Grade Update

Hi all,

Here's a link to a new grade update sheet. Some of you are still missing quite a lot of work - be sure to get it to me asap. Let me know if you have questions.

Term Paper Part 3

Philosophy 130 Fall 2010

Term Paper Part 3: Final Draft

*Note: the term paper due date has been extended to Tuesday, December 7.*

Your term paper will have three main sections: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

Introduction

The introduction will be fairly short, and will have 3 parts:

1. “Motivating the question”: give just a very brief background about what makes your question interesting and difficult (in other words, explain why it’s an important question to address).
2. Say what conclusion you’ll argue for in your paper. Philosophy papers are different from English papers this way – you’ll repeat your conclusion at the end, but you also start off by saying what you’ll be arguing for. (“In this paper, I’ll argue that we should do away with capital punishment.”)
3. Give a very brief outline of the main reasons you have for your conclusion. (“Because it fails to act as a deterrent to crime; research shows that its application is strongly biased against the poor and racial minorities; it devalues human life; and any method of application will constitute cruel and unusual punishment.”)

Body

The body of the paper will constitute most of the length of the paper. It should have 3 or 4 (possibly more, depending on how many main premises you have) main part. Each of the main reasons you have for your conclusion will be a main part of the body of the paper. Like this:

Premise 1

1. Explain your first premise (“Capital punishment does not act as a deterrent to murder”)
2. Give all the evidence and arguments you have to support your premise (show us why we should believe that your premise is true)
3. Say what someone might argue against you – give the best possible arguments against your premise
4. Show why those arguments against you are either wrong, or are outweighed by more important factors

Premise 2

1. Repeat steps a through d above for each subsequent premise.

Conclusion

The conclusion will be fairly short. Just remind the reader of what you argued for, and what your major premises were. The conclusion is just restating the shape of your general argument, because you’ll have gotten into so much detail in the body of the paper. You should not include any new arguments in the conclusion. If you have a point to make, make it in the body of the paper and defend it.

Citations

You should cite your sources in both of two ways in your paper. Use MLA style.

1. Parenthetical citations: whenever you’ve used someone else’s words or ideas in the body of your paper, those words, or that idea, should be immediately followed by a parenthesis with the author’s name and the page or paragraph number from where you got the information.
2. Works Cited page: include all the required bibliographical information for each source on a separate page at the end of your paper.

General Instructions

• Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, and around 8 pages long.
• Cite all of your sources properly, using both parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page
• Number every page after page 1
• Include your name, the name of the class and the section number, and the date
• Do not use a cover sheet
• Late papers will not be accepted unless you have contacted me prior to the due date to arrange for an extension

Here's a link to a PDF of the assignment: Term Paper Part 3

Presenting an Extended Argument

Organizing and Presenting an Extended Argument

In addition to the quality of the content of your argument, you have three main goals for your presentation:

• Clarity
• Depth
• Maintaining interest

Clarity

By the time you present your group project to the class, you’ll be very familiar with all of the issues and questions raised by your topic, and familiar with the arguments. Don’t forget that many people in the class will have only a glancing familiarity with the topic, though – you have to make sure that you present the material clearly so that they can follow your arguments.

1. Determine your main arguments – these will form the basic outline of your presentation. For example, a group that was arguing about capital punishment might decide, after an extended discussion, on the following basic outline:

a. Thesis: Capital punishment is ethically indefensible, for the following reasons

b. Premise 1: capital punishment devalues human life

c. Premise 2: evidence shows that capital punishment does not deter crime

d. Premise 3: evidence shows that the application of capital punishment is strongly biased against racial minorities and the poor, and

e. Premise 4: any available method of killing the convicted person would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, violating the 8^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution

2. Use this outline frequently in your presentation. At the beginning of your presentation to the class, after a brief introduction to the issue in general, tell the class clearly: what thesis you’ll be arguing for, and the three or four main arguments you’ll make to support that thesis (“Today, we’ll be arguing that capital punishment is ethically indefensible, for these four reasons etc.”). Then, in the same order you just presented those main arguments to the class, go through each of your three or four main arguments and support them with argument and evidence (“First, we’ll show you why the use of capital punishment devalues human life: argument argument argument” “Furthermore, contrary to the assertions of those who support capital punishment, capital punishment does not deter any crime: argument argument statistics argument.” Etc.).

3. Back this outline up with visual aids. You MAY NOT use a computer-based slide presentation program like PowerPoint or Keynote. Use one or more of the following: posters, the blackboard, or transparencies. Your goal is to lay out your thesis and three or four main arguments visually for the class so that they can continue to refer back to it briefly during your talk. You’ll be going into each of the main arguments in depth, and it will be all too easy for the audience to get lost in the details of the presentation, and forget how those details fit into the argument as a whole. By making posters or some other visual aid (they have to be large enough for the class to read) with a basic summary of the main arguments (see number 1 above) that the class can continue to refer to throughout your talk, you make it a lot easier for them to follow.

Depth

You want to present a really persuasive and sophisticated argument on this topic. That means you should include as much of your evidence as is feasible in your presentation. Show the class in detail why you think your conclusions are right by including the argument and evidence you have to support those conclusions.

Be sure to include considerations of the strongest possible opposing arguments. Be very clear when you’re considering an opponent’s argument and when you’re rebutting that argument (for example, be sure to introduce each opposing argument with something like “an opponent might argue…,” “someone might argue against us that…,” “you might object that…,” etc.). Then introduce your rebuttal by saying something like “this argument fails, however, because…,” “this is mistaken because…,” etc.

Don’t forget to give your rebuttal (show why your opponent is wrong and you’re right)!

Holding Audience Attention

You’ll be presenting a detailed, extended argument with lots of pieces that fit together. Going through three to four sub-arguments in detail, considering opposing arguments, and rebutting opposing arguments takes longer than you think – typically, these presentations actually last for about 40 minutes each.

In order to hold your audience’s attention, think about breaking up the style of your presentation a bit. You might intersperse straight lecture-style presentation with some back-and-forth argument between group members, take a couple of questions from the class at the end of every segment, or present each sub-argument in a slightly different style.

Preparing for the Presentation

You’ll only have 40 minutes total for your presentation, so be sure to be on time and ready to begin!

As part of your group’s preparations, prepare your ideal presentation in advance, and then get together to practice running through the presentation. Don’t forget that you’ll need time to set up visual aids, get the group together, arrange desks if necessary, and set up the room. See if your practice run-through fits into 40 minutes or less. If it goes over, think about what can be cut out while still retaining the strength of your argument.

Work as a group in developing and organizing the entire presentation – don’t parcel out sections of the presentation to individual group members! This should be a seamless whole, and you should all be aware of everything that’s going to be presented.

Presentation Style

Your group may choose any style in which to present your arguments. The only criteria are: (1) everyone must have participated in the development of the arguments and the development of the presentation; (2) your presentation must cover all of the necessary ground to substantiate the argument, in a fair amount of depth. Don’t choose a slick and entertaining style of presenting unless you can do so without any sacrifice of content.

Here's a link to the PDF of this document: Organizing and Presenting an Extended Argument

Example Posters

			Because: it devalues human life,		It does not deter crime (i.e., fails to accomplish its stated purpose)
	Capital Punishment is ethically indefensible:

	Its application is biased against minorities and the poor, and		It violates the 8th amendment (it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment).

Forum: Background Assumptions and Bias

Think about your sub-topic for your term paper. Then spend AT LEAST 10 full minutes brainstorming about what background assumptions, knowledge, principles, preferences, and ideas might influence the way you perceive arguments about your sub-topic.

Post your answers in comments. Don't forget to include an explanation of your sub-topic.

Photo of Rodin's Le Penseur (c) 2005 by Piero d under Creative Commons Attribution license
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rodin_le_penseur.JPG

Example Argument Map

Arguments are an excellent tool for critical thinking. In arguments, we first research facts and reasons on all sides of an issue, then evaluate the information we've gathered to determine what is the best position on the issue. Finally, we organize our thinking systematically to persuade others.

Argument maps provide a way to organize and visualize all of the complex pieces of a good argument. Here is an example of an argument map I made about an issue that's often a popular essay topic for students.

This week, you'll begin to use argument maps to learn how to put together your arguments. Above is a brief example of an argument map I made (using a different program, so it looks slightly different from yours), to give you an example of what a good map would look like. Click on the map to get a full-sized version that you can examine.

Forum Assignment: Argument Maps

Work on your argument map for a few hours. After you've worked for some time, think about what major question or questions you're running into. It can be a question about your argument itself (you suddenly realized you didn't understand part of your argument until you tried to put it down systematically); how the program works; how to arrange claims (how the claims fit together to form an argument); whatever questions you've run into, and you can't figure out for yourself after puzzling over it for a while. Put your questions below in comments.

Term Paper 2: Argument Map

Here's a link to the argument map site: Cartargrapher

Once you've logged in to Google, just go to "my maps" in the upper left corner to see a list of the different maps you've worked on.

Play around with it, to give yourself a sense of which arguments are best supported!

Homework for Thursday

To review, here's your homework for Thursday:

Read Case 6 in Critical Thinking: A Campus Life Casebook

Write down all the reasoning that supports the conclusion "A reasonable person would understand that the cartoon was intended ironically, and was meant to question and mock stereotypes."

Write down all the reasoning that supports the conclusion "A reasonable person would understand the cartoon as supporting stereotypes."

Type your answers.

Grade Update

Here's a link to a current grade update. Philosophy 130 Fall 10

Look up your grades by student ID number.

Grades are listed in 4 sets of three pages each. The first set shows a general overview of the grades for the course. The column on the very furthest right shows your current percentage grade in the course, as a decimal. .895 or higher is an A; .795-.894 is a B, etc. The second-to last column on the right shows the total number of points you've earned so far.

The next set of three pages shows current forum grades, and the set after that shows current homework grades. You don't yet have any grades for term papers.

Except for the final column on the main, "Grades" page, all of the numbers listed are points, not percentage grades. The highest points you could get for each forum post is 75; the highest for each homework is 50.

First Term Paper

Here's a link to your first term paper assignment: Term Paper One - Research

Get started right away so that I can help you if you run into difficulties while you're working on your paper. Remember that your group depends on you being prepared for discussions!

Your first term paper is due Thursday, October 7. Contact me right away if you're having trouble with anything.

Photo (c) DanTadd under Creative Commons attribution/generic license

Tuesday 9/28

Hi all,

apparently some people didn't get the email I sent over the school email system. Meet in the library smart classroom tomorrow: it's behind the check-out desk to the left.

Please try to sit in your groups as much as possible - that is, try to have groups more or less bunch together.

See you tomorrow!

Group Project

Group Project Questions under Consideration

Choose your top 3 questions, and number them from 1 to 3; 1 being the question you're most interested in working on. Bring in your list for Thursday.

1. How can we best address environmental sustainability?

2. Should families on government assistance be drug tested?

3. Should a woman be able to undergo multiple in vitro fertilization efforts after she's had a successful pregnancy?

4. Is globalization a positive or negative occurrence?

5. Were the bombings of Japan during WWII ethically justified?

6. Should marijuana be legalized?

7. Are the Obama Admin. economic policies the best response to the current economic situation?

8. Should college athletes be paid a salary?

9. What are the best approaches to reducing rates of child abuse?

10. Should Don't Ask Don't Tell be repealed?

11. What should the U.S. response be to Iran's nuclear ambitions?

12. Should euthanasia be allowed for the terminally ill?

13. Should the K-12 school day/school year be lengthened?

14. How does affirmative action affect university campuses?

15. Should the age limit for driving be changed?

16. Should a same sex couple be allowed to adopt children?

17. Should we pass a "sin tax" on alcohol?

18. Do children have rights to bodily integrity against their own parents?

Homework Guide

Identifying Claims and Types of Claims

This is a guide to the homework that was due this past Thursday, so that you can check your answers against it.

Step 1:

Remember to make a distinction between claims that are part of the narrative, and claims that are part of the argument. Don’t get distracted by the narrative – focus on the argument at issue and concentrate on the claims that are important for that.

So – what is the major question at issue in the argument?

• · Was the incident described in Case 4 a rape?

Step 2:

Remember that it’s often very important to break questions down, so that we have a good handle on what’s involved in the issue and can focus our inquiry.

So – what questions do we have to answer, in order to address that big question? In this case, how do we distinguish between sex and rape? So we need to ask…?

• Would a reasonable person have understood Angelica to have been consenting to sex? Some subsidiary questions you might ask:

o How does one give and ask for consent generally?

o Are the rules for consent different when it comes to sex?

o How does implicit consent differ from explicit consent?

Step 3:

Now we go to the central claims that are involved in figuring out that question.

Here’s what I would have put for each part. You certainly wouldn’t have had to word things exactly as I did, and one might split up the claims differently. This is to give you a general idea of what you’d want to be getting at.

Claims

Consented

· Drank with boys – empirical

· Consented to light petting – empirical

· Went upstairs willingly – interpretive

· Had consensual sex with other people in the past – empirical/interpretive

· If someone consents to light petting, they implicitly consent to intercourse – interpretive or normative, AND – below is the implicit claim:

· Consenting to light petting is so strong an implicit consent to intercourse that any later evidence, even explicit refusal or withdrawal of consent - that seems to contradict that consent can be ignored – interpretive OR

· Consenting to light petting morally obligates you to have sex with the person/s with whom you’re engaging in petting, to such a strong extent that you’re locked in to an unbreakable contract, and absolutely cannot later refuse the intercourse – normative

Did Not Consent

Th crime of rape (or "first-degree sexual assault" in some states) generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress. A lack of consent can include the victim's inability to say "no" to intercourse, due to the effects of drugs or alcohol.

Angelica repeatedly yelled “no,” and “stop.” – empirical, stipulated by young men

· The yelling was loud enough to be heard through the storage room door – empirical

· Was too drunk to walk on her own – guided upstairs by 3 men – empirical/interpretive

Step 4:

This is what we’d do next:

Say

1. what evidence or argument we have for each claim

2. how strong the evidence or argument is

3. what more we need to see before we can make a judgment

Group Project Questions

Interesting Questions Requiring Critical Thinking
Next week, we'll be starting our semester-long group projects. We're going to think of interesting contemporary questions that require good critical thinking skills to answer well, and form groups based on interest in those questions.

So, for next Tuesday, think about what questions you think are most interesting. It can be an ethical question, like "Should we have Capital Punishment?" an historical question, like "How important was French support for the American victory in the war of Independence?" a policy question like "what's the best way to develop our energy policy?" - anything that requires you to synthesize complex ideas, incorporate research, break large questions into smaller question, and evaluate multiple claims.

Type your questions and bring them with you on Tuesday. Think of any many questions as you genuinely think are interesting. Remember, you'll be working on these for the rest of the semester, so try to come up with something that really interests you!

Photo (c) Creative Commons attribution/share alike by BrockS5

Homework: Implicit Claims

Update

New hint: it has to do with the fact that sex is not a single, instantaneous act.

Background
By the time we'd finished up in class today, all of the groups had gone through the major explicit claims that the three men were making, to support their position that a reasonable person would have thought that Angelica was consenting.

Instructions
I'm going to reproduce that argument below. There's a key step in their argument that's missing, though. This is an implicit claim. It's one that their argument relies on, but it's never stated.

In the comments, try to identify which claim is missing from the argument.

Remember: this will be a claim that is required for their argument to work, but which they never state out loud.

The Mens' Argument:
A Reasonable Person Would Have Thought that Angelica Was Consenting

1. Angelica attended a party at BOZ, which has a reputation for being wild;
2. Angelica drank alcohol at that party, specifically alcohol supplied to her by the three men;
3. Angelica flirted with the men;
4. She allowed them to kiss her and to touch her thigh;
5. She went upstairs with them (they claim willingly).
6. All of the above actions imply that Angelica was consenting to intercourse with the three men.
7. They all heard Angelica say "no," "stop," "I don't want to do this," and "don't touch me."
8. They continued anyway.
9. Conclusion: their actions didn't constitute rape

Identify the implicit assumption in the argument above. Hint: it's not their claim that Angelica eventually stopped fighting. No one is obligated to physically fight AT ALL. If someone indicates that they don't consent, that is sufficient. There's some other claim that the men need to make, in order for their argument to work.

Remember, pointing out a claim does not mean that you endorse it.

Grades for Forum 2

Here's a link to your grades on Forum 2.

• Look up your grade by student ID number.
• The column to the far left is your ID number;
• to the right of that is your percentage grade as a decimal.
• To the far right is the number of points out of 75 that you earned.

Let me know if you have any questions.

If you know you did the post, but don't see your grade, don't panic! I probably just typed your ID number in incorrectly. Just send me an email with the time you posted, your full name, and your ID number and I'll let you know what your grade was.

Forum 2: Breaking Questions Down

Update:

Don't forget to include your name, unless your screen name includes your first and last name. Otherwise I can't credit you for doing the assignment!

If you forgot to include your name, write a second post, saying what time you posted, what your screen name was, and what your actual name is (you can use just a last initial if you prefer).

Background
In our fictional story, Corinne has claimed that Cromwell's Discriminatory Harassment Policy violates her rights to freedom of expression under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

We looked at the first amendment, and looked at an overview of how the first amendment has been interpreted. We found that the court generally tries to balance the interest an individual has in the expression at issue, versus the interest the state (in this case, the state is represented by the school) has in limiting that expression.

We then generated two further, central questions:
1. What is the interest an individual has in free expression? What's good about letting people express their beliefs, even if those beliefs are offensive?
2. What interest does the school have in limiting the expression of offensive or hostile beliefs?

Assignment
Using those two questions as a springboard, generate at least two more questions that you'd want to have answers to, before you could answer the general question about whether the school's policy is unconstitutional or not.

Remember that a good way to generate questions is to throw ideas around, and then turn claims into questions. You can also do some research to help generate further questions. We're getting into a level of depth, now, that will make this assignment challenging, but you can do it!

Post your answers in comment, below.

Answers are due no later than 4 a.m. on Monday, September 6. Ideally, they'll be posted by 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 4.

Confederate flag images (c) William Quigley under Creative Commons attribution/share alike

Grades for Forum 1

Hi all,

Here's a link to your grades for the first forum: Forum 1 - Research

Look up your grade via student ID number. If you posted to the forum, but don't see your ID number, be sure that your post included your name so that I could identify you.

There were a total of 75 points you could earn for this post, so an A+ = 75 points, A=71.25, etc.

The first column shows your student ID number; the next column shows your percentage grade as a decimal, and the last column shows your points earned.

Let me know if you have questions.

Forum 1: Research

We're currently trying to evaluate the claim that it is/is not reasonably foreseeable that the Confederate Battle Flag would create a hostile atmosphere. As part of that, we were researching the ways in which the flag has been used - which groups used it and when, what it symbolized at the time, and how it was interpreted through its history.

All of you wrote about the history of the flag's design during the Civil War in the U.S., and its use by the then Confederate States of America during that war. A few of you mentioned in passing that the flag was used since then by various hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other White Supremacist groups.

The flag's use has a much longer history, though, as it came to be employed again in the 1940s as a symbol of opposition to integration and civil rights. One student included that history in the assignment, and I would argue that that information contributes significantly to our development of the question at issue.

For your forum assignment, answer BOTH questions below. You should write at least one substantial paragraph for each question.

1. How does your thinking develop about the meaning of the Confederate Battle flag as a symbol, as you gain further information about its history and use?

2. What specific steps can you take next time to improve your research, so that you're more likely to learn important facts about the issue at hand? (if you included substantial history about the use of the flag in the early 20th century, please write about what steps you took that helped you find this information.)

Fighting Procrastination

Hi all,

Here are some links to tips for managing the tendency to procrastinate.

Procrastination

Priority Management

Reading for Tuesday 9/24

Here's a link to a PDF of the reading for Tuesday. I'm hoping the books will be in by next week, giving you plenty of time to get them for the next reading.

Case 2: Flag Day

Homework for Thursday 8/19

This assignment will have two parts. Please do them in order - the second part depends on your having thought carefully about the first.

Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, and in 11- or 12-point font. Put your name, course and section number, and the date at the top.

1. Think about your goals and how this course will fit into them. And think about your goals for the course in particular - not just what grade you want to earn, but also how you hope it will help you gain skills for other course work, decision-making skills about your life, logical skills to use within your future career, and anything else you can think of that requires careful, skillful thinking. Write a few paragraphs about that, first.

2. Once you've completed that, think about what rules for yourself will most help you. We're thinking about rules for within the classroom - that is, rules about how you and your classmates will be expected to behave.

The books for the course, the order we go through materials, the assignments, the lectures, and the grades - those are all part of the pedagogy (the techniques and theories of teaching). That's all my duty to shape. If you knew how to set up a course to learn this stuff, you wouldn't need me :-)

But the etiquette - do you want everyone to be able to leave cell phones on and take calls in class? Text as much as you want? Wander in and out? - also contributes a major part to everyone's success in the course. That's what I'm asking you to think about. Remember that you have to make rules for everyone - you can't have a special set of rules for yourself, and another set for everyone else.

So think about what atmosphere for learning you want to create, and want your classmates to contribute to creating, that will most help you take in the pedagogy. Once you've given that some considered thought, write another several paragraphs explaining what rules you're proposing, and why.

Your completed paper, with parts one and two, should be at the very least one full page - more likely 2 or more.