Introduction to Philosophy Richard Lee
Philosophy 2003 C 001Autumn 1999

Paper (Writing Assignment)

Choose one of the following arguments:

A. Louis Pojman's "argument from the principle of merit" against affirmative action (See P 626f)

B. Mary Anne Warren's argument that a fetus does not have full moral rights (See P 562f)

C. John Hospers' argument that the only laws there should be are "laws protecting individuals against aggressions by other individuals" (See P 491f)

D. Peter Singer's argument speciesism should be condemned (See P 595f)

E. Thomas Hobbes argument that "every man, ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it ..." (See P 469b)

For your chosen argument do the following:

Step 1 (See due dates.)

  1. First quote the entire passage which contains the argument, or at least the pieces of the passage that contains the relevant claims. (This will often be a single short paragraph.)
  2. State clearly the conclusion of the argument. (If you quote directly, put the page number in parentheses. If you do not quote directly, add a footnote or endnote where you do quote the relevant passage, and provide a page reference.)
  3. State clearly each premise that appears in the text. (If you quote directly, put the page number in parentheses. If you do not quote directly, add a footnote or endnote where you do quote the relevant passage, and provide a page reference.)
  4. State clearly any implicit premises.
  5. If the argument has additional layers, show the overall structure of the argument by indicating which premises yield which intermediate conclusions and which intermediate conclusions and premises yield the ultimate conclusion, ideally by offering a tree diagram along the lines of the example presented in "Identifying and Formulating Arguments."
  6. Abstract the form of each move in the argument. (A "move" in an argument is an inference from a set of premises to a conclusion.) If the form has a name, state it. If the form is similar to one that has a name, explain the similarity.
  7. Explain the argument clearly in English. This will make use of all the above information but will organize it for easier comprehension.
Your paper will thus follow this outline:

  1. Passage
  2. Conclusion
  3. Explicit Premises
  4. Implicit Premises
  5. Overall Structure
  6. Form of Individual Moves
  7. English Explication

Step 2 (See due dates.)

Improve the above clarification of the argument, and add critique of the argument. In your critique be sure to indicate what premises or moves you are critiquing and what your objection to them is.

Note: For this assignment you need not use any materials apart from those in the class texts -- indeed you are encouraged not to. However, no matter what sources of information you use -- even the textbook -- be sure to make adequate attribution (e.g. in footnotes). You are expected to do your own work. Use of unacknowledged sources (e.g., books, friends, tutors, other papers) for this assignment constitutes cheating.

This paper should be typed submitted electronically to rlee@comp.uark.edu. The paper should be submitted as an in-line text file (not as a word processing document) or as a "rich text format" (.rtf) file. (You'll probably have to use a "save as" command to get your document into this form.) Submissions after the due date risk incursion of a penalty for lateness.

Please put your name on your paper. Be sure also to indicate (by letter) at the top of the first page which of the topics you are writing on.

For a sample of a paper in a format much like this one (but on another topic) see Descartes' argument that he knows that he exists.
Richard Lee, rlee@comp.uark.edu, last modified: 1 November 1999