Sociology 303
Sociological Theory
Fall 2003
Dr Scott Schaffer

Second Paper Assignment – Marx, Weber, and Freedom

Due Date: Tues Oct 21/2003 at the start of class. Absolutely no late papers will be accepted without a compelling and well-documented excuse provided in advance of the due date.

Criteria: This paper is to be a minimum of 5 (five) full and complete pages; there is no maximum length for the paper, so you should write until your paper is fully developed. Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, on 8 1/2” by 11” paper in 10- or 12-point font with 1 1/4” left and right margins and 1” top and bottom. Your paper must have a cover page, on which a creative title (“Second Paper Assignment” is simply not creative enough), your name, the topic number to which you’re responding, and any other pertinent information should appear; your name should not appear anywhere else in the paper. Your paper must be spell- and grammar-checked; papers that have copious errors will automatically lose two full letter grades, and may be returned for editing; if it is returned, you have up to three calendar days to make revisions, and after that, your paper will not be accepted.

You should follow all guidelines in the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout. And finally, no direct quotations are permitted in this paper, and no outside sources are permitted (including Warburton's essays in the first half of the book, Giddens or my lecture notes); any materials you use to support your argument must be paraphrased and cited following the guidelines in the paper-writing handout.

Assignment: You are to develop an argument in response to one of the two following topics. Ensure that your paper is not limited to a recitation of the writings of Berlin, Marx and Weber or my lectures, but that you use those materials to develop an argument that clearly expresses your thoughts on the matter and clearly responds to all the issues in each topic.

Please note that each paper contains an outline within it. You should not think of the latter two questions as “one sentence” questions; rather, your response to them should be an argumentative statement supported by paraphrased evidence from the book. In any case, be sure to fully explicate your reasoning behind the claims you make and to provide all the material that went into your thought process.

The Topics:

1. Using Berlin’s concept of positive freedom as a filter, analyze the arguments of Marx and Weber with regard to our ability to engage in processes of self-determination. Then, extend their arguments to discuss the kind of freedom they would like to see in existence and the kinds of changes needed to bring this about. Then, answer this question:

Whose analysis of the potential freedom present in the modern social order best reflects the kind of freedom you would like to see in existence, and why?

2. Using Berlin’s concept of negative liberty as a filter, analyze the arguments of Marx and Weber with regard to the type and extent of our freedom today. Then, extend their arguments to discuss the justness of this state of freedom, making sure to show how you develop each author’s idea of justness.

Whose analysis of the justness or unjustness of the current social order do you find comes closest to what you think of our current state of freedom, and why?