Description
Reflection Papers should be approximately 2 pages, double-spaced and typed. You should present and analyze at least three quotes from the reading, in responding to the questions below. Give page numbers for the quotes in parentheses (Radical Hope, p. 83), and include a works cited page at the end. Use the questions below as guides—write this as an essay, not as a series of responses to the questions; you don’t have to respond to all of the questions.
Discuss how the idea of courage changes for the Crow. What makes this change possible? How does this help his tribe to adapt to a new situation. As part of your reflection, you may also consider the following: what is a way that a virtue—self-control, justice, courage, generosity, humility, patience—has changed in our time? What made this change possible and how has it been a response to different conditions in our world? How does virtue change so that it takes appropriate forms in a different world?
For both Socrates and the Crow, there is a fate worse than death. For Socrates, this helps explain why he refuses to practice philosophy, and for the Crow it is central to their practice of courage (for instance, not-retreating past the coup stick).
Compare how the idea of a fate worse than death plays into their notions of virtue, and is related to their striving for excellence.
As human beings, do we need to live for something more than survival? (If you choose this topic, please work with quotes from both the South Park essay and from Radical Hope.)
Lear argues that shame is a central part of the Crow ethic. What is shame, and how does shame play a part in the Crow conceptions of courage and of excellent action?
(You might focus on the planting of the coup-stick, as an example) Why are Plenty Coups’ actions, which give up the traditional forms of courage, not considered shameful?
Also: how does shame play a role in how we think about ethics today?
Do you tend to think more about shame or guilt as an aspect of ethical life? (For example, is avoiding shame more important than feeling guilty, or related to trying to do what is good?)
Is similar to or different from how the Crow thought about good action?
What are some of the ways that shame can be helpful and harmful, in cultivating a sense of identity?
Compare and contrast Sitting Bull’s and Plenty Coups’ responses to the collapse of traditional Native American life.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
How does each chief draw on his traditions, and how do they adapt to the new situation?
Which approach do you think is more effective, and why? (Think about both what they want to achieve, and whether they succeed in doing so.)