VCON 301 Study Guide

Do not take this guide to be 100% comprehensive, do not stick to it like a life preserver and ignore good study habits, like re-reading your notes, your text, and asking good questions.

• Know a bit about the history of the Genesis text.
• Know the construction of the Genesis text (multiple narratives, myth, religious setting, etc).
• Make sure you know what the Genesis text actually says.
• Know a bit about the history of the Darwin text.
• Be familiar with how my lecture illuminates the Darwin text.
• Know what the text actually says (and the Preface)
• Do not mix the cultural associations with the Darwin text, let it stand on its own.
• Do not wander into Social-Darwinism.
• Understand the background to the Scopes Trial.
• Understand the context of the Scopes Trial.
• Do not mix the Scopes Trial and Inherit the Wind.
• Be able to make connections between the Scopes Trial and Genesis and Darwin.
• Be clear on the names of the Attorneys in the trial, I may refer to them in framing questions.
• Understand the Aristotle lecture on nature.  Know his approach to the question.  
• Have a working knowledge of Hardin's argument.
• Be able to work with examples of the Tragedy of the Commons.
• Have a working knowledge of Singer's argument
• Know at least 2 of the classic objections to his argument and his response.