Assignment: Why do Marxists reject a social contract?
Assignment: Why do Marxists reject a social contract?
Provide a brief analysis as to why Marxism may in fact result in a more attractive political structure (at least in theory, not practice), than that of a social contract. What are its disadvantages? Specifically, you should give brief contrast to you answer by introducing Rawls’ notion of “justice as fairness”. Finally, provide consideration as to whether or not violence should be advocated or justified by political ideology.
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Required Reading – Karl Marx “Manifesto of the Communist Party” (Selection)
Read the following sections from the Communist Manifesto:
Manifesto of the Communist Party – Pg. 14
I Bourgeois and Proletarian – Pg. 14
II Proletarians and Communists – Pg. 22
III Socialist and Communist Literature
Reactionary Socialism
B. Petty-Bourgeois Socialism – Pg. 29
C. German or “True” Socialism – Pg. 29
Critical-Utopian Socialism and Communism – Pg. 32
IV Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties – Pg. 34
Recommended – Stanford Article, “Karl Marx” – Intro and Sections 1 & 3
< http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/#4 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. >
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.