Philosophy

Directions for Final Project

Due via e-mail (send to [email protected]) by midnight on 3/19/15

For this project I want you to find a persuasive article or opinion piece and use the resources that we have developed in this class to analyze it. There is no length required for the article that you select. Instead, I am interested in the quality of your analysis. If the article is too small and insubstantial, then you will have nothing to say about it. If the article is too long and complicated, then you will probably not be able to give it a sufficient analysis. Instead, pick an article that has a length and complexity that will allow you to give a thorough analysis of its content. You might want to show me the article before you begin working on it so that I can give it the OK.

The article you select should contain at least 3 arguments. If the article contains more than four arguments, analyze only the 4 most important arguments.

How you structure this project will be up to your own discretion. Your goal is to make your analysis as intelligible as possible. With this in mind, I am calling this assignment a “project” and not a “paper” because I do not think that you can present this information adequately in a standard paper format.

For this project, I want you to do the following things:

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

Task 3: Sources

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

authoritative? Why or why not?

Task 4: Ideology

-Examine and critique the ideology of the author.

-Identify and discuss the ideology that you believe the author

represents

-What are the characteristics of this ideology?

-Does it have a name?

-Does this ideology misrepresent reality, and if so, how?

-Does a particular social group benefit from this ideology,

and if so, who and how?

-How does this ideology manifest itself in the essay that you are

evaluating?

-Note: Because you must analyze and discuss the ideology of the essay

that you select, it makes sense to pick an essay that has a clear ideological

dimension to it and that the ideology is one that you are familiar with

Task 5: Summary

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

primary strengths and weaknesses.

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.