Write an essay (of roughly 4 pp. or 1200 words) focused on two works that you’ve read that exhibit opposing points of view. You should

• describe the position on some issue presented in one of these

• describe more briefly an opposing position on the same issue found in the second, and

• discuss the relative strength of the two positions.

The first of these works, the one on which you place the most emphasis, should come from the most recent part of the course (where we’ve read Kelsen, Hart, Dworkin, Unger, and Altman) but the other work can be any of those we’ve read so far.

In choosing material to write about, be careful to keep your focus narrow. Of course, you should compare the two works regarding only a single issue. But, even though this is longer than the first paper, it is still a relatively short paper, and you are unlikely to be able to discuss more than one argument on each side of this issue with the depth of thought and clarity of writing I will be looking for. Also be careful not to attempt to give an exposition of an author’s views by paraphrasing or even summarizing parts of the text; instead think through what is said there and design an account of it to suit the topic you are addressing and the space you have available.

Again, although I’ll be happy to accept your essay on paper, I encourage you to submit it electronically either by e-mail (as an attachment or, if there is no special formatting, in the body of a message) or by the drop box on the Blackboard site for the course.