This is a first shot at developing a view on issues raised by this course. You should (i) sketch (in a few sentences) one thing it might mean to say people have free will, (ii) say whether you think people have free will in that sense, and (iii) briefly offer reasons for your answer. I’m expecting no more than two or three paragraphs in all, so a single page is plenty (and you are making too much of this assignment if you give me more than two).

You will have plenty of opportunity to write on such questions at greater length, so don’t try to put everything you might have to say into this paper: you will have space to say a little more than you might say in one comment in class but only a little more. On the other hand, if you think you are saying too little, imagine someone asking you what you meant by something you said or why you said it and then fill out what you’ve written in a way that suggests an answer to that question.

I’ll give you feedback on these, but I won’t grade them: you will get full credit simply for making a serious effort. While I’d be happy to accept your assignment on paper, it is more convenient for me to receive work electronically; and, since I won’t set up the course Moodle site for assignments, that means using e-mail—my address is helmang@wabash.edu. A short assignment like this could itself be the content of an e-mail message, but I’m also happy to get e-mail attachments.