Assignment:
Goal: The goal of this assignment is for you to come away with a rich understanding of the morally relevant factors surrounding to the ethics of abortion, as well as the ability to think through a difficult issue in an objective fashion (that would make Spock proud) using concepts and techniques developed by philosophical ethicists. The approach and techniques honed while completing this assignment should be available for you to apply to other issues both now and for the rest of your life - it's intentionally designed to encourage and facilitate personal growth.
Assignment: In 5 pages develop and defend an original argument that articulates whether ectogenesis effectively resolves the abortion debate, and why, according to the instructions below.
Paper Structure: To facilitate clarity of expectations and ease of grading, your paper should be double spaced with 1" margins, 12 pt. font, using Times New Roman, Verdana, or Calibri font, and should follow this prescribed structure:
Pages 1 and 2: Using the assigned abortion readings by Noonan, Thomson, Little, Callahan, Hursthouse and Langerak, briefly explain what philosophers have to say about the ethics of abortion (when it's permissible, when it's not permissible, and most importantly -why).
It would be impossible to recount all details of all these articles in two pages. Therefore find a way to organize and categorize the primary lines of thought, while at the same time demonstrating your familiarity with and understanding of the authors' arguments.
Page 3: Using the two articles by Sander-Staudt, Singer and Wells, explain how ectogenesis (or artificial wombs) might effectively resolve the abortion debate, as well as what you consider the two strongest ethical objections against ectogenesis.
Pages 4 and 5: Articulate, develop, unpack and explain an original argument as to whether ectogenesis effectively resolves, or does not resolve, the abortion issue and why. In doing so, consider and effectively respond to at least one philosophical objection to your view.
Page 6: Works Cited: If you draw on any sources beyond readings assigned for the class, individually note the author, article or book title, and provide a hyperlink when appropriate on this final page. You do not need to do this for any course assigned reading, and you do not need to follow any specific formatting guidelines. Instead, spend that mental energy and time writing a quality paper. Do, however, place all direct verbatim quotes within "quote marks," and note in the body of your paper when you are either quoting or drawing on an outside source.
Note that the above prescribed paper format includes no introduction, no conclusion section, no cover page - nothing nonessential. Simply follow the prescribed format above. When it comes to length, I expect each page to be full. No more, no less.
Various theories, tools, techniques, distinctions, etc. that you may choose to use in your paper in addition to concepts, reasons and ideas from the abortion article authors:
• Ethical Theories
o Utilitarianism (consequences, happiness, welfare)
o Kantianism (respect, consistency)
o Virtue Ethics (character)
o Feminist Care Ethics (relationships)
• Ethical Reasoning Tools and Techniques
o Argument by Analogy
o Rawls's Veil of Ignorance/Original Position
o Contrasting of Intuitions with Principles to Achieve Reflective Equilibrium
• Ethical Distinctions
o Public vs. Nonpublic Reasons
o Indecent vs. Unjust Actions
o Legality vs. Morality
o Morality vs. Psychology
Free Philosophy Paper Writing Tips
Tip 1: Contrary to popular belief, consuming hallucinogenic drugs before writing a philosophy paper typically will not improve its quality. It may inflate your own view of the paper's quality. ("Dude, check out this dope paper I wrote!") But it will most likely deflate your professor's view of the paper :-) So coffee good; weed bad. For philosophy paper writing purposes, anyway.
Tip 2: Good writing is RE-writing. Which means the more you rearrange and rewrite your sentences and paragraphs, the more likely the final product will be of high quality. Conversely, if you slap something together the night before it's due, it may still receive a good grade, but it very likely will not. Some subjects lend themselves to hasty writing. Philosophy isn't one of them - requires careful consideration, reflection, revision, etc.
So sketch your ideas early, go back and flesh them out, revise as your position clarifies, and be willing to scrap things that once seemed plausible should further thought convince you they're actually wrong. Note that unlike the weekly reflection posts, for which I'm a super easy grader, I'll grade the course project for both content and format/grammar according to how well you satisfy the prompt.
Tip 3: Practice William Zinsser's 4 Principles of Good writing: clarity (make sure everything is obviously clear - not vague, ambiguous or otherwise confusing), brevity (eliminate all unnecessary words and phrases - ensure your page is filled with rich content, not fluffy filler),simplicity (don't try to write like Sandel or Kant or Rawls or Matt - explain your ideas in clear, simple language in a way that your parents or siblings could easily understand - accomplishing THAT will impress me, not fancy terminology or what you think is a scholarly tone), humanity(write in YOUR voice - not as informal as a text message, but as YOU, simply and clearly explaining what might be a complex idea in your own words, as you might do so over dinner).
Tip 4: Please submit original work. I don't want to fail you because you plagiarize, but I will :-( And it would be especially tragic to have to do it at the end of the semester. Warning from the syllabus: "Plagiarism" is passing off someone else's work as your own. This includes the work of your classmates, as well as ideas you might find in books or on the Internet.
Consulting outside sources is admirable. Copying and pasting language from outside sources without noting them as a source and/or failing to place direct quotes within "quote marks" is not admirable, and will earn you a zero for the assignment, and/or an F for the course. Philosophy isn't the easiest thing to do when you're new at it. But it's not super hard, either, and therefore completely within your reach.