Method Guidelines
In this assignment you will write an argument paper. In an argument paper you will asset a thesis. In your thesis you will take a stance either in favor of a position or against a position. You will support your position based in the readings of the course or readings that are directly related to readings and topics covered in the course. You may defend you thesis in the following ways:
1. provide a comparative examination of two or three different possible responses to your thesis and an explanation of why you have chosen to defend one position over the other
2. provide a critical analysis of your own position which identifies potential weaknesses in the position and explains what makes that position nevertheless superior in some ways to the others considered; and
3. apply your thesis to an everyday situation, work of fiction or film to demonstrate the merit of your position.
Style Guidelines
1. The paper must be 5 pages long, typed, double-spaced, in an 11- or 12-point font with reasonable margins.
2. The paper must be written in accord with the conventions of Standard Written English. Your paper will be evaluated in part in terms of spelling, grammar, and overall structure.
3. You must use direct quotations from the readings assigned in class to support your claims about what the philosophers say and/or believe. Citations should be in either the MLA or Chicago Manual of Style formats (information on both of which is available on the UHD Library website, under the heading, “Citing Sources”), and as such must give full bibliographical information for your sources in either a “works cited” (MLA) or bibliographical footnotes (Chicago). Quotations should be set off from the rest of the paper (typically by quotation marks), and you must cite the page numbers in the relevant text where the quoted passage appears.
4. Do not assume that the reader of your paper is familiar with what has been read or discussed in this class. Think of your reader as an educated person who, although they may be familiar with philosophy in general, is not necessarily knowledgeable of the texts (or topics) you are discussing in the paper. As such, you should make every effort to explain the ideas you discuss and the quotations you use in straightforward language that generally conveys meaning to your reader.
5. You are responsible for ensuring that your paper is free of plagiarism. If you do not know what constitutes plagiarism, please consult the syllabus for this class, the UHD Student Handbook, the Academic Honesty Policy of the University of Houston-Downtown, and/or the UHD Library website (“Plagiarism: Understand and Avoid It!” in the section, “Citing Sources”) . If you are still uncertain, please contact the instructor with any specific questions you might have.
6. The paper must be submitted online (via Blackboard).
Item
Writing Prompts: These are only suggestions. You are free to choose your topicWriting Prompts: These are only suggestions. You are free to choose your topic
The Signature assignment is an argument paper, which means you have to take a position on a theory or idea you will be presenting. Below are some ideas that might stimulate ideas for your paper. These are simply topics. You must form an argument in this assignment. If you respond to one of these questions, you must do so in argument form.
Plato/Socrates
——What does Socrates mean when he compares himself to a gadfly?What does Socrates mean when he says the unexamined life is not worth living? What life is worth living? Why does Socrates not fear death?
Epictetus/Stoicism
—Epictetus says we are responsible for our own suffering. Why does he think this? And Why does Epictetus think that everything that happens is destined and good?
Nietzsche —-
—–What is Nietzsche’s idea of eternal recurrence of the same, and “grand style” and God is dead ?
Sartre/Existentialism —
—-What Sartre mean when he says we are condemned to be free, the relation of anxiety to freedom and that man is nothing but what he makes of him?
Lao Tzu/Taoism —–Why does Lao Tzu say that the Tao cannot be spoken?
—-What the does Lao Tzu mean when he says the Tao is nothingness or empty and what does he mean by the concept of Wu Wei or doing without doing?
Siddhartha/ Buddhism —-What is the nature or origin of suffering? What are its causes and how do we put an end to suffering? Discuss one or more of these ideas
