Phil 101 Study Guide Final

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. Aristotle emphasized the importance of a broad middle class to ensure the stability of society. Which form of economy would be most likely to contribute to such stability, capitalism or Marxist social democracy?
   
   
2. Marx and Engels assert, “The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” Is that true in the contemporary United States?
   
   
3. Hobbes' political theory is constructed on the hypothesis of natural scarcity. It might seem, then, that over-production by capitalism would end the conflict that Hobbes described as a war of each against all. Does it? Why or why not?
   
   
4. What form of government might best approximate the Marxian principle of distribution, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need"?
   
   
5. What problems are encountered by the wage laborer who also seeks to be a good citizen? How are these problems rooted in the economic system?
   
   
6. How would Marx critique Locke's theory of property entitlement? What, if anything, is learned from that critique?