Paper Assignment

Paper (Writing Assignment) Choose one of the following arguments:

A. Thomas Nagel's argument in part II of "The Absurd" that life is absurd. (See P 525f.)

B. Thomas Hobbes' argument for his seventh law of nature in Leviathan chapter 15. (See excerpt.)

C. Thomas Aquinas's fourth argument for the existence of God (See P 51a)

D. John Locke's argument that a knowing being has existed from eternity in Essay, Part IV, chapter 10, paragraph 5.

E. Louis Pojman's "argument from the principle of merit" against affirmative action (and for "meritocracy"). (See P 610f.)

For your chosen argument do the following:

Phase 1 (See due dates.)

Passage: First quote the portions of the passage which contain the relevant claims (e.g., premises and conclusion) for the argument.
Conclusion: State clearly the conclusion of the argument. (If you quote directly, put the page number in parentheses. If you do not quote directly, add a footnote or endnote where you do quote the relevant passage, and provide a page reference.)
Clarification of Terms: Define and clarify words and terms that will be used in the argument. This does not mean running to a dictionary. The definitions of important terms should arise from their meaning in the passage.
Explication of the Argument: Explain the argument clearly. (This will be the longest section of the paper. You will want to do a better job than the author.) This will probably involve:
- Stating clearly each premise of the argument. Where the premises are explicit, quotation of the words of the author (perhaps in parenthesis, perhaps in a footnote) and a specific page reference should be included).
- Making clear the layers of argument, showing the overall structure of the argument. (See "Identifying and Formulating Arguments.")
- Identifying the forms of arguments made.

Your paper at phase 1 will thus follow this outline:

Passage
Conclusion
Clarification of Terms
Explication of the Argument

Phase 2 (See due dates.)

Rewrite and develop the paper you have written by

taking into account the suggestions for improvement made by the grader on phase 1,
further clarifying of terms
improving the clarification and explication of the argument,

adding two new sections of the paper:

5. Critique: Offer critique of the argument. As you develop each point of critique, be sure to indicate the nature of the critique (e.g. if you are calling into a question the truth of a premise of the argument, be sure to point of what the premise is and why you think it is or may be false; if you are calling into question the validity of the argument, attempt to make plain the form of the argument and explain why you think the form is not a valid form).
6. Defense of Author: Exploration of possible replies that the author could reasonably make to your criticism.

Note: For this assignment you need not use any materials apart from those in the class texts -- indeed you are encouraged not to. However, no matter what sources of information you use -- even the textbook -- be sure to make adequate attribution (e.g. in footnotes). You are expected to do your own work. Use of unacknowledged sources (e.g., books, friends, tutors, web pages, other papers) for this assignment constitutes cheating.

This paper should be submitted electronically to rlee@uark.edu. The paper should be submitted as an in-line text file or as a "rich text format" (.rtf) file. (You'll probably have to use a "save as" command to get your document into this form.) Submissions after the due date risk incursion of a penalty for lateness.

Please put your name on your paper. Be sure also to indicate (by letter) at the top of the first page which of the topics you are writing on.

Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 27 February 2003