HON293A
Dr. Morillo

First Paper Assignment
Due: Wednesday, Feb. 7 at the start of class; printed on paper w/ an accompanying file copy either via email or on disk
Length: 5-7 pp. double-spaced, standard margins (top & bottom 1" margins; right and left 1.25")
Weight: for 15% of final grade

Interpretations of Swift's land of horses in Book IV of Gulliver's Travels are famously contentious. Some see Swift making direct reply to Plato but many disagree over  what use Swift makes of the philosopher's Republic.  Since you have read all of Republic, you are in a good position to enter this fray. 
Read Gulliver's fourth voyage (Bk. IV ) and answer this question:

How would Plato evaluate Swift's later imaginary state of Houyhnmhhm's world? Would he see it as an ideal like Kallipolis and therefore what we now call utopian, or as the antithesis of any ideal for life, a dystopia?  Or something in between?  Argue for whichever position you think is valid, and then choose your evidence carefully. You cannot possibly cover all of the details, so look for best-case compelling evidence for your overall claim, your thesis.  This paper requires no outside research beyond the two primary texts of Plato and Swift; however, if you wish to consult sources be sure to keep their ideas subordinate to your own ideas and voice in the paper, and be sure to reference and document any such sources. 

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