What is man’s nature? How, in what ways, and to what extent has this nature become compromised, and why? And on what basis can and ought human society be reestablished in order to bring man’s external conditions into firmer accord with man’s nature and thus to set political affairs aright?

Response should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

In the introduction, writer should make a commitment, at the very least, to address the matter at hand in terms of a clear thesis statement accompanied by supporting reasons for it. While assessment must obviously be based on the overall execution of the essay (i.e., its analytic depth, breadth, and precision, along with the degree to which it coherently develops its discussion as a whole, namely, by advancing reasons for its various claims and also, whenever appropriate or desirable, examples and illustrations in the body of the essay itself), failing to provide an argument in the introduction, as described above, will most likely lead to disappointing results from the very outset.

In the body of the essay, writer should proceed to advance their introductory argument by way of clear and distinct thematic blocks. To this end, it may prove advisable for writer to indicate, oftentimes at the end of the introductory paragraph, the thematic headings of each block as the various stages through which the argument will be advanced in the body of the essay; at their very best, each thematic block will serve to fortify the introductory argument, building the case for it along every step of the way.

In the conclusion, writer should, by all means, avoid contradicting their introductory argument; at its very best, a conclusion will serve more a revelatory than merely repetitive function in relation to the introductory argument.

Essay should be roughly seven pages in length, with pages numbered (first-page number may be suppressed), lines double-spaced, and size 12 font.

Essay should include a bibliography and citations. The bibliography should include the full name of the author(s), the full title of the publication, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication. Citations may be done in whatever manner writer elects to employ (footnotes, MLA, etc.); provided each citation contains all the information necessary for the reader to locate the exact passage—for example, a footnote entry would read as follows: Kojève, 1980, Chapter 1, “In Place of an Introduction, p. 17—in the text(s) listed in the bibliography, no further information is necessary.

Response should be based on the arguments and analyses set forth in Rousseau’s Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, the Discourse on Political Economy, and On the Social Contract.

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