Homework 9 Zoo & Museum Guidelines

  
Assignment: visit either the zoo or the art museum, guides to each are located in the “readings” section here on D2L.  Answer questions from those handouts and just ass discussion of both lectures last week (Mr. Rogers & violence, bullfighting & the concept of scapegoating and blood sacrifice, problems of “pure” Liberal veganism, the naturalistic fallacy, How Christianity and Islam have acknowledged that treating animals well is part of being a good person [so what passages did I read?], the problem of how we define animal and human, how does intelligence really matter in terms of animal ethics, etc.). 
If you wanted to look at specific works of art while at the museum take a gander at “St. George Slays the Dragon” in the medieval wing (upstairs on your left, all the way down) “The Irish Question” (portrait of two “hanged” potatoes) in the American wing: past the ancient Asian art on first floor on your left, and “Sunday Dinner” also in the American wing (picture of a dead and plucked chicken” and upstairs in the European art just make a point to notice the “still life” paintings you find (is there a human counterpart to them that you can find?). –**these are simply suggestions!  If you go to the museum you can look at and discuss any piece of art related to animals, children, and plants. You can also look up these paintings on the Art Institute website for the exact room locations if you are not very familiar with the museum layout. 
The guidelines are simple: 
1.  Be sure you know what you’re talking about, literally, before you pass judgment on an idea.
*Support all ideas/opinions with some arguments/evidence/logic/examples (you don’t need to be thorough or perfect, but there needs to be some reasoning behind your claims that you discuss).  Acknowledge at least one possible counterargument and explain why you still think your perspective is better.  You need not come up with all these arguments out of thin air–if you agree with an author use their own arguments and explain what makes them so convincing in your own mind (Ex: how does Hobbes argue for self-interest and why do you think it’s a good argument?).  I am happy to help you out with this if you are unsure of how to analyze a particular argument. 
Please know that this does NOT mean you need to respect any idea I present in class–you don’t!  Some ideas really are stupid, or immoral, or lacking in credibility–even if they are popular or are a part of the generally accepted “canon” of Western philosophy or whatever else.  The point here is not to force you to accept all theories simply because they’re popular/exist but rather to have you ask yourself if you know what the theory is actually claiming before you pass judgment on it.  That’s it.  If you feel you really do have a grasp on the issue feel free to say whatever you want about it (you can be “mean” if you want, not a problem.  Call Hobbes or his theory lame, I don’t mind–but calling a theory lame is a strong statement, and as such requires strong arguments!)–just make sure you can communicate to me that you know what you’re talking about.
Of course, you are not obligated to know anything about the ideas we present in class before we discuss them, so if you don’t have an opinion or aren’t sure how to argue for or against an idea, that’s ok!  You aren’t required to share your personal beliefs, this is only if you do decide to discuss them. 
2.  Demonstrate that you have read the reading/watched the film/did the activity required for that week and have been in class for lecture in your papers.  If I can’t tell for sure that you’ve done all the work I can’t give you an A.  When in doubt, ask me if you’re on the right track via rough drafts before the due date and I’ll let you know.  You don’t need to summarize the material (although you can if you want to)–just discuss the main ideas in such a way that I know you’re doing all the work.  If you’d rather not talk about certain main ideas that’s fine IF you show me your lecture notes and reading notes! I understand not all material will be of interest to you or you might want to focus your paper on one or two ideas–again, that’s fine, just make sure you’re annotating your readings and taking thorough lecture notes to show me so I can tell that you are paying attention and doing all the work. 
That’s it!  No grammar rules or anything else except page minimum–which is 3 1/2 pages Times New Roman 12-point font, standard margins.  Again, if you have any questions or concerns just ask.  I’m happy to help.  🙂