essay
Phil 2230: Philosophy of Religion
Midterm Essay Assignment
The Assignment: An argumentative essay (defending a thesis) evaluating an argument or view we have discussed in the first portion of the course – from the beginning of the course through Alvin Plantinga’s Reformed Epistemology. In using the word “evaluate” I mean to give you a lot of freedom with respect to constructing your thesis. You can simply argue that, say, the cosmological argument succeeds; or that the fine-tuning argument fails; and so on. Or you could argue something more complex or specific. You could argue that the soul-making theodicy requires that purgatory exists, and so can only be used by those who believe in purgatory. Or you could argue that a particular objection to the free will defense fails (which isn’t the same thing as saying that the free will defense succeeds). And so forth – you have a lot of freedom. Just make sure that you are making, and defending, a claim about one of the views or arguments we have discussed.
Length: 5-6 pages (that is a full five pages), double-spaced, normal font and margins.
Grading: I will grade for these factors:
· There must be a clear thesis and well-structured, clear arguments supporting the thesis. (This is by far the most important element of the grade.)
· Your statement of the argument or view which you are evaluating should be clear and fair; you should indicate understanding of the issues involved.
· Grammar and writing should be free of errors.
If you do everything right – you have a good thesis, solid arguments, good composition – you will get an A-. A full A requires that you do something outstanding – most likely an interesting original argument or view, or perhaps a really outstanding and insightful way of stating a problem, or something of that sort. So a full A is a significant achievement. An A+ means that the paper could, with work, be a publishable piece – this is graduate-quality work, and undergraduates almost never receive this grade.
Here is a complete statement of my grading scale:
A+: The idea is an original contribution to the debate and is the sort of paper that may be published in a professional journal or presented at a professional conference. This is graduate-level work, and undergraduates rarely receive this grade.
A: You did everything right, and had something extra special, most likely interesting and original arguments or ideas, or perhaps a particularly insightful way of putting a problem or some especially brilliant writing.
A-: You did everything right – good, clear thesis and organization, good arguments, and good writing – but you are missing the extra originality or creativity to make this an A.
B+: You did what was asked of you (pretty clear thesis, pretty good writing, and decent arguments), but something on that list (thesis, writing, arguments) is quite good, above the B level.
B: You did what was asked of you – you have a pretty clear thesis, pretty good writing, and decent arguments.
B-: You pretty much did what was asked of you, but something important (thesis, writing, arguments) is sub-par.
C+, C, C-: Some important elements of the paper are sub-par, but the paper is passable.
D+, D, D-: The paper barely deserves college credit, but isn’t quite an outright failure.