In an essay of 1500-2000 words analyze the following passages in light of your understanding of the texts from which they come and of issues raised in the course’s tutorials and colloquia:
…I may indeed contradict myself now and then; but truth… I do not contradict.… There is no one who, if he listens to himself, does not discover in himself a pattern all his own, a ruling pattern, which struggles against education and against the tempest of the passions that oppose it. (Montaigne, “Of Repentance,” in Selections from the Essays, pp. 75, 83)
…I noticed that, while I wanted thus to think that everything was false, it necessarily had to be the case that I, who was thinking this, was something. And noticing that this truth – I think, therefore I am – was so firm and so assured that all the most extravagant suppositions of the skeptics were incapable of shaking it, I judged that I could accept it without scruple as the first principle of the philosophy I was seeking. (Descartes, Discourse on Method, p. 18)
Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. The whole universe need not arm itself to crush him; a vapor, a drop of water is enough to kill him. But even though the universe should crush him, man would still be nobler than what kills him since he knows that he dies, and the advantage that the universe has over him; the universe knows nothing of it. All our dignity consists then in thought. It is upon thought that we must raise ourselves up, and not on space and time which we cannot fill. Let us strive to think well; that is the foundation of all morality. (Pascal, Selections from the Thoughts, #65, p. 30)
In your essay you are expected to analyze the language, assumptions, perspectives, and arguments of the assigned passages, as well as of the texts from which they are taken. Neither merely general statements about the assigned passages and texts (i.e. statements that are not supported by a close reading of the assigned passages and texts) nor mere paraphrases (i.e. mere rewordings) of the assigned passages and texts constitute analysis. To analyze passages and texts means to present a critical commentary on them such that you demonstrate your understanding of their basic principles, ideas, and implications.
Essays must be formatted in 12 point Times or Times New Roman font. Please use double-spacing and leave one inch margins on all four sides of each page for your instructor’s comments. All citations from the works under consideration must be identified by page number (in brackets or in more formal notes). A formal bibliography is not required unless you make use of texts other than the ones assigned. You are urged not to make use of additional texts in your essay.