The assignment is to choose one of the following topics and write a
4-5 page
paper on that
topic.
If you have
questions about the particular topics, or about the paper in general, please
bring them up in class or office hours.
Any papers not given, in
person, to the instructor by that time will be considered
late.
Unless special arrangements
have been made, e
lectronic submissions will be considered late.
As stated in the syllabus,
there is a 7 point per day late penalty on all papers;
no excuses will be accepted.
•
Be sure to
write your name, topic, section and TA
the first page of your paper.
Your paper
should be
double spaced
, and have reasonable
(i.e. 1 inch max)
margins on the top,
bottom, and sides of each page.
Be sure to staple the pages of your paper together.
•
Reminder: Cite your sources, and make sure those sources do not include Wikipedia.
Drawing on the posted lecture notes or outside source material is fine, just be sure to
properly cite them.
Materials and ideas borrowed
or paraphrased
from a source that is
not
cited are plagiarized.
Plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the course, and the
plagiarizer’s name will be given
to the Purdue administration.
•
If in doubt, use
APA
Style Citation Format
(http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/APAStyleGuide2004.pdf).
Topics:
1.
The
Ontological Argument
purports to establish the existence of God based on
reflections on the concept or idea of G
OD.
If you choose to write on this topic,
your task is to explain the Ontological Argument, consider what you think is the best
objection to that argument, and then provide a reason or reasons for thinking that
one side has the better case, being sure to c
learly show how those reasons are
relevant to the dialectic set up earlier in the paper.
Your paper should include:
a.
A clear, detailed description of the most important concepts used in
Anselm’s Ontological Argument (examples may prove useful here)
b.
A descri
ption of the form of argument known as
reductio ad absurdum
c.
A statement of the basic idea behind the Ontological Argument
d.
A clear, detailed statement of the Ontological Argument itself
e.
A clear, detailed statement of one Skeptical Objection that has been ma
de to
the Ontological Argument
–
this should include a description of what part of
the Ontological Argument the objection is calling into question (is one of the
premises false or implausible? Does one of the steps, perhaps the conclusion,
not logically fo
llow from the previous steps?)
f.
Decide who you think has the more convincing case, and provide a clear,
detailed description of a reason or reasons for thinking that that side,
either
Defenders or Skeptics of the Ontological Argument,
is
more convincing
2.
The
Teleological Argument
purports to establish the existence of God based on
observations about the physical and biological world. If you choose to write on this
topic, your task is to explain the Teleological Argument, consider what you think is
the best
objection to that argument, and then provide a reason or reasons for
thinking that one side has the better case, being sure to clearly show how those
reasons are relevant to the dialectic set up earlier in the paper.
Your paper should
include:
a.
A clear, de
tailed description of the most important concepts used in the
Teleological Argument (examples may prove useful here)
b.
A description of the
form
of the Teleological Argument
–
what kind of
argument is the main argument, and what kind of argument is the sub
–
argument Paley gives in support of the second premise?
c.
A clear, detailed statement of the Teleological Argument
itself
, including a
discussion of how Paley supports each of
the premises
d.
A clear, detailed statement of one Skeptical Objection that has been made to
the Teleological Argument
–
this should include a description of what part of
the Teleological Argument the objection is calling into question (is one of the
premise
s false or implausible? Does one of the steps, perhaps the conclusion,
not logically follow from the previous steps?)
e.
Decide who you think has the more convincing case, and provide a
clear,
detailed description of a reason or reasons for thinking that
that
side, either
Defenders or Skeptics of the Teleological Argument,
is
more convincing
3.
The
Problem of Evil
argument purports to show that the existence of an
omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly benevolent God who loves us is incompatible
with much of what we
observe about the world, and concludes that such a God does
not exist.
If you choose to write on this topic, your task is to explain the Problem of
Evil Argument, consider what you think are the best
two
objections to that argument,
and then provide a rea
son or reasons for thinking that one side has the better case,
being sure to clearly show how those reasons are relevant to the dialectic set up
earlier in the paper.
Your paper should include:
a.
A clear, detailed statement of the Problem of Evil Argument it
self
i.
Be sure to explain what supports the premises
ii.
Examples will be useful here
b.
A clear, detailed statement of what you think are the
two best
Skeptical
Objections made against the Problem of Evil Argument, including a
description of what part of the Probl
em of Evil Argument each objection is
calling into question (is one of the premises false or implausible? Does one
of the steps, perhaps the conclusion, not logically follow from the previous
steps?)
c.
Decide who you think has the more convincing case, and p
rovide a
clear,
detailed description of a reason or reasons for thinking that
that
side, either
Defenders or Skeptics of the Problem of Evil Argument,
is more
convincing
