Write an essay (of roughly 3-4 pp. or 900-1200 words) in which you introduce an issue, consider one argument on each side of it, and assess the relative strength of the two sides. At least one of the arguments should be based on (and make reference to) a passage in one of the texts we have read. (This may be true also for the argument on the other side, but that is not required.)

This is a longer paper than the last one, and I’m asking you to do more in three respects. First, you should describe the issue independently of your presentations of the two sides. This is something you might do in your introduction (though that is not the only way of working it in). Second, I am asking you to present arguments on both sides of the issue. (Although the objection that you considered in the last paper may have given reasons for thinking the conclusion of the main argument to be false, there are other ways to object to an argument, so you need not have looked at an argument against the conclusion.)

Finally, and most importantly, I am asking you to evaluate the strength of the arguments on each side. This should be a substantial portion of the paper (perhaps as much as a third of it) and not merely a brief concluding remark. If one of the two sides is your own position (which it may, though need not, be), you might wonder how evaluating the two sides could differ from presenting an argument for your side. In such a case, think of this third part of the paper as an occasion to engage the views of those on the other side of the issue more directly than you do by simply arguing for your side. One way of doing that is to consider the way in which someone on the other side might respond to the argument you have offered. Another is to offer a criticism of the argument for the other side that looks beyond its conclusion to the way that conclusion was supported.

Although the focus of this assignment is on an issue and arguments rather than on explaining passages, it will still be best to have in mind a specific and rather short passage whenever you consider an argument found in a text. On the other hand, if the argument on the other side is not found in the text, you should give it as much attention and present it in as much detail.

Any material for the course may be a source for issues and arguments. Although such things are more explicit in the Klemke, Hollinger, and Rudge anthology than in the early sections of Kuhn, they can be found in Kuhn, too. Simply think how and why someone might disagree with Kuhn, and Kuhn’s efforts to explain and justify his position will often suggest the sorts of opposing views he is trying to defend himself against.

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.