Analysis of Science and the Modern World
Alfred North Whitehead in his lectures collected in Science and the Modern World (1925) discusses the historical origins of science. The paper is to analyze Whitehead\u2019s views on science and apply those views to at least three of the movies listed in the Project Description. You may approach your application of Whitehead\u2019s views to these films in any manner you believe is both appropriate and interesting, including in your discussion the supporting and contrasting views of other thinkers. The essay should specifically address the underlying assumptions of Whitehead\u2019s views and how, as such, these views reflect upon and define what it means to be human.
Alfred North Whitehead in his lectures collected in Science and the Modern World (1925) discusses the historical origins of science. Your paper is to analyze Whitehead\u2019s views on science and apply those views to at least three of the movies that we\u2019ve watched, discussed or will watch in class. You may approach your application of Whitehead\u2019s views to these films in any manner you believe is both appropriate and interesting, including in your discussion the supporting and contrasting views of other thinkers. Your essay should specifically address the underlying assumptions of Whitehead\u2019s views and how, as such, these views reflect upon and define what it means to be human.
By way of example only, in his introductory chapter 1 as to the origins of science, Whitehead concludes with the following observation:
\u201cFaith in reason is the trust that the ultimate nature of things lie together in a harmony which excludes mere arbitrariness. It is the faith that at the base of things we shall not find mere arbitrary mystery\u2026..To experience this faith\u2026is to know that, while the harmony of logic lies upon the universe as an iron necessity, the aesthetic harmony stands before it as living ideal moulding the general flux in its broken progress towards finer, subtler issues.\u201d
Do the movies that you\u2019ve selected correspond to, or represent a contrasting view with, what Whitehead identifies as \u201cfaith in reason\u201d and \u201carbitrary mystery\u201d? Which, if any, of them express what Whitehead describes as \u201caesthetic harmony\u201d and how? In speaking of \u201cfaith in reason\u201d and \u201caesthetic harmony\u201d, how does Whitehead implicitly define what it means to be \u201chuman\u201d?
Alternatively, you might, for example, wish to consider Whitehead\u2019s views on the \u201cromantic reaction\u201d as described in chapter 5, where Whitehead concludes:
\u201c[T]he nature-poetry of the romantic revival was a protest on behalf of the organic view of nature, and also a protest against the exclusion of value from the essence of matter of fact\u2026..The romantic reaction was a protest on behalf of value.\u201d
What does it mean to protest on behalf of an organic view of nature or value? Do these films \u201cprotest\u201d in their depiction of artificial intelligence?
Both style and substance are important. Your paper should clearly and succinctly articulate a thesis at the beginning, in particular, a summary of Whitehead\u2019s view under discussion, and then develop that thesis in a manner that is well organized, insightful, and persuasive. Your paper must also be grounded in an analysis of three (or more) films, including their visuals, plots and dialog.
Moreover, your paper must include (1) text citations in the form of endnotes, (2) a bibliography of reliable sources, and (3) screenshots (with descriptive captions) as an appendix.
Your text citations may consist of either in-text citations or endnotes (but not footnotes). A bibliography alone does not suffice, since it does not indicate what sources provided which insights or ideas. Where appropriate, you should quote Whitehead, movie dialog and third party sources, though your quotes should normally be no more than two or three sentences with longer quotes placed in your endnotes.
Your appendix of screenshots should consist of images taken from the movies that illustrate points developed in your paper, not simply describe visually scenes from the movies. You should include at least nine screenshots; more are welcome. Moreover, each screenshot should be accompanied by a short caption that explains the reason for its inclusion. Your screenshots should act as a separate \u2013 but short \u2013 visual essay supporting the thesis of your paper.
Excluding endnotes, bibliography and screenshots, your paper must be at least 6 pages but no more than 8 pages in length, double-spaced, in 12-point font and with one-inch margins.<\/p>\n
Movie List (Choose 3):
Film: Metropolis (1927)
Film: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Film: Forbidden Planet (1956)
Film: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Film: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
Film: Blade Runner (1982) (\u201cFinal Cut\u201d version)
Film: Robocop (1987)
Film: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Film: The Matrix (1999)
Film: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Film: Moon (2009)
Film: Her (2013)
Film: Ex Machina (2015)<\/p>\n
Possible Sources (You can use others if you want):
K. Capek\u2019s R.U.R. (1920)
Plato\u2019s Republic, Book IV (\u201cThe Allegory of the Cave\u201d)
Hoberman\u2019s Trapped in the Total Cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n
B. Aldiss\u2019 \u201cSuper-Toys Last All Summer Long\u201d
W.B. Yeats\u2019 \u201cThe Stolen Child\u201d;
C. Wright Mills\u2019 White Collar: The American Middle Class, Chapt. 10 (\u201cWork\u201d).<\/p>\n
N. Carr\u2019s \u201cIs Google Making Us Stupid?\u201d The Atlantic, July 1, 2008
E.M. Forster\u2019s \u201cThe Machine Stops\u201d (1909); R. Frost\u2019s \u201cMowing\u201d (1913)
Yeats\u2019 \u201cThe Second Coming\u201d (1919).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Analysis of Science and the Modern World Alfred North Whitehead in his lectures collected in Science and the Modern World (1925) discusses the historical origins of science. The paper is to analyze Whitehead\u2019s views on science and apply those views Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}