Esten's Thesis

An individual who strays from expected norms of a society, provides himself with the possibility of becoming more personally enlightened. 

Crispin's thesis right on time!

An individual's perceived ideals of a society, and of the beliefs of the others within the society, create the individual's perceptions of how to live within that society.

I'm sorry this is so late. I could blame college, but it was really just me having a hard time getting my ideas together. Sorry.

Premise:
          Societies are built on stereotypes because members of society organize and stereotype in order to deal with the information they constantly receive. Assigning value and meaning to each other is how people organize their experiences enough to be functional members of society. Ironically, it is stereotypes that can ultimately be most destructive to a society. (ex: Nazism)

where I'm going:
          Rebellion is what happens when a prevalent societal stereotype becomes so harmful- and possibly inaccurate- that individuals within that society throw it off. By rebelling, they are recreating their society and recreating the way members of that society think about and organize their world.

working thesis:
Rebellion recreates society by changing how individuals organize their experiences and assign value to one another.

enough causality?

Nick's Thesis

A government that wishes to avoid rebellion must encourage each citizen to share his belief, and only create laws that balance the contrasting mindsets.

I think that a law becomes futile if it directly conflicts with someone's belief. It is impossible to force a belief upon someone, and they will not adhere to a law that forces a certain belief upon them. Governments have a duty to ensure all citizens are safe, but beyond that all legislation must have knowing consent from the citizens or it will lead to conflict. Do I get that across in the thesis?

I haven't found a way to fully express my ideas, but I've reached the point that I'm only going in circles with this.  Those ideas- that individualism is isolating, meaningless (doesn't matter if one person reaches greatness- can't be shared), prevents discourse, and is the basis of the most extreme evils.

So, this is what I've got: Progress, society's pursuing of an empathetic and evolving existence, is reached when it becomes a shared goal, and individualism is abandoned for the greater good.  

Isaac's thesis (FIRST draft)

I apologize for it being messy.  I have to apply to college tonight.

Citizens of any community must not create individuality - their wealth, work, and happiness - through self-interest, but instead individuality must be rooted in a positive desire to better the community and people of which they are a part.    

Caleb's thesis

Let's please talk about this tomorrow and go over what I missed about the panels.

"The individual’s identity is created through a combination of his own autonomous intentions and the outcomes of an inescapable power struggle between himself and contending social entities of the society with which he associates."
 

Davi's thesis

So essentially what I'm trying to say is that we don't really take the time to get to know people. We become really comfortable with caring about ourselves and the communities that are close and familiar to us, and we often just don't take the time to understand other cultures and fall back to stereotypes that can lead to different levels of social conflicts, from small misunderstanding to large scale wars. Maybe at some point in time this was realisitc, but with our current society being so interconnected, we still seem to have such a limited and narcissistic view of what is important... This is a rant and I'm not sure if it makes sense. But I'm thinking more about individual relationships and then want to expand it to a global level. I'm not quite satisfied with my thesis but here it is:

By sacrificing selfish endeavors in favor of open-mindedness towards other cultures and beliefs, we begin to understand the causes of social conflict and move towards enlightenment.

Calvin's Thesis

When a society oppresses individuals by disallowing social mobility, those individuals accept this oppression until the moment of rebellion, which they have a moral obligation to attempt, and in which they have the capacity to succeed.

Hally's thesis

This is way shorter than my thesis usually is. Do you think it's oversimplified, too general, too wordy, or okay(ish)?

• Freedom of individuality within a society instigates positive development and is necessary for the continued success of that society.

Next set of reading assignments

For Wednesday (1/9/13) -- Read Camus, The Rebel (in dropbox) For Monday (1/14/13) -- Read Descartes, The Meditations (in dropbox)

DATES (IMPORTANT)

Thesis Statement -- Friday, 1/11/13 (with comments to group) Case Study -- Friday, 1/18/13 (on paper, in folder, in class) Names of Panelists -- Wednesday, 1/23/13 Overnight at Hyco Lake -- Monday, 1/28/13 (mandatory) Final Paper due -- Monday, 2/4/13 Panels -- Thursday 2/7/13 through Thursday 2/14/13 (to be determined)

CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT

Case Study – Due January 18th, Friday Writing a Case Study – An analysis of a problem Writing a good case study is introducing a problem or a question to your reader and presenting an analysis that would lead your reader to come to a solution to the problem or question posed. Writing a good case study is an exercise in writing – you must present your problem in an interesting and informative fashion, much like you are writing a story about your problem rather than a formal paper. You must be able to support your analysis with documented research, whenever possible include facts, numbers, or statistics to support your ideas. These should all be well cited within the body of your case study. Your case study must focus on a singular aspect of American political life since the election of 2012. Some examples would be: the fiscal cliff, gun control, immigration law, upcoming nomination process, gay marriage, Republican House majority politics, notions of bi-partisanship or compromise, taxation, etc… You pick an issue. Do some reading and research and frame your issue as a question of the relationship between the individual and the state. Your case study should be divided clearly (and labeled) into the following sections: 1. Description of the problem – Can you summarize the problem you face in 4-5 sentences? Can you do so in a way that sets up interest in your problem and draws the attention of the reader? Think of the description like the beginning of a short story with a concise and focused point. 2. History of the problem – This might be broken into shorter sections: a. Background b. Past problems c. Past solutions 3. Analysis of the problem now – This will be broken into shorter sections: a. Research and information you have collected b. Connections to the issue of relationship – Where is your issue an illustration of the connections or divide between the individual and the state? 4. Philosophical analysis of the problem – How do the philosophers we have read help you to think about the problem and its many dimensions? How do they point to any potential solutions? What would different philosophies say about your analysis above? 5. Solution to the problem – You must connect back to your initial problem and present one possible solution that takes your analysis (and the history) into account. 6. Additional information, research, etc… is contained in an appendix, not in the document itself. Some tips: This should be fairly short but well written and well documented (no more than 3-4 pages of text, not including appendix). You should have more to say than you actually include. The research and information you have collected is crucial to the presentation of your solution. This should be single-spaced and each section should be titled. You do need to clearly outline a problem of relationships and a solution that is relevant to your situation.

THESIS STATEMENTS

By Friday, January 11 in class: Please post your working thesis statement for your final paper to the blog. You may include more than one sentence (some introduction) but you ought to find a way to concisely and accurately state your argument. You must also (by Friday 1/11 in class) have commented with substantial and thoughtful comments on the thesis statements for all of the members of your group.