Write an essay (of roughly 2-3 pp. or 600-900 words) focused on material we have discussed. The point of this paper is to give you a chance to explore further an issue of interest to you and to provide a basis for me to evaluate both your understanding of the material we’ve read and the depth of your thinking about a philosophical issue. With this in mind I ask that your essay include the following elements:

The amount of material you discuss in your exposition will vary with the topic you are addressing, but the total amount of text you consider should be small. In most cases, it should be substantially less than a page, and it may be only a few sentences. The passage will often be one presenting views of its author, but it need not be. (You have encountered authors presenting positions that they will go on to attack.)

The objection could also take the form of an exposition of something in the same source, but you may not find an objection described there. And, even if objections are described, you need not present one of them, presenting instead one that you have constructed. Although you might construct this objection by speaking for yourself or by suggesting something that someone else you’ve read might agree with, it is also quite acceptable to present an objection that is neither your own nor in the reading so far.

I think of the three elements of this assignment as having roughly equal importance, so you might think of devoting about a page to each. There can be considerable variation from this, however, so the key thing is to take each of the three seriously. In particular, your discussion of the relative strength of the two sides (i.e., the third element) should be more than a brief concluding comment.

When choosing a topic, be careful to keep it fairly narrow; this is a short paper and it will be easier to achieve the depth of thought and clarity of writing I will be looking for if you do not attempt to cover too much ground. That means that you may be able to address only one aspect of even a short passage. Also, be careful not to attempt to give an exposition of an author’s views by paraphrasing or even summarizing everything in the part of the text you are discussing; instead think through what is said there, decide what is relevant to the topic you are addressing, and design an account of the material in light of this and the space you have available.

Although I’ll be willing to accept your essay on paper, I’d prefer that you send a copy by e-mail (either as an attachment or in the body of a message). My address is helmang@wabash.edu.