Argument and Philosophical Theories Essay

Submitted By thacud
Words: 858
Pages: 4
Open Document
Intro to Phil Essay Instructions: Write a 3-4-page paper taking a position on one of the issues we have discussed. This paper must be typed and double-spaced, 12-point Roman font, one-inch margins. It must include your name and page number on every page, and be stapled in the upper-left-hand corner. Be sure to be clear about what your position is, and how you are supporting it. You may have to appeal to evidence outside of Lawhead, depending on your topic. Be sure to cite any outside sources you use! No plagiarism will be tolerated! Papers that fail to adhere to these instructions will be returned unread until the format is corrected. Guidelines: your paper must explain and use elements of the theories we have discussed. You must then take a stand on one side of the debate or the other, and explain why you think as you do. This explanation is your original contribution to the debate, and is therefore all-important. Consult with me on a topic and basic argumentative strategy before you begin writing!! Failure to clear your topic with me will most likely result in a disastrous grade on this assignment. Paper Topics
1. Proofs of God’s existence. Choose EITHER Aquinas’ first way, Anselm’s ontological argument or Paley’s design argument. (Write on ONLY ONE!!) Explain the argument, giving the premises and conclusion(s), and explain two MAJOR objections to it. Be sure to explain HOW the objections work (e.g. by attacking a particular premise.) Then respond to the objections on behalf of Aquinas, Anselm or Paley (as appropriate.) How well do your responses defend the argument? Do they make it convincing or do they leave doubts? Why? (Argue for you view here.)
2. The problem of evil. Explain the argument from evil. (Give the premises and conclusion of this argument.) Then explain in detail Augustine’s and Aquinas’ theodicies. How well do their responses to the problem work? Do they successfully address the problem of “natural evil?” Why or why not? (Argue for your view. Note: ignoring natural evil will seriously weaken the paper and cost many points!)
3. Epistemology. What are Descartes’ arguments against empiricism? Explain them in detail, applying the method of doubt and giving the steps for each stage of doubt. (See the First Meditation.) What are Hume’s arguments against rationalism? Explain how his arguments use the empirical criterion of meaning. (See the sections of Lawhead where Hume attacks the concepts of substance, self and cause and effect.) Which arguments do you find more convincing? Why? (Argue for you view here.)
4. Personal identity. Explain the somatic theory of personal identity. Which is the best version of it and why? What are Locke’s objections to it? Explain Descartes’ view. What is Locke’s objection to it? Explain Locke’s view. What are the objections to it? (Raised by Hume and by me.) What do your intuitions about Leonard tell about the strengths and/or weaknesses of the different views? If you had to choose a theory, which would you choose and why? (Note: Kierkegaard’s theory is fair game here, but you should think about any problems Leonard might cause for this view also.)
Other topics are possible, but must be discussed with me. General Form: Introduce your topic, defining terms and ethical criteria where necessary, and then signal what your thesis will be. Succeeding paragraphs should clearly state the major reasons supporting the thesis, and supply evidence for them.
Show More

Related Documents: Argument and Philosophical Theories Essay

Bias In Social Work

Robbins, Chatterjee, and Canda (1999) make a compelling argument for the inclusion of critical thought in the social work profession. It is their view that social work necessitates an analytical reflection of the philosophical underpinnings that informs theories that social work consists of. The reason for this being, that without said consideration, our biases would go unnoticed; biases that affect the social workers’ practice, their conduct when working with clients. In other words, having an ideological…

Words 702 - Pages 3

Functionalist's Type-Identity Theory

Type-Identity theory postulates…

Words 1094 - Pages 5

Pathos Analysis

to the controversy through arguments over the morality, benefits, and dangers of the animal agriculture industry. Some take a scientific approach, detailing specifics and data points, whereas others focus more on ethical and philosophical qualms. In “Meat in a Sustainable Food System,” Muchenje et al. take the former, with science supporting the primary argument to advocate for change in animal agriculture. Contrastly, in “A Philosophical Appraisal of the Rights Theory…

Words 1590 - Pages 7

Pathos Analysis

to the controversy through arguments over the morality, benefits, and dangers of the animal agriculture industry. Some take a scientific approach, detailing specifics and data points, whereas others focus more on ethical and philosophical qualms. In “Meat in a Sustainable Food System,” Muchenje et al. take the former, with science supporting the primary argument to advocate for change in animal agriculture. Contrastly, in “A Philosophical Appraisal of the Rights Theory…

Words 1597 - Pages 7

LOGOS War essay

Module 107: Brothers in Arms- Is war justifiable? Look closely at 2 or 3 philosophical arguments for or against “war”. War is defined as the “state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012 and is typically characterised as being extremely violent, resulting in high rates of mortality. There are many philosophical and theological arguments supporting and contesting its justification. From a moral perspective, killing another…

Words 1313 - Pages 6

Essay about The idiocy of optimism and the vanity of philosophical conjecture

The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the Seven years’ War had a profound effect on Voltaire’s writing, his assessment of societal norms and western philosophy. Strongly disillusioned by these horrible events he came to question in particular the theory of a well-known philosopher by the name of Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz. Voltaire uses Candide as an exposure of the sheer lunacy in the classic dogmas of optimism and a pronouncement of the superiority of objectivity in scientific observation and reasoning…

Words 1015 - Pages 5

Evolution: Evolution and Intelligent Design Essay

“Evolution is a broad, well-tested description of how earth’s present day life-forms arose from common ancestors reaching back to the simplest one celled organisms almost four billion years ago”. (AAAS) The theory of Evolution really became of rapid acceptance when Charles Darwin published a evolutionary theory in his work, “On the Origin of Species”. "Intelligent design" consists of two hypothetical claims about the history of the universe and of life: first, that some structures or processes in nature…

Words 444 - Pages 2

Sartre's Metamorphosis

One of the main philosophical arguments that Existentialism philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre argues is the idea of bad faith and its application to not only society, as a whole, but also to the individual. Bad faith is the relationship between self deception and the sacrifice of freedom. It is based on who one is based on the current society that one is currently in. Bad faith argues that one limits and deceive themselves in relation to the role one play in society. Sartre implies that one’s sacrifice…

Words 835 - Pages 4

Saint Thomas Aquinas Argument For The Existence Of God

fifth way, now better known as Thomas' "Argument from Design", the philosopher uses a teleological approach to assert nature is governed, or directed, by an intelligent being known to man as God. Aquinas states that everything has an order, which can be explained only by a purpose, or design. Since design and purpose are both associated with intelligence, nature must be guided by an over-seeing designer. There are many objections to Aquinas' final argument. Some claim the assumption that everything…

Words 1175 - Pages 5

High Essay

but they regularly address quite similar questions. Recently, physicists have revisited a topic with modern philosophical origins dating over a century ago: the unreality of time. What if the passage of time were merely an illusion? Can a world without time make sense? While a world without the familiar passage of time may seem far­fetched, big names in physics, such as string theory pioneer Ed Witten and theorist Brian Greene, have recently embraced such an idea. A timeless reality may help reconcile differences between…

Words 1412 - Pages 6