Assignment

Guide to Writing this Term Paper

The basics boring requirements:

12-point Times New Roman Font

750 words minimum

Double Spaced

MLA Format

Bibliography (NOT WORKS CITED)

The seeminly challenging requirements:

For this paper you must present a situation requiring an ethical choice. This situation must be drawn from a news article. It must be a situation that actually happened. No hypotheticals. An ethical choice means you are deciding what would be good or right. Avoid political situations that bring in the question of justice. This makes the topic too large for a 750 word paper and the question of justice is much more challenging. Stick with the good for the individual. Possible topics: Suicide, Euthanasia, Abortion, Stem Cell Research, Physician-Assisted Suicide, Prostitution, Cloning, Abstinence, Same-Sex Marriage, Animal Testing, Sex Dolls, Forced Marriage. (Note that some are easier than others and some will require a large amount of research to support arguments.)

You must present at least, and preferably, two possibilities and provide arguments and reasons on behalf of both possibilities. Don’t simply give a bunch of statements. Provide arguments that defend each position. Why would people argue that this side is right? Why do they say this is the good act? If you cannot provide arguments for both sides, you need to pick a different topic.

Finally, you must take a position on this situation and justify that choice. Don’t give away your conclusion until this point. Everything prior to this should be completely neutral. This is the stage where you should bring in your philosopher/ethics. Make sure to use someone who will support your arguments. Work closely with the philosopher. Do not explain this philosopher or cite them via secondary sources. You must incorporate significant references to this thinker.

You should not:

Create hypothetical situations to analyze.

Use the personal, ever.

Argue against a system of ethics instead of using a system to support your arguments.

Weaken your argument by stating that your chosen ethics is often wrong, but right on this one occasion.

Make personal attacks.

Use contractions.

Curse. (Keep the paper professional.)

Give away your conclusion at the beginning.

Make claims without any supporting arguments or evidence.

Make overly general statements. (Always and never are usually a bad sign)

Jump to special cases or alternatives. (Stay focused)

The Outline:

Your ethical situation. Lead in with the news article. Explain the topic and make it important/problematic (Don’t just say it is important).

Arguments for side 1.

Arguments for side 2. (Not just statements, the reasoning underneath these statements. What do they see as good? How are they judging the right action?)

Conclusion for side 1 and justification using chosen philosopher and their ethics. Cite major points by the philosopher and then connect these points with your arguments. How do the arguments from side 1 above match up with the chosen ethics? How do the arguments for side 2 fall short?

Conclusion of paper