Responses are to be restricted to 3 pages each,  so they must be carefully crafted: part of the exercise is the compression of a strong, well-grounded position into a very small space. (Normal type size --this one [12]-- double spaced.)  They are to be written in full sentences, proper essay format, etc, not in point form. You are making an argument, and must follow its steps.

Essay #1   On readings in Sections I, II, & III due 15 Oct (or before)

Do A or B, not both.

A)  It has been argued in class that some important modern Western usages (e.g., Hobbes, Locke, Smith) of the analytical distinction of "individual" and "society" have parallels with points of view characteristic of the "Scientific Revolution". The notion is that the formulators of early modern social thought exhibit some of the same shifts in thinking and argument which are seen in the physical sciences during the same era, and that such shifts are what allow us to call both "modern". Identify and discuss two of the important points of similarity between the new work in social thought and in the physical sciences.

B)  Early defenders of what has come to be known as the Scientific Revolution often argued that science promised control over natural processes. They saw scientific knowledge as practical knowledge which could be used to bend nature to the more adequate fulfillment of consciously conceived human purposes. Did the work of  Locke and of Smith also aim at control (of society)? If so, how? If not, why not? (Note that your response here will depend centrally upon how you go about understanding "control". Use the word carefully.)