EReading: Lipson

3 Great Questions To Consider

Here are three "great questions" that must be answered. Think in terms of how you would answer them and how the Founding Fathers answered them.

1) What is the nature of people? A Humanities Base question!! Are people basically good or evil? Maybe people are essentially good (nature)  but are conditioned to act in evil ways (nurture). If evil by nature, can people be redeemed? If evil by nurture, can they be reeducated? What do you think?

2) What is the proper role of the state? Does the state make people evil? Does the state have a role in redeeming people (assuming they can be redeemed)? What do you think?

3) What is the proper relationship between people and the state? Another Humanities Base question!!! It depends upon how you answer the first two questions!!! What do you think?

Politics as Convenience vs. Politics As Redemption Generally, answers to these questions lead to one of two views of politics. These are known as: politics as convenience or politics as redemption! In politics as convenience approaches, the most you can hope for is that politics make life as convenient as possible for the individual. For example, if the nature of human existence is the battle of all against all and life is "nasty, brutish, and short" (Hobbes), then the most that you can probably hope for is that the collective actions of politics will make life a little more tolerable. In politics as redemption, the argument is made that no matter what individuals are like by nature, they can be redeemed through politics or education (Rosseau).  

Convenience	Redemption
1) concerned with external arrangements and earthly control	1) concerned with the individual
2) concerned with the private realm	2) concerned with the public realm
3) defenders of personal property	3) earth as the possession of all human beings
4) emphasis on decentralization, checks and balances, constitutionalism	4) concentrated and unlimited power

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