Do you think beauty is subjective or objective?
If you hold beauty to be subjective, can you (1) respond to Reid’s defense of the objectivity of beauty (explain why you think Reid’s arguments do not stand) and (2) indicate how your conception of causes of beauty has differs from that of Burke?
Alternatively, if you hold beauty to be objective, can you (1) respond to Hume’s defense of the subjectivity of beauty (explain why you think Hume’s arguments do not stand) and (2) articulate what your conception of qualities of beauty has in common with that of Burke?
General Guidelines:
This is an argumentative essay, and such essays are comprised of a thesis and a justification or defense of the thesis. This means that you must present a clear, concise, complete, and accurate thesis statement in your first paragraph and defend it throughout your essay. Your defense is an explanation of why you believe your thesis is true. That is, you should explain and discuss your reasons for believing your thesis.
800-1000 words don’t really add to a long paper. This means that I expect your papers to be clear of any useless qualifiers (e.g., “Reid’s awesome book is about …” The “awesome” there is a useless qualifier, and it’s just taking up space), grand statements that are completely irrelevant (e.g., “we humans have been wondering about the nature of beauty since the dawn of time”), biographical information of the philosophers (e.g., “Hume is one of the greatest philosophers of all time”), and verbosity (e.g., using big words that mean nothing). Instead of doing all of this, please aim for clarity and succinctness in your writing.
Pay attention to grammar and spelling. But the most important thing is that I understand what you’re saying. If you’re writing extremely convoluted sentences, I probably won’t be able to understand your ideas, and that will affect your grade. Proofreading is necessary (whether to turn to a peer or a professional for help). A great resource is the library Writing Center (https://studentsuccess.temple.edu/programs/writing/index.html/)– make an appointment and they will help you go through your paper, which will improve your writing a lot!
When you refer to the primary texts, you must use citations: Burke argues that beauty is a quality “inn bodies by which they cause love” (Burke 83).
Don’t plagiarize!
Take a good look at the Rubrics Download Rubrics– it will help you get a better sense of how to write a good paper!
Formatting:
Include your TUID, the course title (The Meaning of the Arts), and the assignment (Midterm Paper) on the first page. Please do not include your name in the document or file name. This way, your paper can be graded anonymously.
1”-1.25” margins
12 point font
Double-spaced
Include page numbers
Include in-text citations, e.g., (Burke 85), for both direct and indirect quotes. You are limited to one direct quote.
Include a references page at the end. References should be cited using MLA formatting.
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