philosophy

ESSAY PAPER CRITERIA

PHIL 1301-51702/71701, Introduction to Philosophy, Fall 2021

The essay paper assignment is 100 points and is 25% of your final grade. This assignment is meant to test

your ability to explain philosophy, specifically ethics, more in depth and to critically analyze and

compare different approaches to ethics or environmental ethics. This must be a new essay written

specifically for this class by you individually. You must get approval from me before using part or all of

an essay that was submitted for another class or a previous semester of Introduction to Philosophy.

You have two topic area choices: your essay must cover either Topic A or Topic B, not both.

Whichever option you chose, you will pick only two approaches to cover in your essay.

Topic A: Pick any two out of the following approaches to ethics: Ethical egoism, utilitarianism (act and

rule), Kant’s categorical imperative, Aristotle’s virtue ethics, or care ethics. First, give your own cohesive

summary of each of those two approaches. Second, discuss the comparative strengths and weaknesses of

each and give your own argument for which is a better approach to ethics and why.

Topic B: Pick any two out of the following approaches to environmental ethics: Singer’s animal equality,

Taylor’s biocentric outlook, Leopold’s land ethic, or Sandler’s environmental virtue ethics. First, give

your own cohesive summary of each of those two approaches. Second, discuss the comparative strengths

and weaknesses of each and give your own argument for which is a better approach to environmental

ethics and why.

Essay Setup

Summary: You should summarize each of the two approaches you are discussing, in about a paragraph

each (or two each, if necessary). For this assignment, your summary should not give any judgment, but

simply present a neutral explanation (any evaluation should be in your analysis). Your summary must be

mostly in your own words; you can and should use key terms, and limited use of direct quotes is helpful,

but you cannot just copy the text, notes or other sources.

Analysis: You should discuss and explain what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each

approach and give your own argument for which is better and why. This portion should not just repeat the

strengths and weaknesses given in the text and notes or outside sources; you must focus mainly on your

own clearly given analysis and your own rationally supported argument. You do not have to argue that

one view is better than the other, as long as you have a clear conclusion that you argue for.

Your paper will have two main parts to it: first, a relevant summary of course material. Secondly, your

own critical analysis or argument regarding the theories you are addressing. You must have both parts,

and they should be roughly equal in length. In addition to those two main parts, the paper should further

begin with a one-paragraph introduction (including a thesis statement) and end with a one-paragraph

conclusion. Again, this must be a new paper written specifically for this course; you must check with

your instructor before using work from other courses.

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Due Date and Submission:

Your essay must be submitted online by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, November 17! You will upload

your essay as a Word document (.doc or .docx) on ecampus; it must be a Word document specifically. It

will be run through SafeAssign, software designed to help identify potential cases of plagiarism.

Length and Format: Your essay paper must be no less than 1000 and should not be more than 1500

words. Your essay must be 12” Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides.

Any paper written below the minimum length will receive a lower grade (you may go beyond the upper

word count if necessary, but not too much). Heading, direct quotes, footnotes, your works cited page, etc.

do NOT count towards the 1000-1500 words.

Sources and Citation: All sources of information, including assigned readings, must be properly cited

according to either MLA, APA, or Chicago style citation, resources for which can be easily found online.

• You are required to cite the assigned readings that are directly relevant to your essay.

• You may use outside sources if you want to, but it is not required; if you use any outside sources, then you are required to properly cite them in your essay.

• Citing the course notes or outside sources does not replace needing to cite assigned course readings.

• The care ethics reading and any of the environmental ethics readings should be cited as chapters in an edited volume; the source information for each is given in the PDF.

Remember, anything that is not your own thinking or idea must be properly referenced! Proper citation

always includes two things: in-text citation (parenthetical references or footnotes) and full information for

each source at the end of the essay (a works cited list). Any use of a source that is not properly cited

constitutes plagiarism. Direct word-for-word copying from a source without use of both quotation marks

and source citation is also plagiarism. Plagiarism may result in a 0 on this assignment.

Grading: The essay is worth 100 points and is 25% of your final course grade. Your grade on the

assignment consists of the following criteria:

Summary (25 points): Give a clear and cohesive summary of two philosophical approaches to ethics or

environmental ethics, clearly covering the most important aspects and overall main idea of each.

Analysis (25 points): Give your own comparison of the strengths and weakness of each ethical approach,

and your own argument for which is better and why (or why both are equally good, etc.)

Critical Thinking (25 points): Be sure to show careful and consistent reasoning throughout your essay,

clearly explain your ideas, and give reasoning behind your judgments and conclusion.

Writing (25 points): Be sure to write clearly, properly cite your sources, and make sure that your essay is

mostly free of spelling and grammar errors; submit essay in proper format.

Essays that are late and/or below the required word count will have points deducted outside of this

grading criteria.

Contact your instructor if you have any questions over the essay assignment!