On June 26 1948 Shirley Jackson (1916-65) published what may be the most infamous short story in American literature. Called ‘The Lottery’, it was featured in The New Yorker, and at the time became one of the most controversial pieces ever printed, resulting in the magazine receiving more hate mail and subscription non-renewals than anything else up to that point in its history. Even Jackson’s mother shared her dislike for the story with her daughter, claiming that the younger generation was too obsessed with violence.
The story is about a fictional small town in America which conducts an annual ritual known as ‘the lottery’, whose purpose is to choose a human sacrifice to be stoned to death to ensure the community’s well-being and continued prosperity. I have used the story many times in my American Studies classes – I typically use it as a way of introducing post-WWII American society – but it only recently struck me that this story can also be used to teach certain aspects of Locke’s social contract theory, as found in his Two Treatises of Government.
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The Two Dennises
Hannah Mortimer observes a close encounter of the same kind.
Heraclitus (c.500 BC)
Harry Keith lets flow a stream of ideas about permanence and change.
Does the Cosmos Have a Purpose?
Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention.
Is Driving Fossil-Fuelled Cars Immoral?
Rufus Duits asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors.
Abelard & Carneades Yes & No
Frank Breslin says 'yes and no' to presenting both sides of an argument.
Frankl & Sartre in Search of Meaning
Georgia Arkell compares logotherapy and atheistic existentialism.
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements - before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Significance
Ruben David Azevedo tells us why, in a limitless universe, we’re not insignificant.
The Present Is Not All There Is To Happiness
Rob Glacier says don’t just live in the now.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life
Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.