Humanities 112 Week 1 Discussion Question

“Baroque Style and Philosophy” Please respond to one (1) of the following, using sources under the Explore heading as the basis of your response: 

• Listen to one (1) composition that demonstrates the qualities of the Baroque musical style. It may be from the Websites below or from this week’s Music Folder. Identify your choice, and describe it by relating key terms from the textbook to your selection. Explain what you like or admire about the work. Compare it to a modern soundtrack or song that evokes a similar mood. 
• Select two (2) Baroque style paintings from the Websites below that no other student has selected. Identify each as to artist, date, and title or description. From the summaries of the Baroque style’s features in our class text, identify specific key aspects of each painting that fit the Baroque style. Explain why you selected each and what you like or dislike about it. Compare this style to a modern film, type of film, or to a modern situation.  

• Can you trust your own understanding of the world? Read pages 708-709 from the textbook. Answer the following questions:

A.     Describe the four categories of reasoning errors that Bacon distinguished.

B.     Focus on Idols of the Tribe and Idols of the Cave. Describe concrete situations when you were fooled by such idols (you need to talk about at least one example for each idol).

 C.    What can be done so that we can avoid such a biased approach to reality?

 D.    Is it possible to have a truly adequate understanding of the world? What is required so that we can have such an understanding?

Explore:

Monteverdi and Vivaldi

• Chapter 21 (pp. 707-710), Baroque music and composers; review the Week 1 “Music Folder”    
• Monteverdi’s Orfeo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ll_u870PG8 (lyrics with translation: http://introtomusicdeanza.wordpress.com/class-resources/examples-baroque/)
• Vivaldi’s “Spring” from Vivaldi: A Man For All Seasons at http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/104868631/vivaldi-a-man-for-all-seasons and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHPRi0ZeXE (background and lyric translation at http://www.baroquemusic.org/vivaldiseasons.html)

 
Baroque Visual Arts

• Chapter 21 (pp. 689-691; 701-703) and Chapter 22 (pp. 715-720; 726-735); Baroque style and its characteristics; Baroque in the north
• Baroque samples at https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/beginners-guide-baroque1/a/baroque-art-in-europe-an-introduction; (also seehttp://www.artinthepicture.com/styles/Baroque/ and click on the names of the artists to see their works)
• Examples of Baroque paintings from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam at https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/explore-the-collection/styles/baroque (click on images; go full-screen; click “i” for info on the artist and date and painting)

Can you trust your own understanding of the world?

• Read pages 708-709 from the textbook.
• Read paragraph 3.1 from the following website: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/francis-bacon/#NatTheIdoSysSci. 
• Watch the following YouTube movie: Sir Francis Bacon: 2. Epistemology at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Tvw4OnhP0