WPT Midterm Questions
1. Who are the four armed prophets in Machiavelli’s The Prince?
The 4 armed prophets in Machiavelli’s The Prince are Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus.
2. What does Machiavelli mean by the “effectual truth”?
Machiavelli uses the “effectual truth” to mean understanding how things really are, instead of how they should or ought to be. Machiavelli thinks that a prince should act according to how people actually are, and not how they are imagined to be, unlike previous philosophers.
3. What are the “two humors” that Machiavelli identifies existing in every principality? How does he define their passions?
The two humerus that Machiavelli identifies existing in every principality are the great and the many. The great desire to command oppresses the people, and the people desire to not be oppressed, so their passions are at odds.
4. What does Hobbes’ frontispiece represent?
Hobbes’ frontispiece depicts a large man, made up of many smaller men, wearing a crown, holding a sword and a crosier, with supplementary images of military and religious power. Hobbes’ frontispiece represents how many people come together to create the leviathan, or the commonwealth, which has authority through violence as well as religious authority.
5. Define Hobbes’ notion of sovereignty.
Hobbes’ understands sovereignty as the authority to act with the collective will of the people.
6. What is a contract?
A contract is the mutual transferring of rights, which words alone are not enough to establish.
7. What is power, according to Hobbes? Give one example.
According to Hobbes, power is one's ability to achieve their goals. An example of power in this way would be attractiveness, because it makes you more likeable, and can thus help you obtain your goals.
8. Define Hobbes’ notion of the state of peace.
According to Hobbes, the state of peace is the state achieved when people give up the freedoms they have in the state of nature, and leave the combative
9. Define Locke’s notion of the state of war.
The state of war, according to Locke, is when someone acts against your rights to life, liberty, or property, and thus violates the social contract,
10. What, according to Locke, is the basis for the right to property?
According to Locke, the basis for the right to property is one’s right to their own body. Their body and the product of their body's labor is their property.
11. What is the source of value according to Locke?
According to Locke, the source of value is labor. Nature has no value unless we mix it with our labor.
12. Give one of Locke’s arguments against the Hobbesian sovereign.
Locke argues against the absolute monarchy of the Hobbesian Sovereign because he believes that the purpose of government is to protect the life, liberty, and estates of its citizens, and that the state acting against those interests is tyranny. -------
13. What are Locke’s three powers of government?
Executive, Legislative, and Federative power
14. Give one reason why, according to Rousseau, the natural man is naturally good.
Natural man is naturally good because their desires do not exceed their physical needs, only knowing the most basic ideas of good and evil, and thus has no concept of the future or death.
15. What is “the happiest and most durable epoch,” according to Rousseau?
According to Rousseau, “the happiest and most durable epoch” was the time between the natural states and the development of modern civilization.
16. Define amour-propre.
Amour-propre translates to self love, and is the way we review ourselves through the eyes of others.
17. Define Rousseau’s notion of “perfectibility.”
Rousseau’s notion of “perfectibility” describes the idea that humans can adapt to their environment and make themselves better, as well as learn and progress from past generations.
18. Define Rousseau’s notion of “the general will.”
“The general will” is the combined will of the people towards the common good.
19. What is the thesis of the First Discourse?
The advancement in the arts and sciences has caused the corruption of natural human virtue and morality.
20. What is consent?
Consent is the action that members of a society take when they agree to enter into the social compact.