Philosophy 318 – Aesthetics

Philosophy 318 – Aesthetics Directions: Write a philosophical paper defendin" rel="nofollow">ing your own position regardin" rel="nofollow">ing one of the followin" rel="nofollow">ing topics. You may write on a related issue only with prior in" rel="nofollow">instructor consultation and approval. All work should be typed and proofread carefully. You are not to attend to any resources outside of this course in" rel="nofollow">in the writin" rel="nofollow">ing of this paper. The work will be graded generally on the correctness of your understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of the issues in" rel="nofollow">involved, the depth and origin" rel="nofollow">inality of your own thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing concernin" rel="nofollow">ing the issues, your anticipation of and response to strong possible objections to your views, and the lucid, compact expression of those views. Your claims with regard to the thin" rel="nofollow">inkers should be accompanied by textual evidence. Specific criteria for the writin" rel="nofollow">ing and gradin" rel="nofollow">ing of this paper are available in" rel="nofollow">in the documents on writin" rel="nofollow">ing philosophy papers. The papers should be 7 full pages in" rel="nofollow">in length. PAPER TOPIC - Hume’s thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing on art is essentially correct, or fundamentally flawed - The book that you should get the in" rel="nofollow">information from is called Art and It’s significance, third edition Writin" rel="nofollow">ing Philosophy Papers What is a philosophy paper? Essentially it is a demonstration of your critical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing. For the purposes of this course, these are the basic characteristics of critical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing: 1. identify a basic issue 2. clarify meanin" rel="nofollow">ings 3. uncover assumptions 4. present and evaluate reasons, evidence, arguments 5. consider alternatives 6. draw warranted conclusions Here are some guidelin" rel="nofollow">ines to thin" rel="nofollow">ink about for your papers: 1. Be sure you have an accurate grasp of the philosophical issue in" rel="nofollow">involved. If you are not sure about the position under discussion, you should consult with the in" rel="nofollow">instructor durin" rel="nofollow">ing office hours. Be sure to have read the relevant sections in" rel="nofollow">in the texts carefully before you begin" rel="nofollow">in to thin" rel="nofollow">ink. 2. Delimit your topic. Often topics will be assigned, but this still in" rel="nofollow">involves establishin" rel="nofollow">ing your own position on a subject. It is usually better to say somethin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">interestin" rel="nofollow">ing and important about one area of a theory and be convin" rel="nofollow">incin" rel="nofollow">ing than it is to try to address the entire topic in" rel="nofollow">in a vague and half-hearted way and fail to make any serious contribution to evaluatin" rel="nofollow">ing it. In a critical paper, you need not completely demolish a philosopher’s position; you may simply amend it or make it more complex, e.g., show that it is only partly true. 3. You will not be graded on whether the in" rel="nofollow">instructor agrees with your conclusions. Set aside strategies about how to please or outwit your in" rel="nofollow">instructor – such strategies have all been tried and are immediately apparent. Commit yourself to writin" rel="nofollow">ing a philosophy paper. If you write a paper I agree with but offer no defense, then you will get a poor grade. If you write a paper I completely disagree with but you defend it thoroughly and in" rel="nofollow">intelligently, then you will get a good grade. The goal is to determin" rel="nofollow">ine what you really thin" rel="nofollow">ink on an issue that in" rel="nofollow">interests you and to try to argue for your conclusions as well as you can. 4. Again" rel="nofollow">in beware of merely statin" rel="nofollow">ing your conclusions or beliefs without offerin" rel="nofollow">ing any defense. You need to offer as many good arguments as you can muster and as much evidence as you can discover for your ideas. You may fin" rel="nofollow">ind it helpful to use your classmates as soundin" rel="nofollow">ing boards; talk to them about your ideas, get their criticisms, and try to improve your own arguments after the discussion. This class is not graded on a curve, so there is no penalty for helpin" rel="nofollow">ing each other out on take-home work. In prin" rel="nofollow">inciple you can all get the highest grade if you all do well. 5. You cannot write a good paper overnight. It takes at least a week of careful thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing, writin" rel="nofollow">ing, revisin" rel="nofollow">ing, and rethin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing to write a good paper. Do not delay. Sketch your ideas well in" rel="nofollow">in advance, weigh alternative arguments, consider different lin" rel="nofollow">ines of defense and attack, imagin" rel="nofollow">ine relative examples, and thin" rel="nofollow">ink of possible objections and replies well in" rel="nofollow">in advance of actual writin" rel="nofollow">ing. Philosophical papers suffer most from procrastin" rel="nofollow">ination. Do not turn in" rel="nofollow">in last min" rel="nofollow">inute ideas cooked at high flame under pressure. “Microwave thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing” often fails to thaw the issue. Let your thoughts simmer before writin" rel="nofollow">ing. 6. Philosophical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing improves by bein" rel="nofollow">ing criticized. Do not over-react to the amount of criticism your work draws. Instead, write your paper in" rel="nofollow">in anticipation of such criticism. Critical feedback forces your thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing to advance, and your abilities will be pushed to their limit. Do not be in" rel="nofollow">intimidated by an in" rel="nofollow">initial poor grade or become complacent with an in" rel="nofollow">initial favorable one. Concentrate on the substantive comments made on your work. Intellectual responsibility and maturity requires the critical defense of one’s most deeply held beliefs. 7. The main" rel="nofollow">in criteria used in" rel="nofollow">in evaluatin" rel="nofollow">ing papers are: its clarity and felicity, the coherence of its general organization, its in" rel="nofollow">insightfulness and creativity, the quality of the arguments, the adequacy and in" rel="nofollow">incisiveness of the treatment of other positions, the quality of the objections raised and in" rel="nofollow">intensity of effort made to provide answers to them, and the general in" rel="nofollow">intellectual in" rel="nofollow">interest and origin" rel="nofollow">inality of the paper in" rel="nofollow">in the context of the issues raised by the course. The gradin" rel="nofollow">ing criteria used are implicit in" rel="nofollow">in the characteristics of critical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing. Basically your work is assessed for the quality of critical thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing you demonstrate, and the degree of searchin" rel="nofollow">ingness that your paper reveals. 1. In the first paragraph, you should in" rel="nofollow">introduce the topic of your paper. This in" rel="nofollow">includes summarizin" rel="nofollow">ing the philosophical issue at question in" rel="nofollow">in a way that would make sense to a general educated audience, but someone who has not been in" rel="nofollow">in this particular philosophy class. Also in" rel="nofollow">in this paragraph, you should provide a statement of your own position regardin" rel="nofollow">ing the topic. This assumes you have thought through the issue to a sufficient depth to have your own position. This paragraph should also in" rel="nofollow">include a brief mention of the arguments you will be forwardin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in support of your position and the argument strategy you will utilize. This sets the table for your reader to anticipate your reasonin" rel="nofollow">ing and look for it in" rel="nofollow">in the body of the paper. 2. The second paragraph should be a full articulation of your first argument in" rel="nofollow">in support of your position. Do not immediately entertain" rel="nofollow">in objections. Give your position full voice here. 3. In the third paragraph, you should try to raise the strongest objection you can thin" rel="nofollow">ink of regardin" rel="nofollow">ing your first argument. This is generally the weakest part of student writin" rel="nofollow">ing. No not merely go through the motions and raise perfunctory objections. You simply must be able to anticipate and counter strong objections to your thin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing. Do not merely state it in" rel="nofollow">in a sentence or two; let it breathe in" rel="nofollow">in the course of an entire paragraph. This is the only way the reader will be able to adjudicate fairly between the views. 4. In the fourth paragraph, you need to fully respond to the objection raised to your first argument, and overcome it. If you fin" rel="nofollow">ind that you are unable to overcome it, you may wish to begin" rel="nofollow">in your essay anew and adopt the position you could not overcome as the new position you wish to defend as correct. 5. In the fifth paragraph, you should articulate your second argument, again" rel="nofollow">in givin" rel="nofollow">ing it full voice in" rel="nofollow">in the course of the paragraph. 6. In the sixth paragraph, you should raise strong objections to your second argument. Follow it through as far as you thin" rel="nofollow">ink necessary. 7. In the seventh paragraph, you should respond to and overcome the second objection. ­Synthesis    

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