Phil 101 Study Guide Exam 3


I will select two of the questions below for your exam. You will be asked to write an in-class essay on one of the two I select.

  1. Smith sees the division of labor as the most important factor in the development of human society. Rousseau sees the original contract as the most important factor. Which is nearer the truth?

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  2. Which is the stronger human bond, trade or political commitment?

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  3. Compare Smith and Rousseau on liberty. Where do they agree and where do they differ? Which has the more important insight?

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  4. Smith argues for the benefits of the widest possible markets. Rousseau argues that there are natural limits to the republican state. Are these views compatible or incompatible?

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  5. Smith argues that there is an inevitable conflict between the interests of those who produce and those who own the means of production. Does this conflict make Rousseau's republican state impossible?

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  6. Rousseau's primary problem is that of political legitimacy. Is it possible that workers can mistakenly accept a regime as legitimate that is neither in their interests as a class nor in the common interests? Explain how or why not.

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  7. Can those without property (other than their own labor) have liberty?

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  8. Can a class divided society be more than what Rousseau calls an "aggregation"?

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  9. In the original act of forming a compact, would rational individuals agree to one part of a society owning the means of production and another part of society providing the labor for production?