Phil 180I: Writing Assignments
All papers will be 4-5 pages in length, double spaced and in an 11-point or 12-point font.Your name should appear only on the back of the last page, written lightly in pencil.
Paper 1. Due 9/5:
Read pp. 93-124 of Plato's Phaedo [57a-85b]. Then reread pp. 93-106 [57a-69e]. This latter section contains an extended argument for Socrates's astonishing claim that the true philosopher, i.e., one who is truly living a philosophical life, will welcome death rather than fear death. Lay out this argument as persuasively as you can, first identifying the main premises of the argument and then defending those premises by drawing from the various aspects of the philosophical life described in the Apology, the Gorgias, and Phaedo 57a-85b. Finally, in the last paragraph of your paper state and explain what you take to be the strongest objection to Socrates's argument.
Paper 2: Due 9/19:
Paper 3. Due 10/1:
Reread Book 1 (all) and Book 10, chaps. 6-8 of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Relying on these particular texts and using as background your reading of other parts of the Ethics, first explain in general the sort of life that Aristotle considers as worthy of a human being and as constitutive of true human happiness or flourishing, and then contrast this sort of life with others that he takes to be misguided. To help you formulate your thoughts on this issue, take a profession that you yourself are considering entering (e.g., business, law, medicine, engineering, journalism, teaching, etc.) and ask how a person in that profession could have a truly happy life according to Aristotle's conception of happiness.
Paper 4. Due 10/17:
Read pp. 145-180 of the section on temperance in Pieper's The Four Cardinal Virtues. First, explain briefly Pieper's distinction between incontinence and the vice of unchastity. Second, lay out and explain what Pieper sees as the destructive effects of the vice of unchastity, and briefly indicate some reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with his claims. Lastly, discuss critically his defense of the virtue of virginity (or celibacy).
Paper 5. Due 11/21:
Read Part XII of David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Your first task is to characterize as clearly as you can the debate between Cleanthes and Philo over the question of whether religion and the practice of religion are socially beneficial or socially harmful. Next read Patrick Fagan's essay "Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability," which caused a stir in the national media when it was released earlier this year. Your second task is to assess the arguments of both Cleanthes and Philo in light of this essay.
Paper 6. Due 12/10:
Read Chaper IX of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, the chapter entitled "Authority and the Adventurer". In this chapter Chesterton argues in effect that accepting the authority of Christian revelation is not only compatible with the requirements of rationality, but also dictated by those same requirements. Lay out his argument and discuss it critically.