Study Questions for 2nd Midterm--Fall 2002

1) Explain why conflicts between capitalists and workers on the one hand, and conflicts within the capitalist class on the other, produce the following tendencies (according to the Communist Manifesto): (a) technical progress in manufacturing methods; (b) expansion abroad; (c) depressions and recessions; (d) concentration of property and political power in fewer hands.

2) Explain why, according to the Manifesto, the fall of capitalism and the victory of the working class are inevitable. What reasons do workers have to oppose capitalism? What processes within the capitalist system tend to produce a united, politically active working class? Do you think that workers will ever overthrow capitalism in the U.S.? Why or why not?

3) If the working class overthrows capitalism, what sort of political institutions will they create in its place, according to the Manifesto? What economic changes will they make? What will happen to the property of the capitalists? What does political power mean? Would political power last forever?

4) Explain the idea of a “class morality” as this concept appears in Engels, Mao, and Nietzsche. What is the content of “proletarian morality” in Engels and Mao? What is the content of “noble” or “aristocratic” morality in Nietzsche? In particular, what is the attitude of these various thinkers to social equality and a classless society? To the rights of workers?

5) Describe the various forms of alienation that occur in labor in capitalist society according to Marx’s manuscript "Alienated Labor", and explain how these forms are interrelated. How does Marx think that alienation could be eliminated? Is he right?

6) Under what circumstances is slavery justified, according to Aristotle? What does Aristotle mean when he says that someone is a natural slave? Why according to Aristotle is it difficult or controversial to determine whether someone is a natural slave? In what ways are Greeks superior to other people, according to Aristotle?

7) Rousseau claims that people develop only those capacities which meet their otherwise unmet needs. What evidence does he give for this claim? Why is this claim an important element of Rousseau's reply to Aristotle? Under what conditions is social (what he calls "moral") inequality justified? How does Rousseau's conception of human nature differ from that of Aristotle and Marx?

8) The quotations in I. Q. pamphlet shows that the pioneers of U. S. I. Q testing, who wrote them and defended their importance, wanted to justify existing social inequality. Is this point of view reflected in the actual questions on the test? Does knowledge of the political/moral values of the IQ testers help evaluate the validity of the tests? Why or why not? How do political factors figure in the critique of the tests from the PLP pamphlet? Would Rousseau think that IQ tests accurately reflect mental ability?

9) On Powers: Why is it inevitable that stronger forms of life will replace the weaker ones? Why is universal competition a process to which ethics does not apply? It is true that those who have more power or more wealth are biologically more fit? Explain why or why not. What role do inalienable rights and consent of the governed play in formation of stable and efficient governments? Why according to Powers was the United States not prevented by any moral consideration from subjugating the Phillippines "by the sword?" What role does the claim that what is inevitable cannot be morally criticized play in these arguments?

10) How does Beveridge justify imposing a government on Filipinos that does not have their consent? What claims of racial inequality figure in his argument? What is paternalism, and in what sense are Beveridge’s positions paternalist?

11) In what ways are human social behaviors influenced by biologically determined tendencies, according to Wilson? Explain how these biological factors are supposed to work. What conclusions can be drawn about the (a) inevitability and (b) moral justification of war, tribalism, xenophobia, gender inequality, etc, from Wilson’s analysis? Does his analysis hold water?

12) Describe and evaluate Rosenthal’s case that–contrary to Wilson--genocide and ethnic conflict are not explained by biological factors but by social and economic ones.