Assignment 1: Discussion

The purpose of this assignment is to reflect upon the role of The State - the government as an institution not a state like California. Like we discussed God, it is the universal philosophical problem not any particular type or flavor.

In a 2-3-page paper, address the following:

• Explain a political philosophy with supporting citations to the textbook and online lectures in correct APA format. For example, you might discuss social contract theory or feminism. Use this APA Citation Helper as a convenient reference for properly citing resources.

• Explain some human rights that you think should be protected by the government. Discuss whether the particular rights you discuss are better understood as "positive" or "negative" rights.

• Explain how the ideas associated with the theory you explained might be related to the rights you identified. For example, if your essay primarily focuses on negative rights, you might discuss natural law and the social contract. If you included positive rights, one of the critiques of natural law might be relevant.

Discussions of political beliefs can often generate a great deal of emotion. Your participation grade for all discussion assignments is based in part on your ability to respond to your peers in a respectful and mature fashion, and this assignment is no exception. You are encouraged to present the arguments in favor of your own views and to challenge the arguments made by your peers (in fact, the critical thinking method we discussed last week is an excellent guide for how to present an argument about the role of the government), but please do not engage in personal attacks or other inappropriate communication.