Essay Topics

Choose one of the following:

1.  What do you think of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide?  In developing your arguments you   must refer to, analyze and critique or support the arguments of Carmichael and/or Velleman.        [You can refer to Nowell-Smith; however, Carmichael presents a better case with less problems  and thus is preferable.]   I would recommend that you choose only one of these authors.   Since    moral reasoning involves the testing of moral principles against cases, include consideration of   either the case of Tracy Latimer for euthanasia or the example given in the Macleans article or    Sue Rodriguez for assisted death - the facts of Tracy Latimer and Rodriguez  cases are given in   Carmichael.  For example, did Robert Latimer do anything wrong?  Just mention the cases but do not spend too much time giving the details  - the majority of the paper is to be analysis of             arguments and presenting your own arguments.

2.  Compare and contrast Carmichael and Velleman on euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Who do you find more convincing?  Why?

3.  The ontological argument for the existence of God has fascinated philosophers ever since      Anselm first presented it as a proof for the existence of God.  What is this argument?  Is it a       proof?  What does the argument actually establish, if anything?  [You must refer to the Malcolm article here but be free to consult the lecture notes as well.]

Note:  If you find the moral reasoning topic of euthanasia to be too depressing or painful – e.g., you have recently experience a death in the family – and you wish to write on Animal Rights    from the previous assignment questions provided that you did not write on Animal Rightsfor    yourfirst essay, let me know so that I can clear it in advance.

Due Date: Monday March 20, 2023.  To be handed in to the “submissions box” on our website. Length:  5-7 double spaced typewritten pages: 1300- 1800 words.

Notes/Requirements:

These are requirements, do treat them as such. You do not want the paper returned to you simply because you didn't bother following one of these simple requirements.

Submit your essay as a Word document or a pdf but NOT as a compressed file – my          computer system seems to be having problems opening compressed files and I am currently too busy to look into – e.g., get “WinZip” or something like that.

Number your pages.  This is in bold because every year some students forget this and it is annoying.

Have a cover page with your name, the title of your assignment, course code and my name.  I print out these essays to grade them – grading on the screen too much hurts the eyes.

Twelve-point font.  I know that ten-point font can look appealing to many students but when you are grading a stack of essays, it is not appealing at all.

I would like one or more pages of critique - a “what you think section.”   By this I mean that I    don't want the paper to be purely exposition.  I want you to develop the skill in formulating some of your own arguments either for or against a position.  And remember when you are formulating your arguments for or against a position, you are trying to persuade me that you are right.  That   is what is meant by a "what you think" section - some students have in the past written about       how much they have enjoyed or disliked the essay.  It read more like a movie review.  You do     not want to do this or at least keep this to a minimal.

You can include this “what you think” section either as a separate section of the essay or weave your assessments of the arguments  in the main body of the essay itself.

A good mix: 70-75% exposition and 25-30% critique.  You do need to provide analysis and exposition of the article/position you are writing on.

Essay format and presentation.  Therefore, please don’t just answer the questions loosely held together without a common thread or theme.

Citation:  whatever information you have used that is not your own, including the lecture notes,  you need to reference, cite.  It is plagiarism to do otherwise which is a serious academic offense. I am not picky concerning the actual format for such citations, whether you use MLA or the       Chicago Manuel of Style but all the information needed to find the quotation must be given,       including the page number.  So don't present a quotation and then reference the entire article      requiring me to search through the article to try and find the quotation - not acceptable.

Danger: these questions are rather broad giving you latitude and freedom to develop your           thought in a number of directions.  However, a frequently recurring problem I have noticed over the years has been that a number of students, a sizable minority, wrote very broad, “brush-         stroke,” general summary papers not that different from the lecture handouts.   This leaves me   little by which to assess their talent and ability and consequently they did not do as well as they could have.  Don’t fall into this trap.  I would suggest that you narrow the topic.  Often an          excellent paper will explore with expertise and skill a few points and arguments.  I don't expect  you to cover all the points/issues in five to seven pages.