STUDY QUESTIONS FOR THE MIDTERM
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Explain the functions of an ideology.
Why is the concept of freedom an essentially contested concept?
Explain the difference between normative and empirical political theory.
What is the triadic model of theory?
Explain what the word radical means.
Explain why libertarians argue that inflation is the result of government interference in the
market.
7. What distinguishes a political ideology from a political theory?
8. Explain what the role of the state should be according to anarchists.
9. What did the term ideology originally mean?
10. What defines a nation?
11. Hobbes provides a definition of "liberty" that would be enormously influential for "classical" and
"neoclassical" liberals. What does Hobbes say is the proper way to understand liberty?
12. What is the importance of the development of money for Locke's argument about the extent of
property accumulation in the state of nature? What are the consequences of his argument from
the standpoint of economic equality? Does Locke think this will be a problem? Why or why not?
13. According to Locke's argument in the Second Treatise, why is revolution against an absolute
monarch who denies the people their natural rights to life, liberty, and property not only a right,
but a moral duty?
14. In Common Sense, Paine contrasts "government" with "society." What does he see as the
difference between the two?
15. What are the specific grievances listed by the colonists in The Declaration of
Independence? How might one read these grievances from the perspective of liberalism? How
might one read them from the perspective of republicanism?
16. If you were part of a group whose members had been systematically denied the rights that
Jefferson sets forth in the Declaration, how might you go about arguing for inclusion? What does
the Declaration suggest is the appropriate response to government if such rights are continually
violated over a long period of time?
17. Smith argues that, in addition to the natural propensity to truck, barter, and exchange, there is
another feature of human life that separates us from animals. Do you think there is sometimes a
tension between these two elements of human existence? Why or why not?
18. Kant gives two broad sets of reasons why individuals have not heretofore thrown off their
immaturity. What are they?
19. To what extent does Kant believe any generation can legitimately limit the willingness of future
generations to dare to know? Which institution does Kant use as an example of one that might
well attempt to engage in such behavior, and what does he think of it?
20. Mill famously declares that: "If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one
person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one
person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind" (p. 97). Mill gives
three basic reasons for this claim. What are they?
21. At the beginning of this piece, Sumner argues that "every man and woman in society has one big
duty." What is that duty, according to Sumner, and why would it be a fundamental mistake to try
to go beyond it?
22. The key figure in Sumner's analysis is the one he calls "the Forgotten Man." Who is this
individual? How and why is he forgotten? Why does Sumner believe that the case of the
Forgotten Man illustrates the problem of enabling government to do more than protect the
persons and property of its citizens?
23. Green argues that the ancient republics of Greece and Rome were ultimately inferior to modern
industrial societies, even with all the problems of the latter, because they were built on slavery.
They were states in which "the elevation of the few is founded on the degradation of the many"
(p. 106). Moreover, Green claims that this is not only true of involuntary slavery,
but voluntary slavery as well: "We condemn slavery no less no less when it arises out of a
voluntary agreement on the part of the enslaved person. A contract by which anyone agreed for a
certain consideration to become the slave of another we should reckon a void contract" (p. 107).
Now, at least one highly influential neoclassical liberal, Robert Nozick, defended the justness of
voluntary slave contracts in his celebrated book, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974). Why does
the welfare liberal Green reject voluntary slave contracts? Why might some neoclassical liberals
or libertarians like Nozick defend them? Should people have the right to voluntarily enslave
themselves in a free society? Why or why not?
24. In his speech, Roosevelt declares that some forces in the United States had begun to see the
Government "as a mere appendage to their own affairs"; and he insists that "Government by
organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob" (p. 111). Which
institutions, forces, and individuals does Roosevelt single out as examples of this tendency?
What does he claim is their philosophy of government?
25. What sorts of programs does Roosevelt single out as essential ones for the continuation of the
New Deal in his second term? How are these programs illustrative of the welfare liberal
conception of "positive freedom"?
26. Like Mill's invocation of the "harm principle," Allen's argument rests on a distinction between
what philosophers call "self-regarding" and "other-regarding" actions. However, as a number of
critics have pointed out, the line distinguishing these types of actions can sometimes seem very
fuzzy. For example, is recreational drug use in the privacy of one's own home (which most
libertarians, including Allen, wholeheartedly support), a purely self-regarding action? It might
seem that the easy answer is, "yes." However, what if the drug user becomes addicted and the
cost of his or her treatment falls to other taxpayers? The same might be asked of alcohol abuse
and diseases related to smoking cigarettes. To the extent that the costs of these behaviors are
borne by other people in society, should those other people, or the government that represents
them, legitimately have a say in legislating individual behavior? How might a libertarian,
especially one sympathetic to the logic of Social Darwinism, respond to this criticism in a
logically consistent fashion?
27. Despite the fact that libertarians take some positions generally associated with the political left
wing, and some positions associated with the political right wing, Rothbard does not believe that
they are confused. Indeed, he argues that libertarianism is the only truly consistent variant of
liberalism as an ideology. Why?
28. In the first section of the essay, Ball describes the ways in which a number of goods and services
that are now provided by state would be privatized in Marketopia. What examples does he offer?
Are you troubled by them, or not?
29. Why does Ball think "Marketopia" is unfair? Do you find his argument convincing? Why or why
not?
30. There does not seem to be anything inherently unfair about treating your professors as "service
providers," and seeing yourselves as "costumers" partaking of their services. Nevertheless, Ball
still seems to think there is something wrong with this model. Why? Do you agree with his
argument? Why or why not?
31. More declares that when he looks about at the flourishing common wealth of his own time, he
sees a “conspiracy.” What kind of conspiracy is he talking about?
32. More argues that when there is no private property, people are concerned with achieving the
common good, not their own self-interest. Why does he think that this is the case?
33. What use do the Utopians make of gold and jewels? What reasons do they give for their
behavior? What have they done with money, and why?
34. What are the “first principles,” or set of assumptions, that Owen makes about human beings?
How do these contrast with the first principles that he sees at the heart of capitalist society?
35. Owen argues that the principles of cooperative socialism can and should be introduced gradually
36. Owen believes that his arguments about human nature and character are universally applicable.
Why, then, does he think that so many people disagree with him about those principles? What
does he predict the future will look like if his assumptions about human nature are wrong?
37. Marx declares that the “theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence:
Abolition of private property.” In the following two pages, however, he explains precisely what
he does---and does not---mean by that term. What does Marx mean by “private property”? Why
does he think that in his own time “private property is already done away with for nine-tenth of
the population”?
38. Perhaps one of the most frequent criticisms of Marx is that communism would never work
because without competition and the profit motive, everyone would become lazy. Marx
explicitly addresses this criticism, and why he thinks it is wrong. What does he say?
39. Marx develops his own definition of “ideology” and uses it to criticize the enemies of
communism. What does he mean by this term? How is “ideology” in Marx’s sense related to the
ruling class?
40. What does Marx mean by "private property"? Why does he think that in his own time "private
property is already?
41. Marx claims, “it is the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary,
their social being that determines their consciousness.” Simplified somewhat, Marx is describing
a relationship between the ideas human beings hold in their heads, and the things they do in the
world. What, according to Marx, is that relationship?
42. Marx contends that “ No social order ever perishes before all the productive forces for which
there is room in it have developed; and new, higher relations of production never appear before
the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society itself. “
Given Marx’s theory of history, what does this mean?