PHI 3670, Ethical Theory                                    Paper Requirements                   Spring Term 2001           UCF

 

  1. You can write one paper (due on 4/20) of 12-15 pages or you can write two papers of 6-8 pp. each.  Topics are fixed – i.e., the topics are listed below and this is the list from which you must choose a topic or topics.  If you choose to write 2 papers, the first one will be due on the Wednesday after Spring Break (March 21) and the second one is due on April 20.
  2. Papers are to be critical/analytical, not “book report” style or simply research papers.  That is, you need to choose a topic (or topics), work out your position regarding the problem or concept, and argue for it using appropriate references and developing your own argument.
  3. The difference between writing two papers and writing one paper is that two papers require that you choose two different topics and each individual paper is 6-8 pages rather than 12-15.  Choosing one paper will probably work to your benefit in that you can spend more time on one topic, carefully formulating your own position and working through the semester on how best to approach that which you have chosen.  If you are a philosophy or humanities major, it is most likely in your best interest to choose one paper since you have a portfolio requirement to meet before graduation, and if your paper is of good quality, you will have one from this course that you might use.
  4. How do you write a paper like this?  It’s fairly straightforward.  Choose a topic (or topics if you are writing two papers) and read the relevant primary sources regarding it.  Paying close attention to the problem or issue at hand, decide which element or elements of the topic you find most problematic or interesting.  Check (respectable) on-line and hard-copy sources on the topic(s) in which you are interested.  Read them and determine how those works fit into the argument you are formulating regarding the topic. 
    1. Create a thesis statement.  State clear what your position is.
    2. Work through the primary sources on the topic you have chosen.
    3. Check and work through at least 2 secondary sources on or related to the topic you have chosen.
    4. Determine how you will argue for your position using those sources and weaving them into the context of your position.
    5. Make sure that your paper consists at least of the following five elements:

                                                               i.      An introduction in which you will state the problem/thesis and in which you will outline the manner in which you will approach the problem, how you will go about attempting to solve it, etc.  It might be a good idea to have someone else who is taking this course read your thesis statement and tell you what his or her interpretation is of your position.  If your (intelligent) friend doesn’t know what you are talking about, your thesis probably doesn’t make any sense.  Fix it.

                                                             ii.      The body of the paper in which you will work through the thesis statement and in which you will present in detail the arguments and sub-arguments that support or defend your position.  It is also a good idea to include a section in which you will anticipate objections to your thesis and argument(s), and in which you answer them.  Always apply the “principle of charity” to the viewpoint(s) to which you are opposed.  It is very easy to defeat a bad argument.

                                                            iii.      A conclusion in which you will explain how the issue has been resolved, solved, or the elements of the findings you have made and in which you state the implications of the position.

                                                            iv.      A Bibliography.

                                                              v.      Foot- or end-notes (preferably of an explanatory kind, not simply ones listing sources).  You can and should use in-text references wherever and whenever possible.  See the MLA manual for information on how to format you paper appropriately.

  1. One way in which you might develop skills in writing papers of this sort is to make sure that you read carefully the articles required for the course and note the manner in which the authors of the articles formulate their positions.  Some people suggest that you imitate a style utilized by an author who has written a work you find particularly interesting.
  2. There will be additional resources posted on-line for assistance with writing papers as the semester progresses.  Electronic resources (on-line journals, the Philosopher’s Index, etc.) are available through the UCF Library.  Don’t hesitate to use hard-copy journals if you find something you’d like to use in your paper(s).
  3. This document will most likely be edited throughout the semester for your use.

8.  Papers are graded with the following considerations taken into account:

    1. Content = 35%.  ‘Content’ refers to your use of sources, your understanding of the position taken as well as your understanding and expression of the problem being explored.
    2. Critical Analysis = 35%. ‘Critical analysis’ refers to the quality of your argument, the care with which you have stated your position, the quality of the sources you have used. 
    3. Grammar, spelling and punctuation = 30%.  These things count.  You need not produce a work of absolute perfection, but you need to have enough respect for yourself (your paper represents you) to make sure that you write clearly, concisely, with conviction, and with care.  Remember that UCF has a Writing Center (see the Dept. of Philosophy Web-site in the section on electronic research for information regarding the Writing Center) to which you can go for assistance with writing.  Keep in mind, however, that your paper is your responsibility.  You are solely responsible for its content.  (Don’t count on a spell-checker or grammar software to catch mistakes for you.  They are notoriously unreliable.)

 

TOPICS (This list will be amended, edited, and otherwise altered from time to time to give you more options for paper topics)

 

1.       Choose one of the major theories of ethics and examine how it deals with the issue of the ethical significance of friendship.

2.       Do the same as (1) above, but focus your attention on supererogation or the interests of others.

3.       Do the same as (1) above, but focus your attention on the problem of self-respect.

4.       Moral responsibility – how do we determine what people deserve?

5.       Moral responsibility – for what are we morally responsible?  Only our own actions?  The events we “cause”?  Anything else?

6.       The ethical significance of emotion(s) – for example, is there a morally acceptable way to feel or react under certain circumstances?  How can this be known?

7.       What constitutes human (or other animal) value?  What does this notion of value imply about our responsibilities to others?

8.       Is emotivism capable of accommodating argumentation in ethics?

9.       Is Hobbesian egoism consistent with caring for/about others and respecting their autonomy?

10.   Is Hobbes’s position regarding the origin of morality plausible?

11.   Can Kantian ethics accommodate cases of conflicts of duty?

12.   Is stoicism capable of guiding people toward true happiness or the good life?

13.   Can Hobbes’s ethics explain what a good life would be or what it would be like?

14.   Are envy and jealousy morally significant emotions?

15.   Are forgiveness and self-respect compatible?

 

NOTE:  This list was updated on 1/23/2001.