For this assignment, you will compare and contrast the ethical theories of two philosophers we’ve looked at (Kant, Mill, Aristotle, or Aurelius) by examining a specific, real-world ethical issue and analyzing and evaluating that issue in terms of the theories.
You should start by examining the key ideas of each philosopher and how they differ. After examining the differences, you should explore the similarities between the two philosophers. Finally, you should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each philosopher’s ethical theory by. This could involve examining how well each theory accounts for the complexities of real situations and decision-making, as well as how well each theory aligns or clashes with our moral intuitions.
Your paper should precisely meet the following requirements:
1. Your paper should be formatted in the following way: 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1” margins, double-spaced, 8-10 pages long (not counting the required works cited page), with no cover sheet. Use MLA parenthetical citation format. If you are unfamiliar with this citation format, visit Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab for a brief introduction.
2. This paper may build off the work you have already done in your Unit Writing Assignments. Begin by selecting two of your Unit Writing Assignments on either Aristotle, Stoicism, Kant, or Mill, together with its “key passage,” as the basis for your research paper.
3. The body of your paper should consist of the following clearly labeled subsections.
A. Introduction
Write an introductory paragraph that introduces your chosen philosophers, your real world issue and why it is of interest/importance, and includes an easily identifiable thesis statement.
a. Your thesis statement should summarize, in a single sentence, your paper’s argument.
b. Your thesis statement should clearly identify a course of action grounded in one of the ethical theories.
c. Your thesis statement should explain (in general terms) why your selected ethical theory is a “key” to understanding understanding and evaluating the concrete ethical issue you have chosen.
B. Background on Ethical Issue
For this part of the assignment, simply select a real-world issue that you will analyze with respect to the course theories. This section should be roughly a page in length. If you are having trouble thinking of an issue, feel free to draw on your life experience and studies. Reflect on difficult choices that you’ve had to make where you felt it difficult to determine the “right thing” to do as such situations might be good candidates for analysis using the ethical theories.
C. Philosophical Concepts – Compare/Contrast
Based on your own research, write several substantial paragraphs that give relevant information about the philosophical ideas most important to your philosophers.
a. Answer questions like: What were the main philosophical contributions made by your philosophers? What topics and questions interested them most? What other philosophers or schools of philosophy influenced them? What were their major published works? What influence did they have on the work of the philosophers who came after them? Feel free to use (and cite!) sources for this section.
b. Identify two three of their main ethical themes. How are they similar? How do they differ? What is at stake in the differences? In other words, when we apply these theories to a real example, how might the theories give rise to different interpretations and suggest different solutions or courses of action?
D. Analysis of Key Passages Philosopher #1
D1. Drawing on the work you’ve already done in your original Unit Writing Assignment, write a paragraph (approximately 150-250 words) that identifies the main idea of the key passage you selected from the primary text.
a. Clearly state the main idea of your key passage in the paragraph’s topic sentence.
b. Identify the reasons given in the passage in support of this main idea.
c. Include citations from your key passage that provide evidence for your argument.
D2. Drawing on the work you’ve already done in your original Unit Writing Assignment, write a second paragraph (approximately 150-250 words) that explains why, in your view, the selected passage is a “key” to understanding the whole of that primary text.
a. Clearly state your reason for choosing this passage in the paragraph’s topic sentence.
b. Explain how this key passage helps us to better understand the whole of that primary text.
c. Connect your explanation to the main themes of the author’s work that you already identified in section C on philosophical background.
d. As needed, include citations from your key passage that provide evidence for your argument.
E. Supporting Passages Philosopher #1
Choose two other supporting passages (approximately 150-250 words each) from the primary text of your chosen philosopher.
E1. Demonstrate how your selected “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your first supporting passage.
a. Introduce and cite (in full) your first supporting passage. Supply context for this passage.
b. Write a substantial paragraph that explains how your “key passage” can help us to better understand the meaning and importance of your first supporting passage.
c. Include citations from your key passage and first supporting passage that provide evidence for your argument.
E2. Demonstrate how your selected “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your second supporting passage.
a. Introduce and cite (in full) your second supporting passage. Supply context for this passage.
b. Write a substantial paragraph that explains how your “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your second supporting passage.
c. Include citations from your key passage and second supporting passage that provide evidence for your argument.
F. Analysis of Key Passages Philosopher #2
F1. Drawing on the work you’ve already done in your original Unit Writing Assignment, write a paragraph (approximately 150-250 words) that identifies the main idea of the key passage you selected from the primary text.
a. Clearly state the main idea of your key passage in the paragraph’s topic sentence.
b. Identify the reasons given in the passage in support of this main idea.
c. Include citations from your key passage that provide evidence for your argument.
F2. Drawing on the work you’ve already done in your original Unit Writing Assignment, write a second paragraph (approximately 150-250 words) that explains why, in your view, the selected passage is a “key” to understanding the whole of that primary text.
a. Clearly state your reason for choosing this passage in the paragraph’s topic sentence.
b. Explain how this key passage helps us to better understand the whole of that primary text.
c. Connect your explanation to the main themes of the author’s work that you already identified in section C on philosophical background.
d. As needed, include citations from your key passage that provide evidence for your argument.
G. Supporting Passages Philosopher #2
Choose two other supporting passages (approximately 150-250 words each) from the primary text of your chosen philosopher.
G1. Demonstrate how your selected “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your first supporting passage.
a. Introduce and cite (in full) your first supporting passage. Supply context for this passage.
b. Write a substantial paragraph that explains how your “key passage” can help us to better understand the meaning and importance of your first supporting passage.
c. Include citations from your key passage and first supporting passage that provide evidence for your argument.
G2. Demonstrate how your selected “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your second supporting passage.
a. Introduce and cite (in full) your second supporting passage. Supply context for this passage.
b. Write a substantial paragraph that explains how your “key passage” can help us to understand the meaning and importance of your second supporting passage.
c. Include citations from your key passage and second supporting passage that provide evidence for your argument.
H. Evaluation of Theories and Application to Real-World Situation or Issue
H1. How would the different thinkers view your issue? Be sure to frame your analysis with specific references to the views under discussion.
H2. Which thinker do you find to have the most compelling ethical view? Be sure to argue for your conclusion and reference the text as appropriate.
H3. What should be done in your real-world situation? Be sure to advance an argument that leads to your conclusion and that explicitly references your analysis in terms of the philosopher’s ideas/theories.
I. Conclusion
Write a substantial paragraph that repeats your original thesis statement and summarizes the argument you’ve advanced in support of that thesis. Your conclusion should be cohesive, consistent and supported by a logical argument.
J. Works Cited Page
Include an MLA style Works Cited page that lists full bibliographical information for all of your sources.
a. Be sure to include full bibliographical information for all of your cited secondary sources.
b. For the PDF of your primary text, it is sufficient for our purposes to list the author, the translator (where applicable), and the title. For example: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, translated by W. D. Ross.
