Description
Write an essay that ;
1) compares how two of the authors we have read describe the meaning of duty in human lives and
2) argues which of the two are more relevant to our culture today.
- Ancient writers in Mediterranean societies often discussed the meaning and importance of human duties to their states, families, philosophical truths or community traditions. Write an essay that 1) compares how two of the authors we have read describe the meaning of duty in human lives and 2) argues which of the two are more relevant to our culture today. Do these writers/thinkers believe that all people have specific duties, or do they mainly emphasize the duties of men and social elites? Do they see duty as a philosophical obligation, an ethical value, a military expectation, or a political foundation for well-governed societies? How do you think the historical contexts in which they lived may have influenced their views of human duty?
Plato, “The Simile of the Cave” and “Philosophers Rule,” in The Republic, ed. Desmond Lee and Melissa Lane (London: Penguin, 2007), 255-264.
Sample Solution
