URGENT DUE IN 8 HOURS

This is the email the professor sent to us: 

Dear All,

Here’s your take home assignment. Submit via Dropbox: Take Home A ssignment 1 by Tuesday  Feb 23. You have a template/ sample of a philosophical answer. Please read it before starting to write your paper. Please choose one topic and write your essay.  Be consistent. Don't start with one format and end with the other. Use suggested websites for your information 
Suggested  only  philosophical  websites  such  Encyclopedia of   Britannica, Stanford Encyclopedia  etc

 TOPIC: "1.What is Indian philosophy? Is there Indian philosophy? "

                                     Take home assignment:

Below is a template/ sample of a philosophical answer

PhilosophyEssay Template/General Outline for Critical Answers

You do notneed a formal “Introduction”. You can just immediately say what you are goingto do in the paper.

The BasicStructure

[Paragraph1]

[First oneor two sentence(s) restating the question as your thesis]

[Section 1:Summary]

[Say whatyou are going to do in this section of your paper.]

*Now stateeach step in the philosopher’s argument in your own words.+

[Assert thereasons the philosopher gives in the text for his/her conclusion.]

[Back upthat assertion with a quotation or two.]

[Explain whythe quotation(s) you used are important.]

[If you havedone the above for each of the philosopher’s premises in the argument, you cannow restate the conclusion of the argument.]

[Section 2:Critical analysis/critique of the argument]

[Analyzeeach premise of the argument you summarized.]

[Explanation]

[Is thepremise true or false?]

[Explain whyyou think so.]

[Give anexample to support this.]

[Explainyour example.]

[Clarifyyour explanation.]

[Considerpossible objections the philosopher could have to particular criticisms youmade above.]

[Concludewith a sentence asserting that you have proved your thesis.]

DetailedExplanation and Examples

1. [Paragraph1] Explain the purpose of your paper. [This means restate the essay question].

a. [Firstone or two sentence(s)] For example, if you are being asked to summarizeand critique Descartes’ argument for mind/body dualism, then you would saysomething like:

i.“In this essay I will provide a summary of Descartes’ argument for mind/bodydualism. Further, I will argue that Descartes’ argument is not successful.” OR,

ii.“Descartes argues that the mind and body are separate substances. In the firstsection, I will summarize this argument. In the second section, I will presentsome reasons to disagree with Descartes.”

2. [Section1: Summary] You do not need to do anything for this section except explainthe argument you are asked to talk about in the question. The structure shouldlook something like this:

a. [Saywhat you are going to do in this section of your paper.] “In this section,I will consider _________’s argument for __________.” (Fill in the blanks withthe philosopher and the thing they are arguing for, e.g., “Descartes” and“substance dualism”.

b.“The argument goes as follows:”

c. [Nowstate each step in the philosopher’s argument in your own words.] Make sureto back up everything you claim they are saying with a quotation. This shouldlook something like this:

i.[Assert the reasons the philosopher gives in the text for his/herconclusion.] E.g., “Descartes argues that the mind and body must beseparate substances because body is divisible but the mind is indivisible.”

ii.[Back up that assertion with a quotation or two.] E.g., “He says, ‘whenI consider the mind, that is, when I consider myself in so far only as I am athinking thing, I can distinguish in myself no parts’ (Meditation VI, section19). On the other hand, he says, ‘quite the opposite holds in corporeal orextended things; for I cannot imagine any one of them [how small soever it maybe], which I cannot easily sunder in thought, and which, therefore, I do notknow to be divisible’.(Ibid.)”

iii.[Explain why the quotation(s) you used are important.] E.g., “In thesequotations, Descartes asserts that mind and body are thought of differently.This is important because it shows that his argument for the mind and bodyactually being distinct substances relies on the fact that mind and body mustbe thought of in different ways, i.e., as indivisible and divisible,respectively.”

iv. [Ifyou have done parts i, ii, and iii, above, for each of the philosopher’spremises in the argument, you can now restate the conclusion of the argument.]

E.g.,“Therefore, Descartes argues, ‘the mind or soul of man is entirely differentfrom the body.’(Ibid.)”

This is allyou need for the summary. If you state and explain each step in their argumentand then state their conclusion, then you have summarized their argumentperfectly. You can now move on to the critical part of the essay.

3. [Section2: Critical analysis/critique of the argument] In this section you onlyneed to analyze the argument you have just finished summarizing. Since youyourself have summarized the argument already, you can look at your own work tosee where to start. The goal should be to show that you are thinking about thelogic of the philosopher’s argument (i.e., whether the argument is valid), andwhether the premises the philosopher uses are true or not (i.e., whether theargument is sound). If the argument seems to be valid and sound (that is,logical, and the premises are true), then you can argue for this by explainingwhy you think each step in the argument is valid/true. If you think there areany problems with the argument which make it invalid or make the premises unsound,then you should state these, with clear reasons why you think so. Start offthis section with a simple declaration of what you are going to do. E.g., “NowI will analyze Descartes’ argument.”

a. [Analyzeeach premise of the argument you summarized.] For example: “Descartes’first premise, that the mind is indivisible because I cannot think of it ascontaining parts seems to me to be false. I think that it is certainly possibleto think of the mind as containing parts. For example, there is, I think, a partof my mind that contains my memories, and there is a part of my mind thatcontains my personality. These are two separate areas, and each one can bethought of without the other.”

i.Notice that Descartes’ premise, along with the claim that it is false, isclearly stated in the first sentence.

ii.The second sentence explains why I have said that Descartes’ premise is false.

iii.The third sentence is an example of the reason I gave in the second sentencefor why I think Descartes’ premise is false. This example is not detailed. Itis simply the statement of a case that I think contradicts Descartes’ claimthat the mind is indivisible because it cannot be thought of as containing parts.

iv.The fourth sentence clarifies my explanation in the third sentence.

v. The aboveoutlined paragraph structure can be used for any premise in any argument. Youcan modify it to agree with a premise that you think is true simply by changing“false” to “true” and changing your reason for thinking that this is the caseto a reason to think that it is true. This would then mean that you would comeup with another example which supports the claim, rather than contradicting it.

b.[Consider possible objections the philosopher could have to particularcriticisms you made above.]

i. E.g.,“Descartes could respond to my claim that his first premise is false by sayingthat he means by ‘mind’ something different than what I meant by it in myobjection. It is possible that Descartes has in mind by ‘mind’ something whichcannot even in principle be divided. Since I said that the mind could bedivided into memory and personality, if Descartes is right, then memory andpersonality could not be parts of the mind, and so the mind must be somethingelse. This would mean that my objection rests on an equivocation and is,therefore, not valid. However, I think that Descartes’ objection does not work,because it is hard to see how memory and personality are not parts of the mind.Descartes seems to use the word ‘mind’ as a synonym for ‘soul’, so whateverthat is, it must be something which does not contain memory or personality,since these are separable into parts (i.e., each is a separate part of me, andeach is also separable into memories and traits, respectively). If this is thecase, then the soul must not contain any memory or personality. But, if thereis a soul, what else could it be? I think this is sufficient to show thatDescartes’ argument for mind/body dualism is false.” Notice that the finalsentence is your conclusion. You do not need a separate section called“Conclusion”.

This is thestructure for all you need to do for a good philosophy essay. Keep in mind thatfor section (a) of the critical part, you need to focus on each premise of theargument separately. This means that you will need a separate paragraph, likethe example I gave above, for each premise. See below for an example shortessay using all the examples of the different parts from above. The example isshorter than your essay(s) will be because I chose a really simple argument.Your professors are not so nice. Your summary should be longer because mostarguments will contain more premises/steps than this one from Descartes. Theexample is 513 words, but it only considers one premise of a simple argument.Simply follow this same structure, repeating it (but with different content, ofcourse) for further summary and critical paragraphs.

Example

Inthis essay I will provide a summary of Descartes’ argument for mind/bodydualism. Further, I will argue that Descartes’ argument is not successful.

First,I will summarize Descartes’ argument for the dualism of the mind and body. Theargument goes as follows: Descartes argues that the mind and body must beseparate substances because body is divisible but the mind is indivisible. Hesays that “when I consider the mind, that is, when I consider myself in so faronly as I am a thinking thing, I can distinguish in myself no parts”[1]. On the other hand, he says, “quite theopposite holds in corporeal or extended things; for I cannot imagine any one ofthem [how small soever it may be], which I cannot easily sunder in thought, andwhich, therefore, I do not know to be divisible” [2].In these quotations, Descartes asserts that mind and body are thought of differently.This is important because it shows that his argument for the mind and bodyactually being distinct substances relies on the fact that mind and body mustbe thought of in different ways, i.e., as indivisible and divisible,respectively.

Therefore,Descartes argues, “the mind or soul of man is entirely different from thebody.”[3]

NowI will analyze Descartes’ argument. Descartes’ first premise, that the mind isindivisible because I cannot think of it as containing parts seems to me to befalse. I think that it is certainly possible to think of the mind as containingparts. For example, there is, I think, a part of my mind that contains mymemories, and there is a part of my mind that contains my personality. Theseare two separate areas, and each one can be thought of without the other.

Descartes couldrespond to my claim that his first premise is false by saying that he means by‘mind’ something different than what I meant by it in my objection. It ispossible that Descartes has in mind by ‘mind’ something which cannot even inprinciple be divided. Since I said that the mind could be divided into memoryand personality, if Descartes is right, then memory and personality could notbe parts of the mind, and so the mind must be something else. This would meanthat my objection rests on an equivocation and is, therefore, not valid.However, I think that Descartes’ objection does not work, because it is hard tosee how memory and personality are not parts of the mind. Descartes seems touse the word ‘mind’ as a synonym for ‘soul’, so whatever that is, it must besomething which does not contain memory or personality, since these areseparable into parts (i.e., each is a separate part of me, and each is alsoseparable into memories and traits, respectively). If this is the case, thenthe soul must not contain any memory or personality. But, if there is a soul,what else could it be? I think this is sufficient to show that Descartes’argument for mind/body dualism is false.

Bibliography:

1. René Descartes, Meditation VI, section 19, p.33-34 See in: René Descartes: The Philosophical Writings of   Descartes: Volume 2, published by Cambridge University Press, USA, 1984

2.Antonio Damasio, Descartes' Error:Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of thePutnam Berkley Group, Inc., USA, 1994, p.312

3.Fred Feldman, A Cartesian Introduction toPhilosophy, McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing; USA, 1995 p.437