Compare and contrast the theories of civil society developed by Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx.

Words: 315
Pages: 2
Subject: Premium Writing

Directions: Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should be 3-5 pages. Pick the question and I will send you the readings!

1. At the end of the Enlightenment, the problem of political legitimacy was made more urgent by the emergence in Rousseau and Kant of new conceptions of individual freedom, which would inspire the political and intellectual upheaval of the revolutionary era. Analyze and compare the ways in which three of the following sought to reconcile individual freedom with the common interest and the demands for political order, authority and stability: Rousseau, Kant, the French revolutionaries, Burke, the Romantics, and Hegel.
2. Drawing on the assigned class readings (Berman’s interpretation of Goethe’s Faust, the German Romantics, and their English counterparts), explain the philosophical, religious and aesthetic concerns that preoccupied the Romantics and show how they translated their cultural and religious insights into aesthetic imagery. Focus in particular on the role of feeling, the imagination, and genius in their work.
3. Compare and contrast the theories of civil society developed by Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx. What did they see as the forces driving the development of civil society? What problems, tensions, or conflicts did they see arising from the interaction of individuals freed from the restraints of traditional society? How did they think that these problems could be resolved?