INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY– TERM PAPER

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY– TERM PAPER

You must write a 4-5 page term paper and submit it in the eLearn drop-box . Since on tests you are required to demonstrate your knowledge of the philosophers we have studied, this is meant to be an exercise in your critical thinking about these philosophers and express your own thinking on matters we have discussed. HOWEVER, you must present your opinion using premises that lead up to and justify your conclusion. You cannot argue “this is just how I feel” without any supporting reasons. This is unacceptable in philosophy. Listed below are the guidelines for how you must write. Also listed below is the list of acceptable topics you can choose from (choose 1). You can also choose your own topic if you like as long as you run it by me first.

The first half to two-thirds of the paper should be an explication of the philosopher’s arguments. TRY TO PRESENT THEIR ARGUMENT AS ACCURATELY AS YOU CAN! (Don’t straw-man.) The last half or third of the paper should be your argument in support of or against the philosopher’s position. Your paper should contain an intro paragraph, a body (comprising the bulk of the paper), and a conclusion. Your intro paragraph should contain a clearly stated thesis (a thesis is a one or two sentence proposition which clearly states the argument of your paper). The conclusion should restate the thesis in a more nuanced way once your argument has been developed and defended. PLEASE PROOF READ

GUIDELINES

4-5 pages.

12pt. Times New Roman font.

1-inch margins.

Double spaced.

In text citations are fine.

Minimum 3 citations

If a quote is more than 40 words, it must be turned into a block quote (no more than one block quote for the entire paper).

Number pages.

Use the Oxford Comma.

Have a creative title.

Your name at the top of the paper along with the title only.

Only submit using a word file or a .doc or .docx file! NO PDFs or other files! If you use google docs, you must download it as a Word file and then upload it to the dropbox.

USE THE TEXTS FROM CLASS. You do not need to do research. However, if you would like supplemental information for your paper, these cannot be cited: WIKIPEDIA, SPARKNOTES, YOUTUBE, AND OTHER NON-ACADEMIC SOURCES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE. But you can use them to help you grasp an idea. 

GRADING RUBRIC

10 points: Grammar, sentence structure, etc. 

10 points: Following all the guidelines.