How does Augustine’s interpretation of Genesis 1, in particular on the goodness of creation, the centrality of freewill and the createdness of time, give birth to a new kind of individual and a new community. Use Holland’s engagement with Paul to buttress your argument. How could the nature of matter or bodies have an effect on human thriving and optimistic encounters with other cultures or world views?
To answer these, I expect you to engage and use quotations or specific references to Augustine’s City of God and appropriate chapters of Holland’s Dominion (hint: Ahura Mazda; Corinth; Galatia).
Guidelines:
-approx. 2000 words. 12 pt Times New Roman. Double spaced.
– Be sure that you have saved your file in the required format (last name, first name, Phil 339 Essay 1) as failure to do so will result in a deduction of 1 grade increment (e.g. a B+ would become a B, etc.)
– You are expected to have an introduction with a thesis and an outline in that introduction which will outline for me your argument. It is expected that you will make quotations or direct reference to the text and so you must use footnotes or in text references (Augustine, City of God, XI, 2)
– you will upload this to the dropbox on eclass
– plagiarism is almost an Evil Substance and more germane to you, it is also against university policy. Please review it. If you have any possible doubts or concerns in any way, send me an email. When in doubt, always footnote and list sources.
– The late penalty is 1 grade increment per day. If, for example, a paper was due on April
2nd at 11:59 pm, and I did not receive that paper until April 3rd at 12:10 am, the assignment would be considered 2 days late and would receive a deduction of 2 grade increments so that, if the paper would originally have received a B, it would now receive a grade of C+.
GENERAL POINTS:
-Do not use contractions, etc. (Dont do it!)
-Do not agonize over your essay title. A bad paper has never been saved by a great title, and an unimaginative title will be forgotten if the paper is clear and insightful.
-Do not say that philosophers believe or feel things. Philosophers assert, argue, claim, etc. Philosophy begins by calling mere opinion into question.
-Relatedly, it is not all subjective and I dont want to know what your mere opinions are. I want you to provide a clear and persuasive account and interpretation that convinces me that your account is right, based on the text and tightly argued reasons!
-Write as simply and clearly as possible. Do you own a thesaurus? Throw it in the fire! In all seriousness, students sometimes make the mistake of thinking that they should try to sound philosophical when writing a philosophy paper, which they understand as using convoluted sentences and big words. In general, you should try to write in such a manner that someone who has not read the course material, or at least has not read it recently, would be able to follow your account. (Granted, you can assume I am more familiar with the material than this, but I need to see that you understand it.)
-Make sure to proofread your paper. Since you all use word-processors that have built in spell-checkers, there is no excuse for obvious typographical errors. Merely doing a spell-check before handing in an assignment, however, is not sufficient. Remember that I can only assign a grade to your assignment based on what is on the page, and have no other access to what you are thinking. Given this, you should make sure to carefully reread your assignment.
-Hint: We all tend to get a bit stuck in our own heads at times, so I often advise people to read their paper out-loud to themselves. You might feel silly doing this, but it is a very good way to make sure that what you have written makes sense. As a rule, if when you read something out-loud it sounds weird or doesnt make much sense to you, it wont make sense to your reader either!
-I do not mind which citation style you use (MLA, Chicago, etc.), so long as you tell me what page you are referring to (e.g., p. 37.), or, if you are not using the ‘course text’, the book, chapter, etc.
-If you only use the course textbook, you do not need to provide a bibliography.
-You are not, then, required, expected, or encouraged to use secondary sources. After all, the point is to think through the text for yourself. Why should you trust someone elses interpretation? There is a LOT of garbage out there, either by genuine academics or by these sparknotes like websites. For the love of all that is holy and unholy, avoid them. I want to save you time and energy and probably also your soul.
-Nonetheless, if you do use or consulted secondary sources (including but not limited to books, articles, and internet pages) make sure to (a) clearly provide an in-text citation in your essay itself so that I know precisely which ideas you are getting from sources outside our readings and lectures for this class, and (b) provide a bibliography that clearly lists all secondary sources you have consulted. Failure to do so will result in plagiarism proceedings with the Dean’s Office.
Show me you have dug into the text! Be on the quest yourself!
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