PLEASE USE THE PDF AS THE ONLY REFERENCE TO THESE 2QUESTIONS. PLEASE
1) Applied Philosophy (200XP)
Format: Writing
Many people tend to think that philosophy is an abstract field of knowledge that is not limited by the
real world. However, a lot of philosophy deals with the concrete material world. The applied philosophy
assignment requires students to apply the theoretical texts we covered this semester to the real world.
What can X’s philosophy reveal about the contemporary world? Why is X’s philosophy relevant to
today’s problems? In what ways?
How to get full XP for the assignment:
1. Pick a philosophical text/idea we covered.
2. Briefly summarize said philosophical text/idea
3. Research a contemporary concrete question, event, invention, etc… that is relevant to our world
situation – your question can be anything (about the elections, democracy, colonizing mars,
designing babies, the nature of beauty, whether anti-vaxxers are reasonable etc….), the only
requirement is that it must be relevant to our contemporary life (no questions about the
distant future or past).
4. Explain the context behind your question by utilizing resources like journal or news-paper
articles.
5. Explain how the selected philosophy helps us understand the philosophical elements behind
your selected situation. – “How does philosopher “P” help us understand the complicated
nature and depth of this question?”
OR
Use the philosophy to argue for a specific answer or solution to your concrete situation – “How
does Philosopher “P”, help us conclude that “X””
2) Close Reading (300XP)
Format: Writing
A close reading is the reverse of a summary. While a summary is a shorter representation of the overall
text, a close reading is a larger representation of a specific part of a text. You must do a close reading of a
text assigned in class.
Your close reading must:
1. Select a passage (phrase or paragraph) in a text. The passage must be at the top of the page.
2. Explain what the passage means by relating it to the main thesis of the text.
3. Detail the argument that supports the selected passage.
4. Explain the importance of the passage and how it fits and operates within the larger text.
5. Define any key concept of ideas that are either in the passage or needed to explain the passage.
6. Provide an analysis of the passage.
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