Phili300i–iIntroductionitoiPhilosophyi

Falli2020
BrianiThomasiPhD,iInstructor

Goal:iToiprovideiyouitheiopportunityitoisatisfyitheseicourseiobjectives:

1. Articulatingiandidescribingikeyiconcepts,iideasiandiarguments
2. Criticallyianalyzingiandicriticizingivariousiargumentsiforisoundnessiandivalidity
3. Presentiaithoughtful,iinteresting,iandiwellistructuredipaper.ii

Writeiai3-5iessayionioneiofitheifollowingiprompts:i

1. DivineiCommandiTheoryiclaimsithatitheioriginiofirightiandiwrongiderivesifromiGod,iorirat
her,ithatitheibasisiofimoralityiliesiwithinitheidivineiwill.iIiarguedithatiDCTihasiseveralifeatu
resithatimakeitheiviewiattractive.iConsideritheicaseiPurchasingiAbroadi(seeitheireadingsise
ctioniinitheifilesisectionionicanvas)iandicriticallyiconsideriwhetherithoseiattributesiapplyiwh
eniconsideringianiactualicase.iThatiis,iisiDCTiusefuliisiresolvingimoraliconflictiandiifiso,iho
widoesiitidoisoiinithisicase?iIfiitidoesinot,iwhyinot?iAreitheiproblemsiinsuperableiforiDCT?

2. Initheiarticlei‘TheiHordingiofitheiAmericaniDream,”itheicaseiisimadeithatitopi20%iinitheiin
comeidistribution,iandinotijustithei1%iofiearnersiinitheitopiinitheiincomeidistribution,iblock
imobilityiforithoseiinitheimiddleiofitheiincomeidistribution.iHowiwouldiJohniRawls’itheoryi
ofijusticeiresponditoitheichallengesifacingimiddleiincomeiandipooriworkers.iThatiisiexplaini
Rawls’itheoryiofijusticei(Youimightiwantitoiseeitheihandoutiinitheireadingsisectionsicalledi
Rawls_Justice)iandiexplainihowiisitheoryiwouldiaddressitheiproblemsifacingitheimiddleiand
iworkingiclasses.iWouldihisitheoryiwork?
iWoulditheitopi20ianditopi1%iacceptisuchiegalitarianiredistribution?i

3. Initheivideo:iYouidon'tihaveifreeiwill,ibutidon'tiworry,ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zpU_e3jh_FYiSabineiHossenfelderiarguesithatifreeiwilliisiincompatibleiwithideterminism
iandithatifreeiwilliisianiillusion.iIfisheiisicorrectiaboutifreeiwill,ithisilooksiproblematic.iCriti
callyiexplainiherireasoningiandicriticallyidiscussiit.iIsisheicorrectithatifreeiwilliisianiillusion
?
iIsisheicorrectithatiifiitiis,ithatithere’silittleireasonitoibeiconcernediaboutisuchiaiconclusion?
iWhyimightisheibeiwrongiabout?i

Someinotesiaboutitheiassignment:

1. Youiareitoiofferiaithesisiandiofferisupportiforithatithesis.iThatiisibeisureiyouripaperihasi
aithesisistatementi–
isomeistatementiofiwhatiyouiwilliarguei(theireaderishouldibeiableitoiidentifyiitiasioneiof
ithoseiconclusionistatements).iYouripaperishouldihaveitwoicleariparts,ioneipartiiniwhich
iyouiexplainitheiviewsiyouiconsider,itheiotheriiniwhichiyouidoicriticalianalysis.i
2. Iniwritingiyouripaperiyouishouldithinkiaboutiyouriaudience.iInithisicaseiassumeithatiyou
rireaderiknowsilittleiaboutitheitheoryiyou'reidiscussingiandisoiyouishoulditakeicareitoipa
 tiently,ithoughtfully,iandifairlyipresentitheiviewsiyouiconsider.iBeisureitoiclearlyidefinei
anyiimportantitermsioriideasithatiyourireaderimightinotirecognizeiorithatiplayiaikeyirole
iiniunderstandingiandijustifyingitheiargument.iTheireaderishouldibeiableitoiidentifyithei
keyioriimportantipremisesitoitheiview.iYouiareievaluatedipartlyioniyouriabilityitoipresen
titheiviewiyouicriticallyidiscussiasiaicoherentiandiplausible.ii
3. Initheicriticaliphaseiyouishouldibeithinkingiaboutitheiwaysiiniwhichitheiargument(s)iare
iconvincingiorinot.iYouishouldithinkiaboutitheiprogressioniofiideasiandiwhetheritheyisu
pportithaticonclusionsifoundiiniyouriexplication.iYouimightiraiseiquestionsibyiposingith
oughtiexamplesioricounteriexamples.i
4. Thisiisinotiairesearchipaperianditheiassignmentiisimeantitoibeiwritteniwithoutitheiaidiofi
secondaryisourcesi(notesifromilectureioritutorialiareiexcludediandidoinotiwarranticitatio
n).iButibeisureithatiifiyouireceiveianyihelpifromisourcesioutsideitheiclassithatiyouidocu
mentithemi(e.g.itheiinternet,itheibusidriver…)
5. UseitheiMLAireferencingistyleiforiyouripaperi(Note:iUseicitationsitoibackiupiyouriclai
msiwhereiappropriate,ibutibeiprudent,iaipaperiwithiaibunchiofiquotesiwon’tireceiveiaipa
ssingimark)
6. Theifontishouldibei12ptiwithi1iinchimarginsioniallisides
7. Pleaseidoinotiuseijargoniorifancyiwords.iEveniifiyourivocabularyiisiimpressive,iyouiarei
assessedioniyouriabilityitoifairly,icogently,iandiaccuratelyisummarizeiaipieceiofiwritingi
anditoicriticallyievaluateiitsimerits,inotioniyouriabilityitoimanipulateitheiEnglishilangua
ge.iAlso,ithisiisiaiformaliassignmentiandiyouishouldiseekitoimakeitheilanguageiyouiusei
formaliforitheisetting.iSoidoinotiuseicontractionsioricolloquialiexpressionsi(e.g.iCahn's’i
viewiisisoooioffitheihook!
ilol!).iYouicaniuseisuchiexpressionsiasi‘IifeelithatioriIithinkithat.’
8. Beiawareiofiwhaticountsiasiplagiarism.iEveniaccidentaliplagiarismi(youiknow,itheikindi
whereiyouiparaphraseiwithouticitingioriwhereiyouiaccidentallyiquoteiwithouticiting)iwil
libeireported!
9. Doinotiemailiyouripaperitoimeiwithoutiprioriapproval.

Thisipaperiisidueiviaicanvas,iNovemberi17th,i5pm.i