Burnyeat, M.F. (1997). Culture and Society in Plato's Republic. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Harvard University. Available at https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/b/Burnyeat99.

Burnyeat, M.F. (1997).  Culture and Society in Plato's Republic. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values.  Harvard University.  Available at https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/b/Burnyeat99.pdf

• Read the entire section in Culture and Society in Plato’s Republic called “A Tale of Two Cities” starting on page 228 through page 236. 

Levin, M. (2012). Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America. NY: Simon and  Schuster, Inc. Available at  http://academic.udayton.edu/LawrenceUlrich/Leadership370/Plato%27s%20Republic%20and%20The%20Perfect%20Society.pdf

• Now read the free online excerpt from Mark Levin’s Ameritopia, Chapter 2 page 23-36.
• This opinion piece, by a sometimes controversial American radio personality, may give you an 

Watch the TED-Ed talk on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (Book VII in The Republic):  Gendler, A. (2015). Plato's Allegory of the Cave. [Video File]. Ted-Ed.  Available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA

Zarri, J. (1948). Aristotle's Theory of the Origin of State. Oxbridge Essays.  Available at  http://www.scholardarity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Aristotles-Theory-of-the-Origin-of-the-State-DRAFT-2-PDF.pdf

  Go to the website for the Constitutional Rights Foundation and read about St. Thomas Aquinas and Natural Law and Common Good (it is also a good review for the Aristotle reading). Available at  http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-22-4-c-st-thomas-aquinas-natural-law-and-the-common-good

Part 1

• Your FIRST of TWO topics this week:
  • Contrast Plato with Aristotle and decide whom you agree with more (and why)

• Your SECOND topic posts in the Discussion Forum this week: 
  • Evaluate Saint Thomas Aquinas’ view of the root of good society

Cite references in apa format. Part 2

Written Assignment

Present a 3-page  paper on your worldview of family, society, and political philosophy looking at it through the lens of the philosophers we have discussed this week. Remember, your personal philosophy is right for you, you do not have to agree with these scholars or anyone in the class. Please respect yourself enough to state your case, and others enough to allow them to state theirs.

Sample questions you may discuss (but you can come up with your own):

• How do I see Plato’s philosophy in The Republic in the society where I live?
• I think Aristotle/Plato/St. Aquinas most represents my town/family because…
• Explain, compare, and contrast your personal philosophy with that of one of these men.
• St. Thomas was wrong because…  (same for Plato and Aristotle)
• Summarize each of the three philosophers’ position and explain how you see each of them around you in different ways.
• Create your own topic based on one, two, or all these men. Do not simply write a biography-paper. The purpose is for you, as a college student, to dive deeper than a biography. 

Assignment Guidelines

Write a fully APA-compliant 3- page paper for this Unit

• You should include a reference page, with APA citations, at the end of your paper.  This page is not part of the 3-pages of written work
• Standard margins, 12-point font, New Times Roman or similar
• Do not write less, do not write more
• Be sure to read the assessment criteria before you begin writing

For more information on APA formatting:  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Assessment Criteria

• Does the paper have a clearly formed question/statement using a philosopher/philosophical lens studied in this unit?
• Does the paper discuss the author's worldview on family, society, and politics as related to their chosen philosophical lens?  
• Does the writer give meaningful examples that illustrate his/her beliefs?  Do those examples make clearer the ideas proposed in the paper?
• Presentation of reasonable argument for why the chosen topic is important to the student’s view of society.
• APA and overall look and feel of the paper is college-level work

Part 3 For this week’s journal, please share what the most interesting part (lesson/discussion) this week was to you. How did that reading, or experience of thinking about it, change your worldview? Please explain how you thought before, and how the new viewpoint changed that old thinking into something new. Cite reference in apa format and minimum words is 300.