Homework
For this homework, you will compare and contrast the values, world-views, similarities, and differences between the following approaches to governance and society in each of the following documents from the Sources of World Societies textbook:
1) The Laws of Manu (p. 39-42)
2) Confucian Maxims and Sayings (p. 49 -51)
3) Laozi offers advice on following the Way (p. 52-54)
4) Han Fei lays out the Legalist View of Good Government (p. 54-56)
Consider the following questions:
1) In these documents, what groups of people seem to have the most liberties and options in their societies? Who has the least? Why?
2) Do these documents all fit within the same genre? Are they, for example, what we would consider to be legal codes, or are they closer to a philosophy of life? Or would you consider them primarily political in nature?
3) What might account for the differences or similarities in these documents? Consider the following aspects of each society:
a) Geography
b) Religion
c) Economic status (i.e. is the economy doing well, or poorly, around the time the document was produced)
d) Where would these documents be posted, or how would they circulate? How would people hear about them, and be affected by them?
e) The stability of the political situation (i.e. is this a peaceful society, or warlike? Is it threatened by outside forces or internal instabilities?)
4) If mentioned, how does the treatment of women vary across these societies? What do you think explains differences or similarities?
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
(1) The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
(2) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
(3) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.