Paper Assignment

Greetings class. Just click here to download the Paper Assignment (as a PDF file).

The short paper assignment is worth 35% of your overall course grade and must be handed into your TA at the end of class on Thursday, September 4th (late papers will be penalized). Your paper assignment is to answer ONE of the two essay prompts listed (the choice of which one you write on is up to you) in approx. 4-5 pages (double spaced, using a reasonable font size, etc). To get full credit it is important to answer every part of the essay prompt to the best of your ability. Grading will be based on accuracy, completeness, and philosophical acuity of the essay (see the bottom of the prompt for some guidelines and pointers).

Also, remember that its your responsibility to make sure that the work you hand in is your own and does not violate either University or Departmental policies regarding plagiarism.

Good luck!

Best, Chris

Summary Assignment #4

Hi everyone. Here's your fourth official assignment (sorry about not posting the third): After reading pages 85-90 in the course reader, please *summarize* Reid’s ‘Brave Officer’ objection to Locke’s account of personal identity.

Remember to keep it simple and try to use the following schema when summarizing:

Reid's Brave Officer Objection
(P1) The gist of premise 1…
(P2) The gist of premise 2…
-- insert more premises here if needed --
--------------------------------------
(Conclusion) Therefore, the gist of the conclusion…

Best, Chris

Mid-Term Exam

Ok folks, just click here to download the take home Mid-Term exam (as a PDF file). There are 100 points possible on the exam. There are two sections to the exam: Section I is worth a total of 20 points; Section II is worth a total of 80 points. Please follow the instructions given for each section as closely as possible.

Remember, the exam is worth 25% of your overall course grade and must be handed into your TA at the end of class on Monday, August 18th. Exams that are not turned in on time will be penalized. Also, remember that its your responsibility to make sure that the work you hand in is your own and does not violate either University or Departmental policies regarding plagiarism.

Good luck!

Mid-Term Review Sheet

Hi everyone. Ok, the Mid-Term Review sheet is now available for download as a PDF file.

If you are able to answer all of the questions listed on the review sheet completely and accurately, you will do quite well on the Mid-Term. Everything listed on the review sheet can be found in either the course readings or the course lecture notes.

The Mid-Term will be a take-home essay exam. The exam will be available for download (on this website) by 12:00pm tomorrow--Friday, August 15th--and you'll have all weekend to complete it. The Mid-Term is worth 25% of your overall course grade and must be handed into your TA at the end of class on Monday, August 18th. Good luck.

Best, Chris

Summary Assignment #2

Hi everyone. Here's your second official assignment: After reading pages 27-34 in the course reader, please *summarize* the Ontological argument that Anselm puts forward in the selection from his Proslogion.

Remember to keep it simple and try to use the following schema when summarizing:

Anselm's Ontological Argument
(P1) The gist of premise 1…
(P2) The gist of premise 2…
-- insert more premises here if needed --
--------------------------------------
(Conclusion) Therefore, the gist of the conclusion…

Best, Chris

Summary Assignment #1

Hi everyone. Here's your first official assignment: After reading pages 3-9 in the course reader, please *summarize* the argument that Aquinas puts forward in his 2nd Way.

Whenever I ask you to summarize one of the arguments from the reading material you do not have to worry about filling in all of the details. All I really want you to do is (i) identify the main point (or conclusion) of the argument being put forward in the reading, (ii) identify the reasons (or premises) that are being used to support the main point of the argument, (iii) try to wrap your mind around what each of those statements are supposed to mean and then (iv) simply restate—in your own words—the gist (or basic idea) of the argument in a line by line format. For example:

Philosopher X’s Argument for Y
(P1) The gist of premise 1…
(P2) The gist of premise 2…
(P3) The gist of premise 3…
-- insert more premises here if needed --
--------------------------------------
(Conclusion) Therefore, the gist of the conclusion…

That's it! Trust me, learning to summarize arguments--even in this simple manner--is a great skill to develop and will certainly come in handy as we work our way through the course material.

Best, Chris

Online Readings

Hey everyone. Here's the links to the suggested online readings I mentioned-- have fun!

Reading 1: What is Philosophy?
By Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Dartmouth)

Reading 2: Philosophical Terms and Methods
By Jim Pryor (NYU)

Reading 3: Guidlines on Reading Philosophy
By Jim Pryor (NYU)

Best, Chris