Phil 102 – The Good & the Beautiful 
[ Spring 2012 ]

PAPER #4

Details : 5-6 pp. (typed, in 1.5 spacing*).  Submit in hard copy, not as an email attachment (unless previously agreed). Use in-text references such as (S, p.18).  / ( * to get 1.5 spacing, select the text, hold down Ctrl and type ‘5’ ) 

Due :  Thursday, May 10, 1:00 p.m.  Deliver papers to my mailbox in CH 300. 

Description :  Write an essay one of of the questions below.  In each case, make use of the various concepts and distinctions discussed by Scruton.  Don't limit yourself to one part of the book, or to one chapter only, but demonstrate your ability to interrelate different parts of his discussion.  Use examples to illustrate wherever possible, both Scruton's as well as your own. 

Option 1:  Using an example of your own choosing (as requested in class), make a convincing argument for its 'beauty' or aesthetic value.  That is, analyze and support your judgment about its beauty.  Also, consider various challenges that might confront your claims and respond to them.  

Option 2:  Are aesthetic judgments objective, subjective, both, or neither?  How do they differ from expressions of  preference?  How do they involve reason, and how are they uniquely human? 

Option 3:  What is the difference between eros and obscenity (pornography), between erotic imagination and erotic fantasy?  What constitutes obscenity, and how does it differ from nudity, nakedness, sexuality, lust, and the like? 

Option 4:  Why is beauty important to human life?  How is it related to truth, goodness (morality), and religion (the sacred)? 

Option 5:  What is 'transgressive' art, and 'kitschy' art, and how do both of these involve a sort of 'profanation' or 'desecration' (religious terms)?  According to Scruton, how does the loss of aesthetic experience which they further entail a kind of dehumanization? 

Option 6:  Your choice.  If there is another topic of interest that you would like to discuss, describe it briefly and contact the professor for approval before you begin.