Final paper

What is due?

Please choose one of the prompts and write a paper between 1000 and 1500 words long. This is almost     twice as long as the short papers. Enter the text or upload a file (doc, docx, rtf, txt, or odt format, no pdf).  Write the prompt number at the top. There is no need to include the text of the prompt in your submission (if you do, please keep in mind that it won't count towards the word count). The prompts are available below.

Why?

This assignment is meant to assess your critical understanding of the contents of the class, your capacity to reflect autonomously on them, and your capacity to formulate and defend a philosophical thesis in a written  text.

How?

In a philosophy paper, you are expected to propose and defend a thesis (a major claim), offering good objective reasons in support of it. Address the prompt completely. Write a text that demonstrates you studied and understood the contents and formed your independent opinion on them. Explain key concepts with your  own words.

Please note that the paper length allows you to do a bit more than the short papers; for instance, it’s a good idea to foresee a potential objection to your thesis and respond to it.

Engage with the class materials, referring directly to them and/or quoting from them. Use short sentences and a clear argumentative strategy.  Always credit your sources and avoid plagiarism, including the use of ChatGPT and similar AI text generators. Don’t forget to check out the rubric!

How not?

This is not like the written version of a video-journal. You are not supposed to express your subjective opinion or to write about your own experience or feelings. You will defend your view, but this must be a philosophical thesis supported by an argument, not a subjective thought inspired by the readings or class materials.

Samples of good papers

These are two A+ papers submitted in another class (added here with the students’ permission): paper 1 (https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/66749/files/28125843?wrap=1) -

(https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/66749/files/28125843/download) , paper 2

(https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/66749/files/28125840?wrap=1)

(https://canvas.eee.uci.edu/courses/66749/files/28125840/download) . Please note that the length requirements were .different

Tips

· Address the prompt completely. If the prompt includes more than one question or aspect, your paper should address all of them.

· State your thesis at the very beginning of your paper.

· Make your argumentative steps explicit: announce them in the first paragraph, and then follow them thoroughly.

· Use short sentences and a straightforward style.

· Do not take it for granted that your reader already knows the topics that you are dealing with. You are expected to define explicitly the main concepts that you are using.

· Make sure your paper shows that you studied and understood the materials.

· Use your own words and possibly your own examples. This demonstrates autonomy and capacity for reflection, and helps the reader better understand what you have in mind.

· Connect the conclusion of the paper to the thesis that you stated at the beginning.

· Plagiarism (passing off as your own the ideas or words of someone else) is not allowed in any form. Always credit your sources. Remember that papers are automatically checked for plagiarism.

More tips

Professor Jim Pryor of New York University has developed and made available more extensive guidelines that you might find useful: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html

(http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html) . I recommend having a look at them. (Do not consider the paragraph on "How you'll be graded": you'll be graded according to the rubric below).

Questions

· How should I format the paper?

You can either use a text entry on Canvas, or an attachment. Both are fine, as long as you don't attach a PDF. Allowed file formats are .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, and .odt. There are no specific requirements regarding style.

formatting. Just write the prompt number and/or prompt text at the beginning of the paper.

· Should I add a title?

Not required but encouraged. It contributes to the clarity of the paper. In any case, please write the prompt number and/or prompt text at the beginning of the paper.

· What exactly are references and quotes? How should I format them? Are they required?

At least one reference to, or quote from, one of the required readings, and/or video-lectures, and/or slides, is mandatory.

You are referring to (for instance) an article when you mention it, for instance when you say: According to

Fricker (2023: 5), epistemic injustice is the consequence of prejudice. You are quoting from an article when

you cite a passage from it, for instance: As Fricker (2023: 5) argues, "epistemic injustice is the consequence of prejudice". In both cases, you need to mention the author's name and possibly the date of publication and

page number in parenthesis. If you omit the year or the page, it is less precise, although still acceptable. When you refer to or quote text from a slide or a passage from a video-lecture, you can refer to them as (for

instance) “minilecture 2.1”, or “week 2 slides”.

References or quotes to additional resources or external sources are also welcome, but not required. If you use external sources, you should NOT focus PRIMARILY on them

use external sources, you should NOT focus PRIMARILY on them.

If you use quotes, remember to avoid long quotes. Your paper must show your own work, not that of others. So, quotes and references may only be used to support your paper's main points, not to replace your own explanations.

· Is the list of references or bibliography required? Encouraged but not required.

· Are footnotes allowed?

Yes, but keep in mind that footnotes are secondary additions. If you use them, do not use them to explain major points.

· Does the word count include the prompt and the bibliography (if any)? No. It includes quotes and footnotes.

Late policy

Timeliness is especially important for the final paper! The deadline is December 10th and there is a late    penalty of 2 pts (out of 30) for each day (or fraction) of delay. Also note that the assignment won't be available at all after December 13th.

Good news

· Grace period of 1 day: there won’t be penalties if you submit the essay within 24 h from the deadline. Tip: do not count on the grace period, and plan to submit on time. The grace period is for unexpected emergencies.

PROMPTS

1.  Do you think the model of the prisoner’s dilemma is applicable in the framework of care described by Baier? If yes, make an example to illustrate your point. If not, explain why.

2.  Is the feminist criticism of Rawls' theory of justice convincing? Why? Illustrate Rawls’s view, Baier’s criticism, and take a position for one or the other.

3.  According to Arendt, Eichmann claimed that "what he had done was a crime only in retrospect". After

contextualizing this remark in the circumstances of Eichmann’s trial and clarifying Arend’s position, explain what implications this reflection has more generally for the concept of justice.

4.  What does Arendt mean by “the banality of evil”? Apply what you learnt to an issue in the contemporary world.

5.  Wolf affirms that if a person is actively engaged in a project that has positive value, but this project fails, the person's life loses its meaning. Do you find her claim convincing? Why?

6.  Compare Wolf’s view about the meaning in life with another perspective in contemporary philosophy, choosing one among Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus and Sartre. Take a stance for one of them (either Wolf, or the other thinker) and defend your position.