philosophy homework

Directions for Midterm Assignment

Due in class on 2/16/15

This project has two parts. These two parts are a Persuasive Essay and a separate Analysis of that essay.

Part 1: The Persuasive Essay

Directions:

1) This paper should be at least 3 pages long and be written like a normal

persuasive essay. It should contain at least 3 arguments and no more than

5. The essay can be about whatever topic you want.

2) I want you to give a mix of inductive and deductive arguments.

3) At least one of these arguments should an argument that you can

analyze with a truth table (which you will do in the second part of this

assignment).

-NOTE: not all arguments can be analyzed with truth tables, so

design this argument with the symbolic form and the truth table for

this argument already in mind.

4) You must cite at least two sources in this essay.

Part 2: The Analysis

Task 1: Argument Analysis

-For each argument:

a) Give a paraphrase

i) In which you restate each proposition in a clear and

simple manner

ii) State explicitly any unstated propositions

iii) Present these propositions in a logical order as a

numbered list

-NOTE: Please give a quotation of the entire argument that

you are giving a paraphrase of

b) State whether each argument is inductive or deductive and

explain why

i) For the inductive arguments, evaluate their probability

ii) For the deductive arguments, determine whether they are

valid or invalid

c) If possible, for deductive arguments give the symbolic form of

the argument and, if possible, a truth table.

-NOTE: as I stated above, you need at least one truth table

in your analysis, so you will need at least one argument in

your paper for which you can give a truth table.

d) Evaluate the premises of the arguments. Are any of them false

or otherwise questionable? Why?

Task 2: Informal Fallacies

-Determine if there are any informal fallacies, identify what type of fallacy it is, and give a justification for your identification

-Give a quotation of the fallacy when you discuss it.

Task 3: Sources

-Evaluate the sources used in the paper. Are they trustworthy and

authoritative? Why or why not?

Task 4: Summary

-Give a brief summary evaluation of your essay in which you indicate its

primary strengths and weaknesses.

Two suggestions:

1) Do not think of the Analysis part of this project as an additional paper and do

not write it like a paper. Structure it like a detailed outline of the

Persuasive Essay, in which clearly lay out and identify how the Persuasive Essay

argues for its conclusion.

2) In fact, you might want to write the Analysis first, and then once you have written it, use it as an outline for writing the Persuasive Essay.

Also, keep in mind that the reasoning of the arguments you give in your essay do not have to be good. The premises do not have to be good. The sources you use do not have to be good. If you want, you can write a totally silly and stupid paper. HOWERVER the analysis that you give of the essay you write, in which you have to explain to me what is good and bad about your argumentation, has to be good. The analysis is what I will primarily be grading you on.

GRADING CRITERIA:

I will be grading this assignment according to four criteria. These criteria are:

1) Content- 50% of grade: This section of the grade will reflect the quality of your argumentation and the depth of your understanding of the material. The better your arguments and the more in depth your presentation of the material, the better your grade will be

2) Citation- 10% of grade: You MUST cite the text in your answers. If you say that Kant claims that Toad is best character to play in the levels that involve a lot of digging in Mario 2, show me where in the text he says this. You can choose to either just reference where in the text it appears or you can quote the portion of the text that is relevant to your answer (with page numbers of course). I encourage you to quote where it makes sense, but if you quote make sure to explain what that quotation means in your own words. And of course plagiarism results in a failure of the course.

3) Spelling and grammar- 20% of grade: Reading with a peper shitty spealling and grammer it not very 3nj0y4b13.

4) Structure and presentation- 20% of grade: Is the structure of your paper clear? Does the organization of the sentences and paragraphs make sense or does it look like you just threw a bunch of random comments together? Do your arguments and analysis make sense?

NOTE: Poor presentation (whether through bad writing, structure, or even formatting) can obscure the content of your work to the extent that in certain cases what you are trying to communicate is unintelligible to the reader. I should not have to read a sentence or a paragraph three or four times to understand it. As a writer it is your responsibility to communicate your ideas as effectively and clearly as possible. As the person reading and grading your assignment, it is not my responsibly to make an excessive effort to understand the meaning of what you are trying to communicate to me.