Hobbes and the Nature of Man
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A 4 page paper discussing Thomas Hobbes' philosophy of the nature of man contrasted with that of St. Augustine. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: Hobman.wps

The Leviathan State of Nature
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A 4 page essay examining how Thomas Hobbes' state of nature is an 'inference from the passions' of human kind. When Hobbes discovered Euclid's methods of logic, he set about examining the need for and the inevitability of the existence of government using Euclid's methods. Hobbes began with three basic assumptions from which to build: (1) justice and morality were products of government, not innate qualities of man; (2) all human motivation springs either from the desire for personal pleasure or the fear of pain; and (3) while there are physical and mental differences between individuals, those differences pale in connection with membership in a group. Under the last assumption, anyone was capable of overpowering any other one at any time. Hobbes concluded that in a state of nature, life would be every man against every man.
Filename: Hobbes.wps

Thomas Hobbes / Metaphysics & Politics
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A 6 page paper that provides an overview of Hobbes metaphysical considerations as they relate to both politics and religion and considers these elements in terms of Hobbes' Leviathan. No additional sources cited.
Filename: Thob1.rtf

Thomas Hobbes And His 'Modern' Notions Of Security
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This 10 page report discusses the ideas of Thomas Hobbes as they applied to the modern dilemma of security. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: Hobmod.wps

Plato, Aristotle, and St. Augustine on a Contemporary Issue: Drug Abuse
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A ten page paper explaining the philosophies of these three seminal thinkers in great detail, and speculating about their opinions on the issue of drug abuse in our own day. The paper concludes that Aristotle provided the best way of looking at the situation from a broad, organizational level, while a combination of the Platonic and Augustinian approaches work best when working with individuals seeking to change their lives. Bibliography lists seven sources.
Filename: KBclssic.wps

St. Augustine's Confessions
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A 5 page paper which analyzes St. Augustine's 'Confessions.' Also discussed is the relevancy of his work today as it relates to modern life and Christianity. Bibliography lists 4 additional sources.
Filename: RAstconfes.wps

THE RELVEANCE OF ROUSSEAU TODAY
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This essay examines the relevance of Jean Rousseau's "Social Contract" today. Topics covered include the right to vote in a democracy, the admonision against force, and the will of the majority. Topics from current events are used to compare the importance of Rousseau's words, close to four centuries after they were written.
Filename: MTrourel.rtf

Natural Law
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This 6 page paper provides an overview of natural law theory and compares and contrasts the views of Aquinas, Hobbes and Cicero. Examples are provided. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: SA51Nat .wps

Renaissance History / The Moral Philosophy of the Humanists
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A 9 page paper that provides an overview of the issue of morality and man's human nature as they relate to the Humanists of Renaissance Europe. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: Renhum.wps

Dworkin, Mills And Rawls: Article Summarization
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5 pages in length. The writer summarizes three articles: Ronald Dworkin's 'Is affirmative action doomed?,' Mills' 'Of the limits to the authority of society over the individual,' and John Rawls' 'A theory of justice.' No additional sources cited.
Filename: TLCrawls.wps

If We Are Social Animals, Then Whose Perspective Do We Adopt / John Rawls' or Robert Nozick's?
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A 10 page paper that explores the difference between the theories of justice espoused by these two prominent Harvard philosophers, focusing particularly on concepts of cooperation for mutually beneficial goals, and alternative concepts for the just distribution of the primary benefits of society. The position is taken that both theories can be critiqued from the perspective of their assumptions that human beings operate as separate individuals who make rational choices out of a place of self-interest. The question is whether either social contract or entitlement theory can fully explain the reasons why humans cooperate for mutual well-being. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Filename: Rawnov.wps

John Rawls' Difference Principle and Original Position
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John Rawls has been described as the foremost political philosopher of the twentieth century. His philosophy is aligned with Kant and addresses both the ethical forms of political systems and economic theories. This 6 page paper addresses Rawls' concepts of Original Position and Difference Principle in terms of comparison with Libertarianism, Marxist principles and programs appropriate to the United States. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: KTjrawls.wps