LWSO 413 Liberalism
Short Paper Instructions
Fall 2019
The paper is two pages plus a title page and, yes, like everything else at university please double space
it. Upload to D2L before class on Thursday September 19.
The assignment: read Mill, On Liberty, Introductory & Chapter 2. Think about it. What is he
arguing? What parts of his argument are strong, and which are not? Where is he persuasive and
where is he less persuasive? What do we make of Mill, either as a thinker of his time or in today's
context?
Do you need references? You can put references to page numbers (i.e., "p. 3"). Or you can use fuller
citations to another version of the chapters.
Do you need an introduction and conclusion? Yes, please, make sure the paper hangs together. That
usually means an introduction, to introduce the reader to your argument, and a conclusion.
Do you need to come to a conclusion about Mill? Well, a sophisticated one. "Mill rocks" or "Mill sucks"
isn't terribly sophisticated. Try for a bit more insight than that.
The second short paper is like the first, but it is about Marcuse’s, “Repressive Tolerance”:
(https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/60spubs/1965MarcuseRepressiveToleranceEng1969edOcr.pdf)
Double-space and upload a PDF of the paper to D2L before class on October 8.
Think about Marcuse's essay. What is he arguing? What parts of his argument are strong, and which
are not? Where is he persuasive and where is he less persuasive? What do we make of Marcuse,
either as a thinker of his time or in today's context?
You do not need full references if you are quoting from his essay (i.e. “p. 83”). Use full citations if you
are using anyone else's work.
Do you need an introduction and conclusion? Yes, please, make sure the paper hangs together. That
usually means an introduction, to introduce the reader to your argument, and a conclusion.
Do you need to come to a conclusion about Marcuse? Yes, but it should be a sophisticated one.