For your final essay in this course you will select a topic which is of interest to you. The caveat is that this topic must be something to which an argument might be asserted, assessed and answered. That is to say, you will need to take a position on your topic and argue for that position in light of possible alternative positions.
Your paper will need to clearly articulate that argument as well as answer at least one possible counterargument that might be made. You must employ at least one of the thinkers/philosophers that we have covered this term who might best undergird your argument. It matters not to me which philosopher, only that you use their ideas appropriately.
A VERY CRUDE EXAMPLE:
– Argument: I believe that a god who is all-loving, all-powerful and all-knowing exists.
– Possible Counter Argument: If a god who is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful exists then why does evil exist in the world. It would seem that if god was all loving he should do something about evil, and if god was all powerful he could do something about evil. Yet, evil exists and therefore a god of this kind does not exist.
– Counter Argument: The issue at hand regarding evil appears to me to not be of god’s doing, but ours. Should I make the decision to shoot an innocent person, how is that god’s fault. I have free-will to make my own choices – to do good, or to do evil. I agree with St. Augustine that “what we term evil is merely an absence of what is good. In the same way that what I term darkness, is merely an absence of light.”[1]
YOUR PAPER SHOULD BE:
– 3-5 PAGES IN LENGTH
– DOUBLE-SPACED
– 12-POINT TIMES NEW ROMAN FONT
– SELECT A FORMATTING/CITATION STYLE (The example I have used is MLA)
– NO LESS THAN 3 SCHOLARLY RESOURCES (Your Textbook can be one)
– DUE DATE: Printed, stapled, hardcopy turned in Thursday May 3rd at the beginning of class (or sooner! I WILL NOT accept emailed papers for the final essay. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
POSSIBLE TOPICS:
– Gun Control – Ethics, Morality and God
– Abortion Laws – The Mind Body Problem
– Same Sex Marriage/Homosexuality – The Existence/Non-Existence of God
– Death with Dignity Acts/Laws – Marxist Critique of Capitalism
– Standardized Testing – Is Technological Advancement Good for humanity
– Rich and Poor Disparity – Animal Ethics and Consuming of Meat/Vegan Ethics
– The U.S. as the World Police – Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
