Social and Political Philosophy

Study questions for Plato, "The Apology"

Study Questions for Plato, "Crito"

Here is a link to a better version of the "Crito" (It's the same translation -- Jowett's -- but it has the Stephanus page numbers used in the study questions)

For Hobbes:

Garth Kemmerling's philosophy site has a relatively brief and non-technical discussion of Hobbes' Leviathan at http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/3x.htm#commonwealth

as does James Feiser's Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/h/hobbes.htm.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a longer and more technical treatment by Sharon Lloyd at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/

An even more advanced treatment is available in Stephen Darwall's lecture notes indexed at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sdarwall/Phil433b.html

For Locke:

Garth Kemmerling's philosophy site at: http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/lock.htm

and (for his social and political philosophy) at: http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/4n.htm

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Locke's life at http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/l/locke.htm#Life

and on the Treatises of Government http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/l/locke.htm#Two%20Treatises%20of%20Government

And a much more detailed Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/

There is a fairly detailed set of notes on the text of the Second Treatise, by Prof. R. J. Kilcullen of Macquarie University (in Australia) at http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y6710.html

Finally, the editors of our reader have omitted one of my favorite parts of the Second Treatise, the rest of Locke's critique of absolute monarchy that runs from section 90 to section 95. So, here it is. If you want to see what else they have left out the whole book is online at http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.htm

For Rawls and Nozick:

Here's way more than you want to know about Rawls and Nozick. Read what looks interesting or useful. I guess I'd say the piece by Thomas Nagel has the best discussion of Rawls and the London Spectator article the best of Nozick.

There is a discussion of distributive justice in the Stanford Encyclopedia that includes Rawls and Nozick among others: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/

Oxford Companion to Philosophy has an article on Rawls at http://www.xrefer.com/entry/553342 and one on Nozick at http://www.xrefer.com/entry/553032. Both have links to related topics.

There is a long article in the London Review of Books by Jeremy Waldron. It is a review of Rawls' Collected Papers, but it also provides an overview of his work and as assessment of its significance. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v21/n14/wald01_.html

Another long article by Martha Nussbaum (herself a distinguished philosopher) is at http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/nussbaum-rawls.html

Thomas Nagel (another distinguished philosopher) provides another longer account (the best of the bunch in my opinion) in The New Republic at http://www.thenewrepublic.com/archive/1099/102599/nagel102599.html

John Kilcullen of Maquarie University has lectures online indexed at http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/polth.html scroll down for links to fairly detailed lectures on Rawls and Nozick. The lecture "Against Distributive Justice" discusses the parts of Nozick we are reading (and more).

The National Review (a leading conservative journal) has a memorial to Nozick by University of Chicago Law Professor Richard Epstein at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-epstein012402.shtml

And the London Spectator has one at http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old&section=current&issue=2002-02-09&id=1562