Essay #1 prompt: Culture and Consumption Choose one of the following: A) Choose an advertising campaign (not a singular advertisement) for a particular product or service that has print and video ads and do a deep semiotic reading discussing how you think culture is being reflected (and perhaps affected) by the campaign. What cultural myths/beliefs (like conspicuous consumption, the American Dream, individualism and dissent, etc.) is the ad campaign perpetuating or deconstructing? What stereotypes (about race, class, gender, sexual orientation) is the campaign perpetuating or deconstructing? The following are just some questions to help you think about the types of abductive arguments you will make in your essay; you are not meant to follow them like an outline. Some may be more relevant than others to your particular arguments: How is the advertiser using culture to sell the product? (Think about Robert's essay about the culture of conspicuous consumption or Frank’s essay using the culture of dissent/counterculture). How is the product marketing to specific demographics? Are there different types of ads for the same product targeting different demographics? Analyze the ads using the questions on page 30. Are the ads appealing more to logic, emotion, or credibility? Is the campaign exploiting stereotypes or deconstructing them? (Think of Craig’s essay).

- Write around 100 words for each questions.WEEK 6: The Moral Sense Chapter 6 “The Social Animal”From The Descent Of Man Charles DarwinRobert Richards Lecture On Darwinian Moral Theory (Video Supplement)Feral Children (In-Class Film)Weekly Questions (about 100 words apiece)1. Discuss Darwin’s ideas about intelligence and the broadening of hard-wired “moral instincts.”2. Applying Darwin’s theory, tell whether an ant can have any sort of moral sense. 3. Do cases of feral children argue for or against the idea that humans are innately sociable? Explain.4. Do cases of feral children prove that humans are inherently “base animals just barely socialized?” Why or why not?5. Briefly discuss Richards’ theory that Darwin was more Deist than atheist. WEEK 7: The Moral Sense Chapter 7 “Families”MLA Format“Morality And The Emotional Brain”Weekly Questions (about 100 words apiece)Wilson’s view of the family is obviously limited to the “traditional”—address the following questions:1. Can gay and lesbian couples with children do as good a job with family living as man/woman couples with children? Explain.2. Can unmarried couples do as good a job with family living as married couples with children? Explain.3. Can single parents and “nontraditional” familes do as good a job with family living as “traditional” husband/wife families? Explain. (Note: these are not loaded questions. You will receive full points for answering either way.)4. In your opinion, which is worse, “rule-obsessed” parents or “laissez-faire” parents?5. To what degree do you agree or disagree with Nichol’s theory in the video supplement? Explain.WEEK 9: The Moral Sense Chapter 9 “The Universal Aspiration”Weekly Questions (about 100 words apiece)Kant’s EthicsRejecting Moral Relativism Michael W. AustinKant On Metaphysical Knowledge (Video Supplement)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZtQXteAE-w1.Discuss how Kant unites and rationalist and empiricists notions of morality in his Critique of Pure Reason.2.Discuss Kant's rather complicated idea of duty: i.e. what duty is by Kant's definition and the difference between simply doing something because one is told it is duty and actually feeling a sense of duty.3.Define and discuss Kant's categorical imperative.4.Compare Kant's idea of the categorical imperative with the notion of "do unto others as you would have done unto you."5.Briefly discuss the difference between a priori and empirical knowledge, according to Kant, as detailed in the video.