Write an essay of approximately 7-9 double-spaced pages on one of the topics listed below. You are not to consult or refer to secondary sources. Rather, you are asked to develop your own reasoned argument in response to the question, proposition, or contention which the essay topics contain.

Write an essay of approximately 7-9 double-spaced pages on one of the topics listed below. You are not to consult or refer to secondary sources. Rather, you are asked to develop your own reasoned argument in response to the question, proposition, or contention which the essay topics contain.

All direct quotes and paraphrases must be appropriately cited. The most convenient way of citing a passage in the text (or close paraphrase) in a political theory essay is to use the MLA citation style which consists of parenthetical in-text citations and a Texts Cited or Bibliography at the end of the paper. In-text citations would look like this: (Hobbes 2011, 650).

The Texts Cited or Bibliography entry at the end of your essay should look like this: Hobbes 2011, Leviathan in Michael L. Morgan, ed. Classics of Moral and Political Theory. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Co.

essay topics you can choose any one of the following:
1. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke both used the concepts of a state of nature and a social contract to argue for the kind of political arrangement they thought suitable to human nature and the conditions under which political rule is necessary. While their starting points are similar, they arrive at different conclusions about the type of political authority that should command the allegiance of ostensibly free and equal individuals. Write an essay comparing their different approaches to the question of legitimate political authority. In your essay you should discuss the reasons why they came to different conclusions about political authority and which argument you find more persuasive

or 2. “The values of liberty (or freedom) and equality are often seen as the cornerstones of modern liberalism. Write an essay comparing and contrasting the way Hobbes (in the Leviathan), Locke (in the Second Treatise of Government), and Rousseau (in The Social Contract) view these values.”

number of sources depends on whichever question you choose (no secondary sources)

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