Question: 1. Express your main argument at the beginning of your third paragraph. [You should be able to see that it does not impact validity, whether you express first or second the conditional premise.] Then write words to this effect, showing that you know your argument is valid: "If these premises are true, then the conclusion of the argument must be true. So, my burden of proof is to show that in fact each of these premises is true."
2. By writing words to that effect, you are indicating that you have accepted the standard of soundness in (formal, deductive) argument: since your argument is valid (you think), your burden of proof is to show that your premises are true. If they are, then your argument is sound and the conclusion must be accepted as true.
3. Now, at the beginning of the next paragraph, write words to this effect: "Before I can show that these premises are true, I must define or clarify the meaning of the key concepts they contain." This is the point at which you are free, to stipulate whatever you think you should stipulate, without thereby either violating the principles of charity and burden of proof, or misrepresenting any relevant content from the course material. These stipulations must be done in terms of either individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions, or (just) individually necessary conditions.
4. After the clarification or definition of key terms in the premises is complete, in the next several paragraphs you must carefully explain why each of these premises is true. Note or recall that the conditional premise, "If p then q" asserts something quite different than what is asserted by the premise "p" or the premise "not-q."
5. The conditional asserts two things, both of which must be true, if the entire premise is to be true, namely, that what falls in the p-position (by convention, "the antecedent") is sufficient for what falls in the q-position (by convention, "the consequent"), and that the consequent is necessary for the antecedent. So, you must explain why both are true, when you explain why you think your conditional premise is true.
6. Recall: Def. necessary condition= a necessary condition of x is a condition that must be met for x to be the case, and Def. sufficient condition= a sufficient condition of x is a condition which, if met, guarantees that x is the case.
7. After finishing the presentation of your main argument, and after providing the label for the next section, "Anticipated Objection and Response," you must in the next several paragraphs anticipate an objection to the main argument you have just presented, respond to this objection, and finally indicate what effect if any this objection and response has on your main argument. Since (presumably) your main argument actually is in a valid form, the anticipated objections must be objections to the claimed truth of one of your premises.
8. The objection you anticipate must be the best such objection you can think of. In doing this, you are acting on the second intellectual principle or virtue ingredient in cogent and specifically academic philosophical argument. Earlier, by providing reasons (that is, premises) for the drawing the conclusion you do draw, in your main argument, you are acting on burden of proof. Now, in anticipating and responding appropriately to the best objection you can think of, you are acting on the principle of charity.
9. Responding appropriately to the objection means giving reasons for thinking it is false, or otherwise flawed, not name-calling, and that sort of thing (of course). So, the most appropriate response, will be another argument, in effect a subsidiary argument in support of your main argument.
10. You are not required, in making this response, to provide another argument, but ideally you should. Whether or not you do, will depend on such issues as how closely you are approaching the relevant page limit, whether you can actually think of such a supporting argument, and so forth. In any case, any appropriate response to the anticipated objection will consist of giving reasons for the thinking the objection is false, or otherwise inadequate.
11. After finishing this response, to the anticipated objection, and providing the final label, "Summary," you should do just that, in no more than one fairly short paragraph: summarize what you think you have accomplished in paper.
12. Please note well: even with such meticulous directions for writing your essay, you may of course have questions about how it should be written.