“There is something special about human nature in comparison to other animals” Do you agree with this statement? Provide an argument either attacking or supporting this proposition using reasons and evidence.

Research Essay Questions, Instructions, and Rubric

Due :- 04/11

Essay Instructions:

Assessment:

Essays will be marked and assessed using the rubric below. Essays are expected to demonstrate

knowledge of the course material as well as additional research beyond the mandatory weekly

readings. Your examiners will not assume any knowledge on your part, your goal is to convince them

that you understand the course material and have conducted additional research. Please use at

least four sources (you can use as many weekly readings as you like but at least three of your

references need to be non-weekly readings). Make sure to back up your claims with evidence and

arguments.

Further and recommended readings have been provided on the ilearn (this can be used as

part of your research and does not count as a weekly reading). There is also a wide range of material

available at both the library and through journals accessible through the library online system. There

are also exemplar essays of previous good work that can be found in the assessment section of the

ilearn and a guide about how to write a philosophical essay. Also, you can return to the week 5 lecture on essay writing for more advice.

Citations and structure

Essays are 1500 words. There is a 10% discrepancy on the word count. Beyond this you will be

penalised 5 marks per 100 words over this. Please make it clear which question (see choices below)

you are answering. Essays are to formatted as doubled spaced – this is for the sake of the

examiner’s eyes. If you do not comply with this you will be penalised (see rubric).

Essays are to be well structured (introduction, argument and discussion, and conclusion)

and must also be properly referenced and cited. The reference list WILL NOT count towards the

word count for this essay. But footnotes of content will (not footnotes of citations). The Harvard

system is preferable for referencing – this is explained in detail below. But as long as a consistent

method is used that is clear and provides all the information this is acceptable. For further advice

please see lecture 5. Do not cite lectures.

Harvard system:

I prefer this system because it is relatively easy to use and provides the core information in text

and the rest in the reference list. But you could also use (APA, Chicago, etc.)

In text: The key here is that after a quote or reference you provide the following information

in parentheses (author name, date of publication, page number [required only for a direct quote]).

E.g. direct quote:

“Its decline in popularity was not the result of dualist counterattacks, however, but a consequence of the rise of a very different conception of mind: functionalism” (Heil, 2013, p. 87)

E.g. citation:

Substance dualism is a position that begins with the work of Rene Descartes (Heil, 2013)

In reference list: Here you provide all the information about all your sources alphabetically by author

surname. The information is the following general order depending on whether it is a journal article,

entire book, or a chapter from an edited collection – more information about this can be found at the online sources below:

Journal article: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title of the Paper.

Name of the journal in italics. Volume number (Issue number), page numbers.

E.g.

Alač, M. & Hutchins, E. (2004) I See What You Are Saying: Action as Cognition in fMRI Brain Mapping

Practice. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 4(3), 629-661.

Book: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title in italics. Place of

publication: Publishing company.

E.g.

Collins, B. E. & Guetzkow, H. (1964) A Social Psychology of Group Processes for Decision-Making. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Chapter of edited collection: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title of the chapter. (page numbers) “in” Initials of editors, Editor(s) name “(ed.)” Full Title of edited collection in italics. Place of publication: Publishing company.

E.g.

Nersessian, N. J. (2005) Interpreting Scientific and Engineering Practices: Integrating the Cognitive,

Social, and Cultural Dimensions. (pp. 17-56) in M. E. Gorman, R. D. Tweney, D. C. Gooding & A. P.

Kincannon (Eds.) Scientific and Technological Thinking. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.

Online source: peer reviewed material is preferable but there are some very good online sources for

academic writing (e.g. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/). Online sources are cited as follows in the reference list: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of

publication date) Full Title of the online. Available at: [insert web address]. Accessed on: [insert date

on which you accessed the information]. If you cannot find a date, indicate this as (n.d) – this means

“no date”

E.g.

Calef, S. (n.d) Dualism and Mind. Available at: https://www.iep.utm.edu/dualism/. Accessed on

20/02/2020.

More information about correct citations and bibliographies can be found at the following places

online:

http://www.citethisforme.com/guides/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation#Humanities

http://libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing

Plagiarism:

Essays will be submitted through the turnitin system. This system automatically detects plagiarism. Be careful when using online material and other resources to either put this in quotations and cite

properly or to put it in your own words and cite. But should also note that putting too much of the

essay in other people’s words will detract from your grade. If you do cite, it is good to try and recap

that point to demonstrate your understanding. All papers uploaded to turnitin are automatically

scanned and compared to a massive online database (as well as Google) – and any significantly similar text is flagged for the marker to evaluate. As such, beware: if you copy from other sources without citing properly then your examiner will know. Additionally, do not falsely attribute claims to authors who have not made them. This will be heavily penalised. All cases of suspected plagiarism will be referred to the university disciplinary committee, and the exam will not be marked pending an independent investigation.

Essay questions:

Pick one of the following questions. [NB: this can be different to your essay plan if you wish. You can

change questions.]

4. “There is something special about human nature in comparison to other animals” Do you

agree with this statement? Provide an argument either attacking or supporting this

proposition using reasons and evidence.