Political Science Essay

1) Who is Oedipus? Jocasta? Laius? Theseus? Answer: Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta there was prophet that he was going to kill his father and wed his mother. Laius is the king of Thebes and Oedipus’ father who was killed as a fulfillment on an oracle. Theseus is the king of Athens who takes Oedipus in and protects him after he has suffered greatly. 2) In the play Oedipus Rex, what is the relationship between truth, freedom, identity, and responsibility? Answer: Fate is inescapable. Oedipus learning the truth is him learning his identity and with freedom comes responsibility. 3) What is pollution? OR, why must Oedipus assume responsibility for things he did not know? Answer: Pollution is that for which Oedipus is responsible for. There are consequences for his actions and he must accept them. 4) What does it mean to say that freedom is recognition of necessity? Answer: It means we are never absolutely free. There is always a restraint. 5) In the final analysis, what advice about freedom, fate and the gods is Sophocles giving in Oedipus Rex? Answer: Strive for excellence in a world of constraints, rebel and accept the Gods, bravely acceptthe consequences of one’s actions, and do all of this in reverence and humility. 6) What does it mean to defend freedom on the basis of natural rights? Answer: Natural rights are rights that no person can give us. We have them because we arehuman.To say this is defending it. – Normative way of thinking 7) What does it mean to defend freedom on the basis of utility? Answer: Freedom as a utility are rights that defend the right on grounds of the city rather than ofthe Gods. 8) According to Adrienne Rich, what does a woman need to know to be free? Answer: She needs to know her own history, analysis of her own condition, her politicized female body, and creative genius of women in the past. 9) Whose freedom is Sojourner Truth advocating? Answer: Sojourner Truth is advocating the freedom of African Americans, free slaves, and women 10) According to John Stuart Mill, what is the greatest danger to freedom in a democratic society? Answer: The greatest danger to freedom in a democratic society is social tyranny (public opinion) because it penetrates so deeply into one’s soul that there is no alternative. It feathers the development of individuality (the notion of an autonomous and rationality of the individual). 11) According to Mill, what is the domain of consciousness, or those freedoms that are most precious? Answer: Conscious, Thought/Feeling, Opinion/Sentiment, Expression, Tastes & Pursuits, Unite/Assembly 12) According to Mill, what utility does freedom have for the pursuit of truth? Answer: Partial truths may have some truth, but even truth must be combatted, questioned or it isnothing but prejudice or dogma. 13) According to Mill, what utility does freedom have for the development of individuality? Answer: The individual needs freedom for observation, needs freedom of reason and judgment, freedom to gather information, freedom to discriminate/to decide, and freedom and courage to hold firm to our tastes. 14) According to Mill, what utility does freedom have for the development of a progressive society? Answer: Societies that are possessive of innovation sustain truths and tradition and avoid mediocrity. 15) How does Sophocles portray Oedipus and the issue of guilt/innocence in Oedipus at Colonus? Answer: Oedipus is a stranger in need, he declares his innocence, and Thesesus and Athens offer him gifts. 16) What does Theseus offer to Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus? Why? Answer: Theseus greets Oedipus with respect and empathy. He asks Oedipus what does he need and offers him hospitality and protection from Creon, Creon’s army, and Polynices. He gives him citizenship and grace. Theseus gives him gifts given by Athens because Theseus was once to in exile. 17) What is the function/importance of a language of the good? Answer: It teaches us what human beings need to achieve their potential. 18) What is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? How does it compare to Aristotle’s theory of the goods of life? Answer: It is a pyramid showing the balanced goods or â€Å"diet† a human being needs to be happy like self-actualization, belongingness, esteem, safety, and physiological. How it compares idk. 19) Who is Pericles and what are the main principles of his funeral oration? Answer: Pericles is general and orator in Athens. The main principles of his funeral oration are city of freedom, city of empire, and citizenship. 20) What does Pericles have to say about citizenship? Answer: Citizenship requires excellence, public service, reverence for the city (patriotism), respect for authorities and law, military training, beauty, and willingness to die for the city. 21) What is Socrates’ vocation? Answer: He literally disapproves of the oracle which says he is the wisest man. 22) What are the formal charges against Socrates? Answer: The formal charges against Socrates are public opinion. 23) What are the informal charges against Socrates? Answer: He studies things that are above the sky and are below the earth. He makes strong arguments weak and weak arguments strong. He does not believe in the Gods of the city, but one new God. 24) What is Socratic ignorance? Answer: A certain type of wisdom is a certain type of ignorance. You don’t say what you don’t know. 25) What is Socrates’ daimon? Answer: The daimon is the inner God that speaks to him. It is a voice of subjectivity, consciousness, and rational insight. (picture a little angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other trying to tell you what you should do) 26) What is the relationship, in Socrates, of philosophy, death and the heroic tradition? Answer: Socrates does not fear death. He sees it as his characters (an eternal sleep or rejoining with loved one). The soul of one is not at stake. The soul of many is. 27) What does Socrates mean by caring for the soul? Answer: Caring for the soul means avoid injustice, ruthless intellectual honesty, engage in self-examination, and sustain moral energy. 28) What are the characteristics of Socrates’ theory of citizenship? Answer: The characteristics are caring for the soul, moral skepticism/dissent, a strong sense of moral individualism, all of this occurs in socratic ignorance, heroic citizenship (a citizen that does not fear death), and love of the city.