and to consult my “Helpful Hints on Papers” (available on Canvas under “Essay Assignments”) when thinking about the appropriate form, structure and content of your essay. If you wish to write on another topic, check with me or your TA, Katelyn Kelly, first. Keep in mind that you are not required to agree with the views expressed in the questions and quotations; indeed, you are encouraged to think critically about them. ALL (not just some or most) papers are due on Friday, January 29th, 12:00 noon. All papers must be submitted online. Hard copies will not be accepted. To submit your paper, simply upload it to the Canvas assignment page for the first essay assignment. 1. “Although widely considered one of the most important books in the history of political thought, Plato’s Republic is in fact a deeply anti-political work. Contrary to appearances, Plato=s ideal state doesn’t provide useful resources for coming to grips with the deep conflicts and controversies about public life and political action that are the very stuff of politics. Instead, it provides a picture of a world in which those conflicts never arise in the first place.” Do you agree? Why or why not? 2. “When all is said and done no one wants to be ruled by self-interested, narrow-minded ideologues. If philosophers are truly able to care more for the common good than their private goods and to take a larger view of the needs of society, why not let them rule? No doubt there are dangers in doing so, but there are far more dangers in not doing so.” Write an essay that examines the issues raised in this quotation. In the course of your analysis, be sure to explain whether you agree or disagree with the view it expresses, and why. 3. “Our claim that we cannot judge between different kinds of lives or political societies is simply moral laziness. What we mean is that WE don’t want to be judged and don’t want to take the time or make the effort to engage in moral argument. Plato shows us why we must judge and provides grounds for such judgment, and demonstrates to us what form moral argument must take.”Write an essay that explores and assesses the issues raised by this remark. 4. Plato argues that inequality does not entail oppression if those who rule do so on the basis of superior wisdom rather than on the basis of wealth, social standing, gender, or race. Do you agree or disagree with him? Why? 5. “Socrates is simply a slyer Thrasymachus. The latter states openly that he wants power (in the dialogue and in the world) and that power means dominating others. Socrates says that he doesn’t want power and that anyway power is ruling in the interest of the ruled. In what more effective way could you disguise your desire for power? What more effective way could there be to get it than by denying your interest in it and by defining any interest you might have as benevolent? No wonder Thrasymachus hangs around. Watching Socrates manipulate others is the best education a potential tyrant could possibly have.” Do you agree? Why or why not? 6. Write an essay that articulates and assesses Plato’s critique of democracy in The Republic. 7. In a much talked about scoop, a leading online news source has contracted to have Plato write a review of President Joseph Biden’s recent inaugural address. Drawing on the text of President Biden’s address (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-bideninauguration-address-text/) and your knowledge of Plato’s thought based on your close reading of Plato’s Republic, write Plato’s review. 8. “Those who argue that Plato’s Republic represents a blueprint of a totalitarian state have7plenty of textual evidence to support their claim: censorship, eugenics, ‘noble lies,’ elite rule, etc. Yet such arguments are persuasive only if one ignores much of what Socrates says and does. In fact, Socrates represents a model of political thinking and democratic citizenship that is entirely at odds with the theory and practice of totalitarianism.” Do you agree? Why? 9. “The philosopher-king’s claim to rule rests upon a prior claim to knowledge. Is politics something about which we can have specialized knowledge? Or does it rest on experience, which philosophers are debarred from having precisely because they are philosophers? Does being removed from attachment and commitment to what is particular and local give you a privileged understanding of politics or an impoverished one?” Use Plato to comment. 10. “The only thing wrong with hierarchy is that it is not politically correct. For while we all agree that parents must guide the lives of their children, we refuse to recognize the fact that being a child is not simply a matter of how old you are. Some, perhaps many, adults think and act like children. They need moral instruction and political guidance for the same reason that our children do. Is such authority paternal? Perhaps. Is it wrong? I think not. And I have the authority of Plato to support me.” Discuss, analyze and assess the issues raised in this remark. 11. Offered as an aside while narrating the myth of Er, Socrates remarks: “Here it seems, my dear Glaucon, a human being faces the greatest danger of all, and because of that each must, to the neglect of all other subjects, take care above all else to be a seeker and student of the subject which will enable him to learn and discover who will give him the ability and the knowledge to distinguish a good life from a bad, so that he will always, and in any circumstances choose the better one from among those that are possible” (618c). In this passage Socrates recommends that one seek above all else to “discover” the man that will give one “the ability and the knowledge to distinguish a good life from a bad.” Write an essay that examines why Socrates directs this remark to Glaucon and explores who this man is and what qualities he possesses that enable him to know the difference between a good and bad life and to choose the better of the two. 12. “All texts contain barely concealed voices that speak against and even undermine their explicitly stated arguments. Such is the case with Plato’s understanding of philosophy.” Discuss. 13. “Plato’s perfect society cannot exist unless human beings are imperfect.” Write an essay discussing the significance of this quotation for understanding the issue of justice. 14. SOCRATES: “…If I were confident that I was speaking with knowledge, your encouragement would be very well. When one is amid knowledgeable and beloved friends, and one is speaking what one knows to be the truth about the greatest and most beloved things, one can feel both secure and confident. But to produce arguments when one is unsure and searching, as I am doing, is a frightening thing and makes me feel insecure. I am not afraid of being ridiculed--that would be childish, indeed--but I am afraid that if I fail to secure the truth, just where it is most important to do so, I will not only fail myself, but drag my friends down as well” (450d-451a). Drawing on this and other passages in The Republic, write an essay that examines Socrates’ view of the ethics of philosophical dialogue and how, and to what degree, Socrates own conduct in The Republic exemplifies his view