Second essay assignment

PHIL 102, Hendricks, Spring 2017

DUE DATES:

1. Outline for peer review: March 22 or March 24 (depending on whether you have a Wed. or Fri. discussion class; bring the outline to that discussion class)

2. Final version of the essay: Friday, March 31, by 5pm on Connect

What should be in the outline of your second essay

The outline you need to bring to your discussion class Wed. March 22 or Fri. March 24 should have:

  • Your thesis statement
  • The main point of each body paragraph, stated in one or two sentences

These can change before you submit the essay, but you need to provide an overview of the main conclusion you think at that point that you’ll argue for in the essay (thesis statement) and how you’ll argue for it (the “premises” of the argument in the essay, which are the body paragraphs). Provide full sentences for the outline rather than just phrases. The person providing feedback on your essay needs to get a good enough sense of what you’ll argue to be able to make useful comments!

Remember that you and your readers should be able to connect your body paragraphs to your thesis statement like premises to the conclusion of an argument. So ask yourself whether the body paragraphs provide enough reasons in support of the thesis as a conclusion, whether anything is missing, and whether all of them are related to providing support for the thesis.Creating an outline for the essay can be a helpful way to see whether this is the case, because you can look at the argument in more of a pared-down form than in a full essay itself.

Submitting the outline and essay

1. Outline for peer review

This time we won’t be doing peer feedback on the final versions of the essays, but instead each person will bring in an outline of their essay that their peers will comment on.

  • Bring two paper copies of the outline to class on Wed. March 22 or Fri. March 24, depending on whether you are in a Wed. or Fri. discussion class. One of these you’ll discuss with someone in class and get feedback; the other you will give to your T.A. If you want to have a paper copy yourself to look at while explaining your outline to your peers, then bring 3 copies.
  • We won’t be marking these outlines, just checking to make sure you did them to give you credit for part of the peer feedback portion of your final grade.
  • The outlines should have enough depth in them to give a good sense of what you’re going to talk about; if the outlines are too vague and we can’t tell much about what you’re going to argue in your essay, you won’t get full credit for the peer feedback. You need to provide enough detail that your peers will be able to have something constructive to say about your plans for the essay.
  • You must be in your discussion class Wed. March 22 or Fri. March 24 do the peer feedback, unless you have an excused absence (something that you could not avoid, and that you didn’t know about ahead of time). Otherwise you won’t get credit for the peer feedback aspect of the second essay.

2. Final version of the essay

You will need to submit this to the Connect site ( for our course under “Assignments,” by Friday, March 31, 5pm.

Specific instructions for second essay

(possible topics are below)

As before, your essay must have the following elements

  • Give a thesis statement in the introduction. Remember, a thesis statement is a claim that the body paragraphs provide reasons to support, as if it were the conclusion of an argument. A thesis statement is usually one sentence long, but if it is complex it can be two sentences if you would otherwise have to pack too much into one sentence.
  • Provide arguments in the body of the essay to support your claims that this is what the philosopher would say, being sure to point to what the philosopher says in the texts we’ve read as evidence. You can paraphrase the philosopher’s claims in your own words, and/or use quotes. It’s best to use quotes when you are speaking about a very specific thing a philosopher says, or when the particular words used are important to your claims; paraphrasing is good for more general ideas, or if the particular words used are not crucial to your claims. It’s probably best to do some of both.
  • Give a conclusion that wraps up the argument in some way. It can summarize your main points, or repeat the basic idea of the thesis, or possibly provide a nice quote that wraps everything up. There are numerous ways to conclude an essay; just be sure you have a conclusion and don’t just stop in the middle of the argument in the body of the essay.

Page length, margins, etc. Your essay should be 1500-2000 words (around 4-6 pages), typed, double-spaced, with margins between 0.75 and 1 inch, and font size between 10 and 12 points. It can be a little less than 1500 words or a little more than 2000, but if you find yourself going over or under by quite a bit, please talk to Christina. Your essay should not be significantly over or under these word limits unless she approves it.

Citations for quotes and paraphrases: Any time you use a quote or you paraphrase an idea from any text (whether from readings assigned for class, or from another source), you must cite the source of that quote or idea. If you use only texts assigned for the course, you do not need to provide a bibliography or “works cited” page at the end of the paper, just the author and page number after the quote or paraphrase (or, if we read more than one work by the same author, give the author, title of the work, and page number in parentheses). But if you use anything beyond what is assigned for the course, you must provide a bibliography or “works cited” page. You may use any of the standard citation methods; see this page on the course website, which has links for how to cite sources: (see: “Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism”)

Avoid plagiarism: Any use of another’s words, including just a sentence or part of a sentence, without citation, constitutes plagiarism. Use of another’s ideas without citation does as well. To avoid plagiarism, always give a citation whenever you have taken ideas or direct words from another source. Please see this page on the course website for information on how to avoid plagiarism, especially when you’re paraphrasing ideas or quoting from another source.

Depth of explanation and narrowness vs. breadth and superficiality: It’s usually best to focus your paper on a small number of claims and argue for them in some depth rather than trying to range widely over a very large number of claims that you then only have space to justify very quickly. You may not be able to talk about everything you think is relevant to the question, and it’s better to pick fewer things and discuss them in depth than to talk about a lot of things superficially

Audience you should write for: Write your essay as if you were writing for someone who is not in the class, has not read the texts, and has not attended the lectures. Explain your view, and the arguments of the philosophers you discuss, in as much depth as would be needed to make them clear to such an audience.

Criteria for marking essays: See the “Guidelines for Writing Papers for this Course,” and the
essay marking rubric, both posted on the course website under “writing help”:

Late penalty:Late essays must be accompanied by a “late work form,” accessible on the course website under “Assignments.” Late essays will receive a 5% per weekday penalty, beginning after the due date/time, and a 5% per weekend penalty unless you have an acceptable excuse for turning in your essay late. If you turn it in after 5pmon Friday, March 31, but before 5pm on Sunday, April 2,it will be 5% off; if after 5pm Sunday April 2 but before 5pm Monday April 3, it will be 10% off, etc. You should contact Christina or your T.A.before turning in a late essay, if possible.

Possible topics for the second essay

The following are topics you could choose from, but as before, if you want to write about your own topic, you can do so. However, you need to get your own topic approved by Christina, in writing (via email). Be sure to send her an email asking for such approval by Monday, March 20, 5pm at the latest, and only write on that separate topic if you do receive approval.

1. Given what Mill says in Utilitarianism, what might he be likely to say about the trolley problem? Choose 2 or 3 versions of the trolley problem to discuss;if you wish, you could include the transplant case as one of your versions, and/or you could modify one or more of the versions of the trolley problem to focus on a particular moral concern. For the versions of the problem you choose, argue for what Mill would likely say ought to be done. Be sure to base your arguments on specific arguments Mill makes, paying attention not just to the Greatest Happiness Principle but also his points about subordinate rules (Chpt. 2), justice and rights (Chpt. 5).

2. Choose 2 or 3 versions of the trolley problem that Thomson discusses and (1) explain her arguments for what it is morally permissible to do in those cases and why, and (2) argue for your view of what you think it is morally permissible to do and why. [This essay topic is somewhat difficult to do if you agree with Thomson, because if so it’s easy to end up just repeating her arguments when you’re giving your view. So if you agree, be sure to provide otherreasons for why you agree!].

3. Singer and Nussbaum argue for different ways we could think about helping those who need help. Discuss how both Singer and Nussbaum argue for their different approaches, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, in your view.

4. Compare/contrast Socrates’ arguments in Crito around civil disobedience with those in either Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” or Brownlee’s “Features of a Paradigm Case of Civil Disobedience.” Evaluating the arguments in each, explain whether you think one view is better justified than the other, and why.

5. Choose an act of civil disobedience that has happened or is happening now somewhere in the world and do ONE of the following:

a)Analyze it the theoretical lens offered by Kimberley Brownlee in “Features of a Paradigm Case of Civil Disobedience.” Is this act a “paradigm case” of civil disobedience according to each of the features of such a paradigm case she discusses?

OR

b)Analyze it through the requirements for non-violent civil disobedience in Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail.” Does it fit those requirements?

If you choose this topic, you should cite one or more sources for information about that act of civil disobedience, so readers unfamiliar with it can find that information. You should find a reputable source of information to cite (please talk to your T.A. or Christina if you need help on this).

6. Both Scheurman and Brownlee argue, in different ways, that Edward Snowden’s actions fit what it means to engage in civil disobedience (even if they understand what is required for civil disobedience differently). Choose either Scheuerman or Brownlee’s articles on Edward Snowden, explain their arguments for why we should consider Snowden to be a civil disobedient, and evaluate one or more of those arguments (say whether the arguments are strong or not).