Paper Assignment

A paper in philosophy argues for a position (either negatively, meaning you reject a
position, or positively, you give support for that position, or both, by showing the failure of one
position and the support of another). In this paper, you will argue for a position using any one of
the above structures you choose. The paper will be done in steps. This is for several reasons.
First, it is better to think about arguments over a longer period of time than the night before.
Second, the paper will be complex, and the writing may not take long, but the thinking will.
Third, as you may have already come to realize, understanding arguments in philosophy takes
some time. Finally, I will be able to help correct your mistakes along the way (with only little
punishment grade-wise), and you will write a better paper and hopefully understand the issue
better. All stages should be submitted via Google Drive.

The structure of the paper is simple. State a thesis (a position, as suggested above). Be
clear what the thesis is and what it is in contrast too. (A position is always in response to some
opponent or other position.) You must start from a topic we have covered in class and give an
argument from an author covered in class. (You may do otherwise only if you seek permission
first.) Give an argument or two for that position (so, if arguing negatively, you would give an
argument or two against the position you think is wrong). Be sure that at least one of these
arguments, if not both, is from a thinker or thinkers we have read or will read in class. Then give
a criticism of the position you are defending, most properly to the arguments you are giving or at
least the position relative to the arguments you gave. It would be wise to pick a criticism raised
by an author discussed in class, but this is not necessary nor required. If you use an outside
source, you need to cite it. Any format of citation is fine, but be consistent if you cite from more
than one source (e.g., you might need factual claims, you need to cite your source for that).
Finally, give some reason why the criticism fails or your position solves more problems or, in
this case, is more ethical. Where this argument or arguments come from is entirely up to you. As
you can see, this paper does not require you to be creative but rather thoughtful and show you
can comprehend arguments and think about their merits. The stages for the paper are below plus
their due dates.

Thesis Statement (Due November 6th)

A position is always in respect to some problem. So, your thesis statement should say
something about the ethical problem you are discussing and taking a position on. Try to work on
both stating the problem clearly and then what your position is. Once you have worked on your
thesis statement in this way, it will eventually be your opening paragraph. You should think
about what motivates the problem, what is the problem, and what is your position on it. This will
be graded primarily on whether you state a problem (relatively clearly) and state your position
clearly in way that makes sense given something we read in class.