Directions: For each assigned chapter, fill out this table and submit via Canvas. The final two columns are especially important because they will constitute much of the draft material that you can use for your essay.
The big picture: Remember the larger essay assignment for which you are developing material. That assignment asks you to create a written “dialogue” about how to justify state-mandated vaccination. The dialogue can be constructed in several ways: you might have Hobbes and Locke argue with each other about whose social contract would be better suited to justifying state-mandated vaccination; you might have Hobbes and Locke engage in a conversation with Biss herself about this topic; or you might even create a larger conversation that includes you offering some of your own questions and opinions. Regardless of your approach to the bigger assignment, your first task is to generate some draft material.
How to make the table assignment useful: Approach this task with the idea that you are trying to create some “dialogue” between our two political philosophers (John Locke and Thomas Hobbes) and this book. As you read the book, imagine that you are Hobbes or Locke. Which ideas (as Hobbes) would you agree with? Which ideas would you disagree with? What might you add to the chapter? For high quality draft material, strive to be precise (quote the relevant texts) and detailed (explain connections – don’t just state them). You may find it easier to get into this spirit if you use the first person (“I”) in the table, pretending that you are writing as Hobbes or Locke. Also, try using a slightly informal tone – you’ll have more fun!
Example: to get you started, here is an example that focuses on a chapter we are not reading –
Pages Briefly summarize the chapter’s
main points Something relevant to this chapter that Hobbes or Locke wrote (quote &
summarize) Describe the connection between the idea in column three and an idea from this chapter.
40-46 Biss explores the appeal of thinking in terms of dualities and oppositions (natural vs. unnatural, good vs. evil, etc.) but argues that such thinking creates false clarity. She points out that “natural” immunity and vaccination are not really opposites; rather, vaccination is “a kind of domestication of a wild thing” (41) because it stimulates the body to produce “natural” antibodies. Historical examples of Native Americans (killed by diseases) and malaria (many deaths prevented by the chemical DDT), illustrate that “natural” does not equal “safe” or “good.” When I read Biss’s observation that the elimination of malaria “contributed to the growth of our economy” because “infectious diseases systematically steal human resources” (45), I was reminded of my own musings about how being in a “state of war” destroys human potential. As I wrote, “in such condition [war], there is no place for Industry. . . and continual fear, and danger of violent death” (Chapter 13). It seems to me that my condition of “war” and the condition of being vulnerable to an infectious disease are quite similar, even in their effects on society. True, when I write of war, I mean a condition where “every man is enemy to every man,” where one lives in fear of other people’s intentions (Chapter 13). Biss, on the other hand, is writing about the fear of diseases. But, like my violent men, those diseases can kill you, and because you can’t really know who might infect you, you can’t trust anyone. This lack of trust and threat of death lead to the unhappy conditions I describe, where it is difficult to build a strong economy (“industry”) or culture. How can you do business when you can’t trust your customers? In the same way, how can you run a business if you fear that your customers might be infected with a disease that can kill you? Biss and I see things clearly here: war and disease are bad for business!
YOUR NAME _______________________ Sept. 21, 2020
Pages Briefly summarize the chapter’s
main points Something relevant to this
chapter that Hobbes or
Locke wrote (quote &
summarize) Describe the connection between the idea in column three and an idea from this chapter.
[do this for two of the chapters]
6-11
12-16
17-22
23-28
47-50
51-40