Reference no: EM131458108

Assignment- Political Philosophy

Instructions: Please note that the questions below are based on the Unit readings and are intended to be both an outline of the units' material and the basis for your Unit Assessment, so please give your best effort to answering them thoroughly. The task is to respond to all 15 of the questions below. Each question will be worth two points.

The format for submission is to include the questions with the replies. Example:

How does one know what the good life is?

- The good life is...

1. List 5 question that are dealt with in the study of political philosophy.

o What is the best form of government?
o Why should individuals obey the law?
o Is taxation legitimate?
o What is the relation between the government and individuals?
o How should the distribution of goods and services be arranged?

2. What 3 things must be legitimized wherever there is a STATE?

i. The existence of the state itself (why a government and not pure freedom/anarchy/state of nature?)

ii. A particular type of government (why liberal democracy instead of monarchy?)

iii. The particular office holders (why allow person/group X to make decisions for society instead of person/group Y).
Follow the link to the article on Political Philosophy, and answer the question below:https://www.iep.utm.edu/polphil/

3. Explain in what way political philosophy is said to have ethical foundations.

4. In pursuing a philosophical examination of political activity, philosophers also divide between those who are methodological individualists and those who are methodological holists. What is the difference? What is the idea behind the term Polyligism?

5. What are the twodistinct positions that the term "liberalism" conveys in political philosophy?

6. What did the cultural historian Jacques Barzun mean by the expression the "Great Switch," as it relates to Nineteenth Century Liberalism?

7. Describe some of the major political features of Liberalism; be sure to distinguish in some manner between the Classical and Modern Liberalism.

8. Describe some of the major political features of Conservatism, according to the article.

9. Explain the main idea behind Socialism.

10. Explain the socialist idea regarding Central Ownership?

11. Explain the Socialist "Moral Critique of Capitalism."

12. Explain the political approach of Anarchism. (75-100 words)

13. What are the distinguishing characteristics of Environmentalism?

14. Briefly define the following Theories of Government: Natural Law and Divine Right, Power-Might Makes Right, and Social Contract.

15. Briefly define the following Theories of Government: Utilitarianism, Libertarianism, Marxism, and Justice Theory.