Philosophy 140

Midterm Paper (50 points)

Due March 6th by midnight

For this assignment, submit a 3+ page paper on one of the below prompts as it relates to Philip K. Dicks

novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. In your analysis of the novel, be sure to also incorporate

a secondary author from the course from one of our assigned readings. No outside sources are

required. MLA format.

Choose one of the following prompts to write on:

1. In the novel, animals are so rare because most are extinct, and they are tended very carefully, but

not out of compassion or love–only as status symbols prized for their ability to confer an aura of

success on their owners. What does the novel have to say about Western consumerism? About

Western values in general? How current are these ideas? Can you apply any theories or ideas

found in any of our other texts in this class about consumerism to any of the issues that you see

raised in the novel?

2. One important question is what is it to be human? What is Dicks answer to this

question? How are androids and humans contrasted in this novel, and to what purpose? Is his

view of human nature inherently negative, positive, mixed, or ambiguous? Can you apply any

theories or ideas about human nature found in any of our other texts in this class to any of the

issues that you see raised in the novel?

3. One of the goals of the novel is to show that so long as humans are anxious about their own tools,

those tools will be seen as having some innate power over mankind. In other words, regardless of

technology’s fallibility, if humans regard themselves as less smart or less able than their tools,

then they will be at the mercy of their tools. Technology will advance, regardless of what the

majority of humanity feels about that technology. Any struggle to remain the ruler or owner of

new technology will surely fail. Is this a reasonable viewpoint? What does the novel say about the

relationship between humans and technology? About inevitable technological progress? Can you

apply any theories or ideas about the relationship between humans and technology found in any

of our other texts in this class to any of the issues that you see raised in the novel?

For citation from the novel, use this format: (Dick, 110)

For citation from our text, use this format: (Author, 493)

Primary sources are the assigned readings from the primary textbook only. Summaries, handouts,

and videos do not count as primary sources, as they are not the author’s own words. These are examples of

secondary sources, which are allowed as supplementary information but do not meet the primary source

requirement. Choosing any author from the primary text wont be sufficient, either. It must be an assigned

author/reading that we have covered so far in the course.

A quick note on length requirement: There is no strict length requirement. However, doing the minimal

(3 pages) will likely result in at most a basic C grade (which is fine, if thats what you want). Minimal

requirements reflect passing C grades, not A grades. Grades show a students effort has gone above and

beyond stated minimums. However, submitting 6 pages of poor writing also will not get you an A. The

substance needs to be excellent as well.

Philosophy 140