philosophy 1

Essay Assignment: Topics and Instructions

NB: Before starting your essay, you should read this entire document as

well as the information in the ‘Essay Assignments: Grading Criteria and

Helpful Information’ folder found in Unit 5.

The articles given below are from The New York Times. Non-subscribers are

limited to the number of articles they can read, but the Dallas College Library

has full access to The New York Times. You can access The New York Times via

this DCCCD Library web page.

Choose one of the topics below.

Topic 1: Women in Philosophy

For this topic, you will be researching the history of women in philosophy,

current attitudes toward women in philosophy, and the goals of feminist

philosophy. As well as including specific discussion of both articles below, your

essay should meet the essay requirements listed below topic 2.

“Feminism and the Future of Philosophy”

“Women in Philosophy? Do the Math”

Topic 2: Free Will/Determinism

Chapter 7 of our text deals with the problem of free will. Or, we could also call

it, the problem of determinism. Read this article from The New York Times and

write an essay that discusses the article in relation to at least one of the

arguments/problems related to free will/determinism in Chapter 7. In addition

to a summary of the article provided for this topic, your essay must include

reference to chapter 7 of our text as well as at least one reference to an

article/entry in either The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy or The Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy, through quotation and/or paraphrase. Rather than

your opinion on the problem of free will/determinism, your essay should

be a discussion of various arguments made by philosophers about the

problem of free will.

Your essay must include the following:

• A heading done according to MLA

• An original title

• An introductory paragraph that contains your thesis (see this VERY

helpful advice on how to write your intro/begin your essay, and if you are

unsure of how to write a thesis, read this advice on developing a thesis)

• Body paragraphs that develop and support your thesis (here is some

excellent advice on how to structure body paragraphs)

• A minimum of 3 full pages (your works cited page doesn’t count as a

page)

• A conclusion (see this VERY helpful advice on how to conclude your

essay)

Your essay should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 point font; your

paper should be written in Standard English and done in MLA format. You must

include a MLA works cited page that includes all sources used in your essay,

including the article I provided.

To submit your paper, click on ‘Essay Assignment’ in the Unit 5 folder. You

should attach a file that can be opened with Microsoft Word (doc or docx); do

not submit a pdf or type in the submission box.

Any instance of plagiarism will be punished by a minimum of an F on the

assignment and a report to the associate dean of the humanities division.

Further punishment could include failure in the course, suspension, or

expulsion.