Essay 3 pages

2

A. Sample,

3

PHI 2604 CREATING YOUR OUTLINE

A good practice before you write your paper is to create an outline. This should include 1) your thesis statement (main argument), 2) an outline and 3) a works cited page.

Follow the MLA style unless otherwise clarified with the professor.

The outline should be more detailed than just noting a) Introduction, b) argument, c) conclusion. This is too superficial to be helpful for you. Instead consider the main concepts that you will explain, or the main argument you will make and how each of the elements of the paper fit together.

In developing your outline, it may be helpful to keep the following in mind regarding philosophy papers:

"A philosophy paper presents a reasoned defense of some thesis. So a philosophy paper typically does at least one of the following:

• Defends a thesis by offering plausible reasons to support it

• Defends a thesis by showing that arguments against it are unconvincing

• Criticizes a thesis by showing that the arguments for it are unconvincing

• Contrasts two or more views on a given issue and argue for one view over the other."

Source: Bumpus, Ann. “Writing the Philosophy Paper.” Dartmouth University. 2004.

A. Sample

PHI 2604 – Critical Thinking/Ethics

Professor Sample

18th October, 2019

Negative Consequences: Single Use Plastic and Its Detriment to the Greater Good

Environmental pollution is detrimental to non-human well-being and one of the major contributors is the creation of single use plastic, much of which ends up in the oceans. We have all seen the disturbing images of turtles with plastic bags around their necks or whales, sharks and dolphins whose post-mortems reveal stomachs full of plastic debris (Hastings, 209). However, single use plastic is also detrimental to human well-being because, I argue, human health and happiness is only possible within a thriving and healthy environment. In other words, single use plastic is a moral concern. In this paper, I review single use plastic according to the utilitarian principle that we ought “to act according to the greater good for the greater number,” (Bentham, 205) and that we ought to do our utmost to reduce suffering in both human and non-human species. I also consider Bentham’s claim that “one only counts as one” and argue that from a utilitarian perspective, we should dissuade the production of single use plastic.

Outline

I. Thesis (see above)

II. Explanation of plastic pollution and its impact on the oceans and sea life. Include details of human suffering as a “Cascade Effect” of plastic pollution. Include statistics from a valid source and relevant quotes.

III. An explanation of Utilitarianism and how it can be used to argue for the banning of single use plastic. You can explain the framework and how it was developed to guard against ethical egoism and the self-interest of the wealthy minority. Use quotes from Bentham, Mill and/or Singer.

IV. Further connect the Utilitarian principle with action for environmental well-being and also consider why it is also for the greater good for those individuals who do not care about the ocean or sea-life.

V. Conclusion: Restatement of the main argument

Works Cited Example (separate page)

Bentham, Jeremy, “An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation” Reading

in Moral Philosophy, ed. Jonathan Wolff, New York: W.W. Norton & Company,

2018.

Blackstone, William T. “The Environment and Ethics.” The Hastings Center Report, vol. 7,

no. 6, 1977, pp. 16–18. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3560892

Mill, John Stuart, “Utilitarianism,” Readings in Moral Philosophy ed. Jonathan

Wolff, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2018