Core 102
The Idea of Democracy
Roger Williams University
CORE.102.01 LLC: 11:00 -  11:50  MWF,  GHH  208
CORE.102.11 ELI:   12:00 - 12:50  MWF,  GHH  208
Fall Semester, 2014
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office: GHH 215
Hours:  TH 11-1:00, F, 2:00-4:00,
Or By Appointment
Phone:  ext 3230
E-mail  mswanson@rwu.edu
For Monday, October  6
For Wednesday, October 8 Can't We all  Just Get Along?
For Friday, October 10
I think that all you bright people probably are beginning to recognize that several themes have been emerging in the discussions of this course: 

One new idea you'll encounter in this essay is the commons.   You may be somewhat familiar with the term.  Bristol has a commons.  Boston has a commons.  Roger Williams has several:  most of you encounter the Upper Commons and the Lower Commons several times a day.  For that matter, Massachusetts is a Commonwealth and so is Pennsylvania.

After exploring what government means in a state of equality, locke goes on to  explore the idea of Property. Locke asks what gives a person the right to claim to own something. The discussion which follows from this question is at the core of liberal capitalism and the democratic institutions which are related to it.
Note:
Learn a Little More . . .


John Locke, like all good enlightenment figures, believed that things humans made were superior to things as found in the world of nature.  This includes hair, which explains the dress wig you see in his portrait to the right.  Click on his portrait for biographical information.  You'll also see another image of him, this time in his natural hair.

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# 16, On Property and Government by John Locke

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Reminder:  If you're planning on taking advantage of the Optional preview for Paper One, it must be submitted on Bridges by Midnight, tonight.
Boston Common (above) looks pretty park-like now.  150 years ago families living nearby would  graze cattle, goats, and  sheep on it.  The children would take them  down to the Common on the way to school, and pick  them back up on the way back home. 
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Roger Williams’ Letter to the Town of Providence is most often seen as a plea for freedom of conscience, and it certainly does make a powerful statement in that regard.  Notice, however, that along with a strong regard for the rights of individual freedoms, Williams offers some guidelines regarding an individual’s responsibilities to the community, as well.  The metaphor Williams uses is one which sailors would all understand.  We’ll see if we can fathom it out as well.
In our own day, within our nation and among the other nations we see many controversies which are religious in nature, and these controversies have political repercussions.  (Think, for example about the current political campaign’s issues regarding abortion, or the present of what many call islamophobia in our society.

God requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be inacted and inforced in any civill state...true civility and Christianity may both flourish in a state or Kingdome, notwithstanding the permission of divers and contrary consciences, either of Jew or Gentile.
Roger Williams

Learn a Little More. . . .

No reliable likeness of Roger Williams has been found.  His exact birth and death dates are also not known.  What we see is an idealized vision based upon the artist's attitude toward the subject.  Click on the statue of Roger Williams to the left and find out about his importance in the history of religious freedom and freedom of conscience in this country.
Locke's concerns weren't just academic.  England had undergone generations of civil strife with religious undertones.  A woodcut from Fox's Book of Martyrs, an early account of the religious persecution is presented above.  Click on it to locate other similar illustrations.
Once we establish that there are certain roles for Government, whether these are active or passive, positive, or negative, then the question remains where the rights of the individual and the rights of government intersect.  What can the government legitimately require of its citizens, and when is it appropriate to coerce them?
A Change of Plans
We've come to a turning point in the course.  We've investigated reason, remembering that Cicero argued that all humans were capable of thinking critically and rationally about things, and Kant argued that it takes couraged to do this.  We've invistigated the idea of rights, natural and civil, and traced thinking about rights back to the 17th century.  We've seen theories that government has functions regarding both the preservation of rights from those who would use their strength to abuse individuals (Hobbes) and also responsibilties to assist those in need (Winthrop) or as FDR called it "Freedom from Want".  And we've also studied declarations that these rights are Unversal, a suggestion which Cicero suggested more than two millenia ago.
From time to time, I've asked "how are we doing"? with regard to rights in our day.  We're going to spend a few weeks taking a look at two groups which have had their rights abused within the American Culture, and perhaps elsewhere in the world:  Slaves, and women.  We'll begin by taking a look towards emancipation and the slow march toward equal rights for African Americans.  Shortly, after, we'll see women take up the cause for their rights, starting just before the 19th century.  To prepare for this, I've decided to show us a video Journey through Slavery ep 1/4 - Terrible Transformation.   It takes longer than our period allows, so we'll continue it on Tuesday.