PHI 3670, Ethical Theory                     Paper Requirements                             UCF

 

  1. As you know, you have a research essay due on the last day of the term (June 16).  Submit the essay by e-mail to:  stanlick@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu and, in the subject line, indicate:  Research Essay, Your Name.  The research essay is a bit different from a full-scale research paper.  The idea behind it is to take two major sources on a topic (listed below), and write an argument-based, critical, analytical essay based on those sources and the position, topic, claim, or theory about which the articles you choose have been written.
  2. Essays are to be critical/analytical, not “book report” style or simple research papers – i.e., they are not find-the-facts-and-write-them-down essays.  They are “find-the-facts, understand the arguments/theories, and do something of some significance with the information essays.”  That is, you need to choose a topic, work out your position regarding the problem or concept, and argue for it.
  3. Choose one of the topics below.  If none of them is to your liking, or if you have some thesis/argument/problem in mind that you would rather research, let me know what it is and we’ll talk about how that topic will fit within the context of this course.  If you are a philosophy or humanities major, you have a portfolio requirement to meet before graduation, and if your essay is of good quality, you will have one from this course that you might use.
  4. No matter what topic you choose, it is REQUIRED that you use at least one article from a respectable academic journal in philosophy or political science that is no more than 2 years old.  For example, suppose you wish to write a paper on Aristotle’s philosophy of friendship and its ethical implications.  You can and should use Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Books VIII and IX.  That was written over 2000 years ago.  But whatever you use in conjunction with that must be an article written or published within the past 2 years.  You MUST have at least two sources for the research essay, but you may use more than that if you wish to do so.
  5. How do you write an essay like this?  It’s fairly straightforward.  Choose a topic and read the relevant 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. 
    1. Create a thesis statement.  State clearly what your position is.
    2. Work through the sources on the topic you have chosen. 
    3. Determine how you will argue for your position using those sources and weaving them into the context of your position.
    4. 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. 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).

7.  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 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 may be amended, edited, and otherwise altered from time to time to give you more options for essay 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 (in terms of punishment and reward)?

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.       Are ethical individualism and virtue theory/communitarian claims always inconsistent with each other?

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 or defensible?

11.   What are two major critiques of two major claims of virtue ethics against individualism?

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 forgiveness and self-respect compatible?