1. Begin reading Part III, Sehon; Chapters 6-8.
2. Bring shareable ideas (if not notes) to our next class (Wednesday, November 13th) about your anticipated 3rd and final written project for the semester. I will not delimit your options, aside from saying that it should obviously involve a critical (hence conducive to a CRITO outline!) and scholarly -- even if poetic or literary -- take on the central themes of our seminar.
Note: Thomas will facilitate a discussion of topics related to (some of) the readings below on Monday, November 4.
Read: (from the Marx-Engels Archive):
1845: Theses on Feuerbach
1846: Highlights of The German Ideology (marxists.org) (chapter 1)
1847: Principles of Communism
1848: The Communist Manifesto
Essay #2:
Compose a 2-3 pp. CRITO-based, argumentative essay following closely the guidelines as indicated in handout QA (which identifies the necessary components of a successful essay; namely, 1. the essay; 2. the outline for the essay; 3. a bibliography containing minimally one outside reference; and 4. two substantive, unanswered questions for class discussion). (Review as necessary handouts CR1-CR3.)
Alternatively, you may employ a different mode of presentation (fiction; dialogue; poetry, etc.). Simply attach the other three components (i.e., outline, bibliography, and 2 questions) to the body of your creation.
Topic: (choose 1; 1, moreover, that you have yet to tackle):
a. What is "human well-being," and how is it measured?
b. Does socialism violate rights?
c. Does capitalism violate rights?
d. Should socialists support animal liberation (and vice versa)?
e. Why does Gary Francione reject all forms of animal liberation that fall short of abolitionism? Is he right to do so?
f. In the German ideology, Marx writes:
"As individuals express their life, so they are. What they are, therefore, coincides with their production, both with what they produce and with how they produce. The nature of individuals thus depends on the material conditions determining their production."
What is the significance of this passage for Marx's theory of history?
g. Why, in "The Principles of Communism," does Engels (as does Marx elsewhere), compare wage-earners to slaves?
Due date: Wednesday, October 30, in class.
Essay #1:
Compose a 2-3 pp. CRITO-based, argumentative essay following closely the guidelines as indicated in handout QA (which identifies the necessary components of a successful essay; namely, 1. the essay; 2. the outline for the essay; 3. a bibliography containing minimally one outside reference; and 4. two substantive, unanswered questions for class discussion). (Review as necessary handouts CR1-CR3.)
Alternatively, you may employ a different mode of presentation (fiction; dialogue; poetry, etc.). Simply attach the other three components (i.e., outline, bibliography, and 2 questions) to the body of your creation.
Topic: (choose 1):
a. What are economic rights?
b. What is "human well-being," and how is it measured?
c. Does Sehon adequately define socialism?
d. In defining the moral point of view, what are the respective roles of utility and rights?
e. What are the implications for socialism/capitalism of the "nonagression principle"?
f. How might socialists define a "legitimate acquisition"?
g. Should socialists support animal liberation (and vice versa)?
Due date: Wednesday, October 2, in class.
Read: Chapter 4-5, Sehon. (When we finish this section of Sehon's book, we can, if we so choose, dig more deeply into related topics, eg., historical determinism; pacifism/violence; socialism and animal liberation, etc.)
Continue reading in our text through Part I, chapter 3.
My own view of the foundations of morality/ethics (at least in 2006):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Ok_EXn3Gk7B3AqmPbFxf7KtV1dpoVv_xUtF9KCSbWU/edit?usp=sharing
Things to do:
1. Review the basic elements of logic:
2. Purchase Sehon text (and begin reading).
3. Read syllabus/handouts; raise any questions in our next class.
