History 3A
DeAnza College
Summer 2010
Christopher R. Jackson
Primary source analysis paper #2: Establishing a political order
One of the oldest dilemmas for civilized humans is how best to order society. Although kings might have had the power to do whatever they liked, erratic and willful kings could cause chaos in society (witness Gilgamesh). Thus, even ancient societies discussed different ways of establishing a political order. Still, opinions varied as to the best way to order society, and the way that societies were actually run was different still.
Along with pertinent sections from chapter 6 of your textbook, you will read a number of short pieces on MyHistoryLab regarding the best way to arrange government and laws in society from ancient Chinese and Greek texts. (URLs in parenthesis are alternative sources that I have found, but I cannot guarantee their usefulness.)
Plato, Philosopher King: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Plato, The Republic, "The Philosopher-King"
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/plato-republic-philosopherking.html)
Aristotle, Creation of Democracy, parts 20-22: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Aristotle, The Creation of the Democracy in Athens
(http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/athenian_const.mb.txt)
Pericles, Funeral Oration: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Pericles' Funeral Oration by Thucydides, c. 420 BCE
(http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/jthucbk2rv2.htm) Para.35-46.
Plutarch on life in Sparta: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Plutarch on Life in Sparta (1st c. BCE)
(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lycurgus*.html)
(pages 221-263; paras. 5-17.)
Confucius on politics: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Confucius, selections from the Analects
Mencius on politics: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Confucian political philosophy: an excerpt from Mencius
(http://nothingistic.org/library/mencius/mencius35.html)
(chaps.5-9)
Han Feizi on Legalism: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Legalism: The Way of the State (475-221 BCE)
Li Si on Legalism: MyHistoryLab=>Assignments=> Li Si and the Legalist Policies of Qin Shihuang (280-208 BCE)
Compare the systems of social organization and government in Athens and Sparta. Compare the political philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism. What are the highest values of the political organization described? How are the states trying to achieve their ends? Which theory seems the best, and why? Which system most closely resembles our own?
Typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides (this is usually the default for most word processing programs), approximately 500-700 words. Please do not “borrow” material from the web without providing proper citations and enclosing direct quotations in quotation marks. Otherwise, it will be considered plagiarism, and the penalties will be severe.
Due, by e-mail attachment, Wednesday, July 14, 2010.
(Please see instructions for submitting assignments on-line.)