Philosophy Essay Writing: Here are your options. Please choose only one: Damned Lies and Statistics - Read the short article "Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics," by Joel Best (at BBLearn)
Write a minimum two-and-a-half page essay (double-spaced, 1" margins) that answers and discusses these questions:
Why is adopting a critical attitude important according to Joel Best?
What are the ways of thinking that lead people to be uncritical in relation to statistics and statistical arguments?
What is Best's conception of the attitude of the critical reasoner and how is it similar to and/or different from the "attitude of the critical reasoner" that we discussed this term?
Make reference to specific parts of the article by citation in brackets, (Best, page 2), but donot include any quotations of more than two lines in your essay.
The Mad Ethos - Read the short article "Mad Magazine's Clout May Have Faded, But Its Ethos Matters More Than Ever Before," by Michael Socolow (at BBLearn)
Write a minimum two-and-a-half page essay (double-spaced, 1" margins) that answers and discusses these questions: What is the ethos, (i.e. the characteristic attitude), of Mad Magazine and why does the author regard it as valuable?
How is this ethos similar to and/or different from the "attitude of the critical reasoner" that we discussed this term?
How has our course helped to encourage and promote the ethos of Mad Magazine?
Make reference to specific parts of the article by citation in brackets, (Socolow, paragraph 10), but do notinclude any quotations of more than two lines in your essay. The first option article is attached.