Reading and Argument Analysis
TUT 100 - Virtue in Animal and Machine - Professor Weinman
- Summary:
- You will write a brief analysis of your reading.
- Purpose:
- To practice
- reading and analysis skills for understanding an argument
- summarizing for "They Say" writing
- Expected Time:
- Two hours (one for close reading, another for
writing and editing)
- Due:
- 10 pm, Wednesday 25 September
- Turn In:
- Please e-mail me a copy of your responses as plain
text pasted into the message body (no attachments!).
Background
- Read Bekoff and Pierce's Chapter 3, "Cooperation."
Assignment
In this assignment you will analyze closely the argument and supporting
evidence given by Bekoff and Pierce. Please write the following for
your assigned section:
- one sentence summarizing the thrust of the section,
- one sentence stating/explaining how the section relates to one
other section (please specify by title which section you refer to),
- and one sentence stating/explaining how the section relates to the
chapter as a whole.
You should imagine these sentences as one paragraph, but breaking
them up into three separate lines explicitly will help me format our
discussion. In Thursday's class, we will discuss your analyses and
how they relate to one another.
In addition to helping us all understand the argument made by Bekoff
and Pierce, this exercise will help you practice your succinct writing
skills. Avoid beginning your work with phrases like
- "The section entitled `Cooperation as Moral Behavior' discusses
...", or
- "I think my section begins the argument as to why ..."
- "My section links ...", or
- "In summation of this section of Chapter 3 from Wild Justice,
Bekoff and Pierce argue that ...:
You may contrast these needlessly wordy starts with my examples below.
Sections
- Rebecca
- The Struggle for Existence
- Henry
- Why Cooperate?
- Robin
- The Cooperation Cluster at a Glance
- Tristan
- Some Preliminary Clarification of Terms
- Megan
- From Neural Circuits to Social Circuits
- Alfredo
- Ultimate and Proximate Explanations for Cooperative Behavior
- Gregory
- If You Smell Like Me, You Must Be My Relative
- Mona
- Mutualism
- Prof. Weinman
- Reciprocity
- Reciprocity--an under-researched phenomenon--is an exchange that
may be costly to one actor unless repaid at a later time.
- Reciprocity differs slightly from mutualism in that it requires interaction
spread over a longer period of time. (Mutualism)
- Reciprocity is one complex behavior that may be cooperative, but need
not be; conversely, cooperation need not be reciprocal.
- Ben
- Moral Emotions
- Takahiro
- Cognitive Foundations of Cooperation
- Connor
- Going Beyond the Primate Paradigm
- Prof. Weinman
- Cooperation as Moral Behavior
- Within the "broad spectrum of cooperative and altruistic behavior"
(p. 82), four threshold requirements will distinguish the moral animals.
- As a moral threshold requirement, some scientists disagree about the
sufficiency of cognitive capacities evolved for both cooperation and
competition. (Cognitive Functions of Cooperation)
- Parameters and examples throughout the chapter establish and populate
a rubric for moral cooperative behavior.
Original material is Copyright
© 2010, 2013 Jerod
Weinman, licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
All other material is property of the respective owner(s).