Midterm instructions
Note: This midterm project allows for multiple choices, and your instructor may add more prompt options. Try to showcase your knowledge of the philosophical theory in question (say, Edmund Burke and the sublime), quote from the course Philosophy textbook, and answer the question in full. The exact percentage that this project weighs will be determined by your instructor.
Note: You may either compose a written response (three to four pages) or create an oral recording (YouTube link; five to eight minutes) for either option. Do not have a thesis statement, an introductory paragraph, or a conclusion section; just launch into your commentary.
Option #1: Art and Aesthetics – New Orleans Museum of Art
(Oral or written)
The New Orleans Museum of Art has the preeminent collection of art, in various media, for the state of Louisiana. Meanwhile, this Introduction to Philosophy class has just studied a unit centered “Art and Asethetics.” For this option, find several pieces of art within the online collection from NOMA.
New Orleans Museum of Art. Online Collection. Web. Accessed 12 June 2023
Then, correlate at least two of the readings from “Art and Aesthetics” (Plato, Hume, Kant, Burke). For example, you could discuss Plato’s theories on ‘painting’ to a particular painting or series of artworks from the museum collection. What might Plato say about these artworks in light of these museum paintings? One good option may be to find a painting of a particular scene that evokes Burke’s idea of the sublime, though you’re not required to do so. Find at least two pieces of art for applying these ideas on art and aesthetics.
Option #2: Rejoinder to Rene Descartes, Meditation I:
(Oral or written)
Consider Descartes “Meditations on First Philosophy, Meditations I,” specifically, numbers 5-12.
In this section from “Epistemology,” Descartes ventures into how we know things and how we can differentiate between the fantastic and real. These seven, numbered sections cover such topics as how one differentiates between the dreamworld and the real world, whether there is a God who provides us with an illusory world, and much more. First, read these five sections. Then, for at least three of the “Meditations” sections, provide an answer to Descartes’ questions on how one can differentiate between illusion and reality. Begin by explaining Descartes’ points in the sections you’ve highlighted, and the either compose or speak a response to how one could know the things Descartes is discussing. (Perhaps address his notion of “the malignant Demon” [#12]) Please try to bracket off your own belief system on religion, etc., in creating your response; and try to answer objectively and seriously.