Paper Assignment, Philosophy 101, Spring 2016, Hettinger

The paper should be 5-7 pages (double space, typewritten). It counts for 34% of your course grade and so it should be a significant effort. You choose the topic. (For some possible topics areas and topics, click HERE.) Any topic that we have discussed in class or that is considered in the assigned reading (or miscellaneous links on our webpage) is suitable, as potentially are other philosophical topics. All topics will be checked by the professor through your paper proposal (see below). If you write on a topic the course specifically addresses, your paper should show a understanding of the readings and class discussions on that issue.

A paper proposal is due on Friday, March 18^th. Please send it by email to hettingern@cofc.edu. Ideally, the proposal should include a characterization of your topic, the major lines of argument you intend to pursue, tentative thesis, and a full bibliographic citation and a paragraph description of the content of one philosophical article you plan to use in your paper (and how you plan to use it). The paper is due on Friday, April 8^th. Please turn in a paper copy of the paper (no email versions please). You can give it to me in class the day before or turn it into my departmental mailbox just inside the door of 14 Glebe street by 1pm that day.

The paper should be a philosophy paper in which you focus on normative, evaluative, or conceptual issues. (Don’t just describe how things are, but ask how they should be and explain why.) Focus on the philosophical, ethical, and conceptual questions which must be answered if this issue is to be resolved.

One outside (not read as part of the course) philosophical article must be used in your paper. Although I require that you interact with the ideas from some philosophy article that we have not read in the class, the main point of the paper is to have you think philosophically for yourself; the outside reading is meant to help stimulate your own thinking and to make sure your paper is philosophical in nature.

The best way to find an article related to your topic is to use The Philosopher's Index. This is a database searchable on line via the library. You can find it here: https://libguides.library.cofc.edu/az.php?a=p It lists philosophical articles by title, author, and subject matter and often gives abstracts. For some of the suggested topic areas I have listed in the Possible Paper Topics, I also include a link to an appropriate article. You could also search particular journals.

Here is a list of some of the philosophy journals our library carries (or used to carry?), many of which are available on line: Philosophy and Public Affairs, Between the Species, Bibliography of Bioethics, Bioethics, Biology and Philosophy, Business and Professional Ethics Journal, Environmental Ethics, Ethics, Feminist Review, Hastings Center Report, Hypatia (Feminism), International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Journal of Medical Ethics, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Journal of Religion, Journal of Value Inquiry, Law and Philosophy. Journal of the History of Philosophy, Journal of Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, Monist, Nous; A Quarterly Journal Of Philosophy, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Forum, Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Topics, Philosophy, Philosophy and Literature, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Philosophy East and West, Philosophy of Science-(East Lansing), Phronesis, Southern Journal of Philosophy, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Economy and Philosophy, American Philosophical Quarterly, Analysis-(Blackwell), Australasian Journal of Philosophy, History of Philosophy Quarterly, Inquiry, International Philosophical Quarterly.