Write a 7-9 page essay on one of the following questions or come up with a question of your own in consultation with me. The essays are due 2 April.

You, a rational Lockean person, have been shipwrecked. You are midway between three islands. One is a Hobbesian commonwealth and the other is a Rousseauian community. You assume will spend the rest of your life in one of these. To which island will you swim, and why?

Compare two of the following on the relationship of religion and politics: Hobbes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Calvin. What are the strengths and weaknesses of their positions?

Construct a dialogue between three or four of the following on the subject of Human nature: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

Construct a dialogue between Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau on punishment.

Compare Burke, Kant, Bentham, and Mill on the relationship of reason and politics. What are the strengths and weaknesses of their positions?

Compare Machiavelli, Rousseau, Mill, and Burke on equality and politics. What are the strengths and weaknesses of their positions?