Question: Instructions: In the second unit in this class, we have focused on the mind. We've explored two major issues. First, we considered the question of the mind-body problem; what is the mind? how is it related to the body or brain? Second, we considered the question of free will.
Is determinism true? Do we have free will? Can these two claims be compatible? For your second essay, you must choose one of these two issues - the mind-body problem or the free will debate.
You will first present the problem or debate. What is at issue? Why does it matter? You must introduce and frame the question clearly but succinctly (i.e., briefly!). IN other words, the reader should know which of the two issues you're addressing (mind-body or free will). The reader should also be given some idea of what is at stake here.
You then must identify the specific view you will be presenting and defending. So, if you opt for the mind-body problem, you must present and defend either substance dualism, property dualism, or materialism. If you choose the free will debate, you must present and defend either determinism, libertarianism, or compatibilism. You must choose one and only one view to defend in this paper! Do not try to combine views.
In order to present and defend your view, you must first identify the relevant arguments and find the passages in which your author presents them. Having found the passages, you must next try to find not only their views, but the reasons they offer in support of his
view.
Here is what your paper must contain:
1. First, state briefly which view you'll be presenting and defending. Don't leave the reader in suspense; this is not a murder mystery. All of this should be one in paragraph. This can be called your thesis statement or controlling idea. It's the idea you'll be exploring in the rest of the paper. You should state the thesis or main point in a single sentence that is clearly identified as your main point!
2. Next provide the reasons why the author believes what you have just claimed he does. Consider no more than one reason per paragraph. So, if you find three reasons or premises, then write at least three paragraphs for this part.
3. In each paragraph, explain each reason simply, clearly, and accurately. Then elaborate a bit on what that means and try to show why or how it supports the main claim, How does this reason help him? The paragraphs should each be distinct, taking up a separate reason. No paragraph should be discussing a reason or issue that did not appear in the initial summary of the argument. And each paragraph should be distinct from those around it; talk about a topic in a paragraph and move to a new paragraph when you move to a new topic. If you find yourself revisiting a topic form a previous paragraph, you need to rethink your organization.
4. You must also provide evidence! That is, you must provide textual evidence supporting your claim that the authors in question really has this reason you're discussing. The best and easiest way to do this is to quote, briefly and accurately, the passage where the author actually says the reason. The restate it in your own word, explaining the passage as I described in number 4, just above. Remember, though, the evidence does not speak for itself. You must interpret and explain it. But you also must remain true to the text you're discussing and the textual evidence will make that happen. Let me be clear: a paper without any specific quotes or citations is a paper that has not provided any evidence!
5. Ideally, the reasons you present will indeed be relevant to the main claim you presented (i.e., the answer you claim your author would give to the question(s) above). Don't provide reasons that are irrelevant or even contrary to the main claim! You are trying to support it, remember.
6. Next, after having presented your author's view and the reasons for holding it, consider one serious objection against this view. In other words, you should now consider reasons why an intelligent person might object to one of the reasons you have just explained. Choose one of your reasons and now, in a paragraph or two, try to argue against it. Your objection may be taken form the texts you've read, or you can imagine what someone holding another view might say. So, if you are defending substance dualism, for example, imagine what the materialist might say to object (or vice versa). if you are defending libertarianism, imagine what the determinist or compatibles might say in objection.
7. After that, try to defend yourself - the original view - from this objection. How might the defender of the original view defend his or her position against this objection? Try to present a response to the objection that would persuade an educated but undecided person (a person who had read all the texts but hadn't yet made up his or her mind). That person is your target audience! You should attempt to convince the reader to take your side in this debate, providing rationally persuasive reasons -- that is, an argument.
8. Finally, in your last paragraph, evaluate the state of the debate. Decide whether the objection or the reply to the objection is stronger and why. In this paragraph, you should play the role of judge and determine which side of the debate (i.e., which of the previous few paragraphs) has made the stronger case.
9. And please do all of the above with good written English, readable, clear, etc... What's more, the essay should be well-organized, such that I can identify the main point of the paper by pointing to a single sentence (your thesis statement) and I can identify the main point of each paragraph by pointing to a topic sentence in each one. Finally, each of these topic sentences should together jointly capture the problem, your argument, the objection, and your reply. In other words, I would be able to take these topic sentences, put them together, and have an abstract of your paper.