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Philosophy of Art and Beauty

Assignments

Short Paper II

DUE: Monday, March 30, 12:00 noon Pacific Standard Time

LENGTH: 600-1000 words (ordinarily, this would print out to 3-5 pages, double-spaced, with normal margins and type sizes)

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER: Please submit your paper as a file attached to an e-mail message. Step-by-step instructions are available on-line by clicking here.

When you name the file on your paper, please give it a name distinctive to you: e.g., smith.wp or jones.doc Please do not name it Paper or 361 or a name others in the class are likely to use. The extension on your file name (the last three letters to the right of the period) should indicate the word-processing program you are using (.wp = WordPerfect, .doc = Word, .txt = text, etc.)

CONTENT: Please pick one (and only one) of the questions on the list below (#1-6). Please do not do any outside research beyond the assigned reading in the question you choose, including the discussion questions, the hyperlinks in the readings and questions, and the class on-line discussion of those readings.

  1. Plato: Analyze the adequacy (the "explanatory power") of the ideas in the assigned reading on Plato ("The Ion" and "The Republic") according to their usefulness in understanding two works of art, which you select as part of this assignment. Using the resources of the World Wide Web, (a) find one work on-line which is adequately explained and understood using Plato's theories, and (b) find one work on-line which is not adequately explained and understood using Plato's theories. To find works of art on line (in any medium), use as a starting point the sites listed on the class "Resources" page. (On the directory on the left of the class site, click "resources," then click "WWW resources.") Your essay should explicitly demonstrate your thorough understanding of Plato's ideas in the assigned readings, as developed in the discussion questions and the class on-line discussion group. Your answer should also include brief verbal descriptions (1-2 paragraphs) of both of the works you choose. Please include a citation to the works you are discussing by providing the "URL" ("Uniform Resource Locator" - "Web-address"). Try to give your reader a sense of what it is like to see/hear/experience the works you select, to help focus your analysis of how they are understood and appreciated using Plato's theories.
  2. Aristotle: Analyze the adequacy (the "explanatory power") of the ideas in the assigned reading on Aristotle according to their usefulness in understanding two works of art, which you select as part of this assignment. Using the resources of the World Wide Web, (a) find one work on-line which is adequately explained and understood using Aristotle's theories, and (b) find one work on-line which is not adequately explained and understood using Aristotle's theories. To find works of art on line (in any medium), use as a starting point the sites listed on the class "Resources" page. (On the directory on the left of the class site, click "resources," then click "WWW resources.") Your essay should explicitly demonstrate your thorough understanding of Aristotle's ideas in the assigned readings, as developed in the discussion questions and the class on-line discussion group. Your answer should also include brief verbal descriptions (1-2 paragraphs) of both of the works you choose. Please include a citation to the works you are discussing by providing the "URL" ("Uniform Resource Locator" - "Web-address"). Try to give your reader a sense of what it is like to see/hear/experience the works you select, to help focus your analysis of how they are understood and appreciated using Aristotle's theories.
  3. Clive Bell: Test the explanatory adequacy of Bell's theory by analyzing its effectiveness in understanding the examples in Paragraph #4 in his article. Hyperlinks are set up for you to look at many of them. Use Web "search engines" to see if you can find on-line examples of others. [Click "search" on your browser to get a page of search engines. If you have never used one before, click "help" on the search engine pages to see how to search for specific things.] You should explicitly consider the key elements of Bell's theory, as developed in the discussion questions and our class discussion, and ask whether the theory adequately explains key features you want to understand about these works. E.g., has Bell adequately identified the "essence" of art in these works as "significant form"? Is this "significant form" effectively understood as that which triggers an "aesthetic emotion" in appreciating these works? If you find examples of these works on-line, please provide the "URL" ("Uniform Resource Locator" - "Web-address"). You do not need to consider every single example of art on his list, but should consider a substantial number of them (at least four). Your answer should demonstrate your understanding of his theories and your ability to apply them explicitly to the works of art in question.
  4. Leo Tolstoy: Answer Question #13 on the list of discussion questions at the end of the reading on Tolstoy. You are using the short story he discusses to "test" the adequacy of Tolstoy's ideas. What aspects of his theories work effectively in understanding the status of short stories as art and evaluating their quality? In what ways are his theories inadequate in this understanding ?
  5. Arthur Danto: [This question should be attempted only by students with some background in philosophy and the history of art.] Explain and analyze what Danto means by the "Problem of Historical Modalities" in his article "Works in Progress: Art and the Historical Modalities" (assigned reading for March 23). Develop one example from contemporary art (in any medium) on the WWW which seems to support his proposal. Develop a second example from contemporary art on the WWW which is not adequately explained by his proposal. Be sure to explain why these examples illustrate your analysis of Danto's ideas.
  6. Joseph Margolis: [This question should be attempted only by students with extensive background in philosophy.] In the assigned reading for March 23, explain and analyze what Margolis proposes as a shift away from modernism/essentialism/objectivism to postmodernism/historicism/pragmatism. Then, use Margolis' ideas to critique the theories in the assigned reading on at least two of the following: (1) Plato OR Aristotle, (2) Bell, (3) Tolstoy.

WHICHEVER QUESTION YOU CHOOSE: In our class discussions, we have worked on elements of good reasoning: e.g., clarifying terminology, looking for supporting examples and counter-examples, making explicit the assumptions which are implicit and perhaps questionable. Your essay should demonstrate your development of these good reasoning skills. Your essay should also explicitly use the ideas in the article by the philosopher/theorist you choose.

Your essay should adhere to good standards for composition. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Grading will consider the comprehensiveness of your discussion, the range of reasons discussed, your demonstrated and detailed understanding of the material in Unit II (the writer you select and the reasoning skills we have worked on throughout the unit), and the variety of properties of the art that you explore.

GRADING: This paper is worth up to 12 points

ASSIGNMENT OF POINTS:

    • A+: 12 points
    • A: 11 points
    • A-: 10 points
    • B+: 9 points
    • B: 8 points
    • B-: 7 points

    • C+: 6 points
    • C: 5 points
    • C-: 4 points
    • D+: 3 points
    • D: 2 points
    • D-: 1 point

    LATE PAPERS: Late papers will be accepted for up to 48 hours after the deadline, but will receive an automatic 4 point deduction. No papers will be accepted after April 1, 12:00 noon PST.

    TECHNICAL EMERGENCIES: Please plan ahead. The Internet is full of surprises, not all of them happy ones.

    • Don't wait until the last minute to look at the Web sites for the assignment - they might be off-line just when you need to see them.
    • Please don't wait until the last minute to figure out how to send the paper as an e-mail attachment. If you want to, you can send me a near-final draft a few days ahead, just to be sure it's in on time, and send me your final version by the deadline.
    • If you have a technical emergency beyond your control on the day of the deadline, you can meet the deadline by faxing a print-out of your paper to the department fax: (562) 985-7135, but you must still send me your paper as an e-mail attachment as soon as possible - preferably the next day. This option should be reserved for extraordinary emergencies.
    • If we have a major disaster on the Long Beach campus that knocks out the entire computer system or electrical power (El Nino flooding? 7.0 earthquake?), I will obviously extend the deadline until we're back on line.

    Questions?

    e-mail: jvancamp@csulb.edu

    Julie Van Camp

    Copyright Julie C. Van Camp 1998

    Last updated: March 14, 1998