The 8- to 10-page paper (double spaced with standard margins) will be submitted through the assignment link.
The Final Philosophy Paper must address the following:
Critically assess the extent of your involvement in the course and the extent to which you have attained the overarching course objectives that occur at the beginning of the syllabus:
• The student will examine and understand the nature and tasks of philosophy as they relate to critical thinking concerning the key issues of life.
• The student will learn to employ the systematic approach to the study of philosophical problems.
• The student will understand that there are many philosophical theories that make the commonplace highly complex, and that dichotomous thinking (either/or thinking) fails to appreciate this complexity.
• The student will be able to cite a number of philosophical problems associated with the four main areas of philosophical inquiry (epistemology, logic/philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics/value theory).
• The student will analyze and be able to state concisely his/her basis for making ethical decisions.
• The student will be conversant with philosophical ideas and terminology.
• The student will evaluate the importance of philosophy to life, i.e., understand the significance of Socrates’ claim that “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
• The student will assess the relevance of philosophy to the Christian faith.)
Discuss ways in which the course has changed your way of looking at life and the problems under consideration throughout the course (e.g., in what ways were you challenged, to what extent have your views on various topics changed, in what ways have your beliefs been reinforced, etc.)?
Recognizing that philosophy is a subject that we “do” as opposed to “study,” to what extent do you see yourself “doing” philosophy in the future?
Recognizing that any academic subject, pursued far enough, ultimately encounters philosophical themes, discuss ways in which you see philosophy as being related to your major, or your likely major, e.g. major ideas reflected in philosophy, value and ethics.
Critically assess the personal significance of the statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Correlatively, does the same concept apply to one’s faith?
Two sources used for the class that you may (or may not) use for the essay:
1) Wolff, R. P. (2012). About philosophy (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-205-19412-4
2) Plato (2003). The last days of Socrates. (H. Tredennick, Trans.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044928-0 (Original work written c. 400 B.C.E.)