Rank vs. Wealth: Defence of Liberty

Situate 'The English Constitution' within the political and social climate of Victorian England during the Second Reform Act (1867).

Deconstruct Walter Bagehot's distinction between the 'dignified' and 'efficient' parts of government in 'The English Constitution'.

Analyze Bagehot's specific arguments regarding the House of Lords as a check against the 'worship of wealth'.

Define 'Liberty' as used by Bagehot and compare it to the modern, individual-freedom sense.

Trace the intellectual lineage of Bagehot's ideas by analyzing Edmund Burke's concept of a 'natural aristocracy' in 'Reflections on the Revolution in France'.

Analyze Adam Smith's arguments in 'The Wealth of Nations' regarding the political influence and social status of the merchant class, contrasting it with Bagehot's concerns.

Analyze John Stuart Mill's arguments for meritocracy and individual autonomy in 'On Liberty' and 'Considerations on Representative Government' as a critique of inherited status.

Contrast Burke's 'natural aristocracy' with the American conception of an 'aristocracy of virtue and talents' by analyzing the correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

Identify Alexis de Tocqueville's core arguments on the power of the majority and the nature of democratic individualism by analyzing selected chapters from 'Democracy in America'.

Define Tocqueville's concept of the 'tyranny of the majority' and explain the mechanisms by which it suppresses individual independence.

Analyze Tocqueville's arguments on the social consequences of American egalitarianism, focusing on his specific concepts of 'individualism' and materialism.

Outline the mechanics of the 'Keju' imperial examination system and the social structure of the scholar-official class in Song and Ming China.

Analyze the stated Confucian ideals and philosophical justifications for the Keju system using translated excerpts from primary sources.

Describe the basis of the Ulama's authority in the Abbasid Caliphate and their relationship with the Caliph, based on scholarly overviews and translated primary sources.

Describe the theoretical separation of duties and status among the Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya castes based on an analysis of the 'Manusmriti'.

Evaluate the Brahmin caste, as depicted in the 'Manusmriti', as a social institution designed to separate high rank from direct political and economic power.

Contrast the ideal of the caste system with its historical application and social consequences using a modern scholarly critique.

Analyze the role and status of the Samurai class in Tokugawa Japan, using texts on 'Bushidō' to explain the creation of a non-monetary value system for the ruling elite.

Synthesize how the distinct forms of status held by Chinese Scholar-Officials, Islamic Ulama, and Japanese Samurai allowed them to counterbalance political and economic power.

Analyze Friedrich Hayek's defense of tradition and spontaneous order in 'The Constitution of Liberty' to explore the relationship between individualism and non-egalitarian structures.

Analyze Robert Nozick's entitlement theory of justice in 'Anarchy, State, and Utopia' to evaluate if a libertarian framework can accommodate institutions not based on individual merit or consent.

Assess the argument that modern 'meritocracy' has created a new form of aristocracy by analyzing Michael Sandel's critique in 'The Tyranny of Merit'.

Analyze the modern central banker as a Bagehot-style 'dignified' authority, evaluating how their independence and expertise function as a check on political and plutocratic power.

Analyze constitutional courts as a non-majoritarian institution, comparing the source of judicial authority to the 'rank' of historical aristocracies.

Formulate a thesis on whether individualist philosophies are inherently antithetical to the existence of non-monetary, non-elected sources of social rank, drawing on the thinkers and historical examples studied.

Select one contemporary group (e.g., tech founders, scientific experts, cultural influencers) and articulate the sources of their social status, distinguishing between influence from wealth and from other factors.

Using your thesis, evaluate whether this selected group constitutes a modern form of 'rank' analogous to the historical examples studied.

Critically assess the impact of this modern 'rank' on individual liberty, referencing the philosophical frameworks of at least two thinkers studied (e.g., Mill, Hayek, Tocqueville).