History Essay on Marx and Nietzsche

Question

Description

The instructions provided by the professor is attached. There are 5 prompts you can choose from to write about. The professor likes a combination of your own opinions and quotes from the readings.

There are two readings which can be found on google,

"Jewish Question " by Marx and

"Genealogy" by Nietzsche.

Modern Political Thought: Third Exam Questions

Expectations and Advice:

For this exam, students need to write a 4-page essay in response to one of the following

prompts. No outside research is necessary, as you should respond to these prompts using

course material.

To do well on this exam, the most important criterion is that you have a distinct and clear

argument to make. This argument will be summarized in the thesis statement of your

introductory paragraph, and you will develop and support this argument over the course

of your essay. There are no simple answers to any of these prompts, so essays that

manage to engage the complexity of the problem will do particularly well. Furthermore,

in addition to a clear and penetrating thesis, and one that is carefully developed over the

course of the essay, students will also be graded on several additional criteria:

First, it is important to really grapple with the texts. Our texts are both deep and complex,

and the more penetrating your insight into them the stronger will be your paper. Read and

re-read them! Second, it is important that you make your case clearly and concisely. I am

not a stickler for “grammar,” but papers that are written clearly will more effectively

make their point. Altogether, the strength and sophistication of your argument, your

ability to draw on and interpret our texts, and your ability to communicate your argument

clearly, will all determine how well you do on this exam.

Lastly, as for the format, your response should be 4 pages, double spaced, in a standard

12-point font like Time New Roman or Calibri, and you should use regular one inch

margins. Generally, exams that are too short have insufficiently dealt with the complexity

of the topic, while those that are too long have been insufficiently edited for clarity.

Choose one of the following:

1) For Nietzsche, human beings became “interesting” as a consequence of the slave revolt

in morality, while for Marx, we become interesting when we become the rich human

being. Drawing on their work, what does it mean to become interesting?

2) Political theory can be a comforting subject of study. After all, political theory offers

us answers to fundamental questions of human existence, telling us who we are and how

we should live. Yet, it’s precisely this solace that makes political theory problematic; on

the one hand our need for comfort seeks stable objects of authority, while on the other

hand, if we submit to the authority of political theorists we abdicate the critical thinking

they often wish us to cultivate. Aware of this problem, the answers that Marx and

Nietzsche offer us seek to preclude the possibility of unquestioningly submitting to the

authority of their own thought. So, how do their answers differ than their forebears in the

history of political thought? How do their answers try to avoid this problem?

3) Both Marx and Nietzsche believe that we are oppressed, if they disagree about who

our oppressors are. For Marx, we are dominated by the property owning class, whereas

for Nietzsche, we are dominated by those who propagate slave morality. Where they

agree, however, is that we are each complicit in our domination. Discuss the problem