(3) Argumentative paper (in the required format) – 20% of the course grade. I understand that this class may be your first and (possibly) only philosophy class, and I grade your work with this in mind. The paper length should be at least 5 pages double spaced, standard margins, 12pt font. An electronic copy in Microsoft Word format (.docx) should be uploaded to Canvas in its appropriate drop box for Turnitin review.

There will be no second chances.  Late or emailed (in other words avoiding plagiarism review) papers will receive an automatic F, and will not be graded.  There will be no exceptions.  The require format for the paper is part of this syllabus (Appendix at the end of this syllabus).  I believe that the required format makes it easier for students to write an appropriate argumentative paper in a philosophy class. Failure to follow the required format will result in a C paper at best.

There will be class discussions and exercises aiming to facilitate the process of writing the paper. 

A= Superior

B= Above average

C= Average (or roughly 50% of the class grouped around the norm)

D= Below Average

F= Failing

Any form of academic dishonesty will result in an F on the paper assignment.  I am required to forward your plagiarized paper to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for further sanctions by the university.  I adopt a “No second chance” policy on academic dishonesty.  Plagiarism is an intentional representation of someone else’s work as your own by:

a) direct quotation that is not attributed to its source; b) paraphrase; c) borrowed, but not properly attributed facts/information; d) failure to have your own voice, e) work by another student.  For further information see:

http://www.csun.edu/~vcoao087/honesty.pdfLinks to an external site.

Appendix:  the required format for the Argumentative Paper.

Submit your paper on Canvas.csun.edu only in Microsoft Word format (.docx).

I don’t own the intellectual rights to students’ papers. Thus, I cannot post any sample of student work. Simply follow the guidelines here.

Each word/phrase in bold (including numbers for your arguments) in this appendix (for example, Claim, Explanation of the Claim, Reasons For/Against the Claim, Decision, Rebuttals, (1), (2),…; (I), (II)…) should appear as paragraph headers in your paper.

The most important part about the paper is that it should contain only your original thoughts and arguments. In other words, this is an argumentative paper not a research paper.  It is easily ascertained when you have taken concepts, reasons, and discussion from some other source.  The only things that you are allowed to research are the facts (which must be documented).

Claim:

A single well-worded declarative statement. You will have to come up with your own claim that is appropriate to the content of this class.

The claim must have moral significance.  Factual claims do not have moral significance.

Common problems: Vague claims; claims posed in the form of a question;  too broad or too narrow claims; non-moral claims; more than one issue in the claim. 

Explanation of the claim: You should explain very carefully and in common-sense vocabulary what you mean by the claim itself and by the terms involved in the claim. 

Common problems: assuming that the terms your use are self-explanatory.  The reader of your paper will assume no prior knowledge of your subject on his part,  If your do not explain your terms,  concepts, relationships you will start losing points.  Arguing in the explanation part of the paper, rather than explaining what you mean by your claim.

Reasons For the Claim: Each reason for the claim should be numbered with Arabic numerals (1), (2), (3), (4), (5).  You should provide at least four reasons for your claim. Each reason must be unpacked in a whole paragraph.  Each reason must have moral significance.

Common problems: sketchy arguments; pragmatic rather than moral arguments; insufficiently developed arguments; argument borrowed from other sources (even if documented); arguments that appeal to psychological rather than moral considerations, weak or not well-thought out arguments.

Reasons Against the Claim: Here you step into the shoes of your hypothetical opponent and think of reasons why your claim doesn’t hold.  Each reason against the claim should be numbered with Roman numerals (I), (II), (III), (IV).  You should provide at least four reasons against your claim. Each reason must be unpacked in a whole paragraph.  Each reason must have moral significance. The arguments in this section should not mirror the arguments in Reasons For the Claim. Otherwise, you are preempting the Rebuttals section.

Common problems: same as above; attempting to rebut the arguments presented in Reasons For the Claim – this belongs to the Rebuttal section.

Decision: At this point in the paper you must decide which set of reasons (i.e., Reasons For or Reasons Against the Claim) is a stronger set.  You must explain why you think a particular set of reasons is stronger.  This part must be a full paragraph rather than a couple of sentences.

Rebuttals: At this point in the paper you must provide a counterargument against each reason in the set of reasons that you found to be weaker (in the Decision part of the paper).  For example, if you found Reasons For the Claim to be a weaker set of reasons, you must counter-argue against (1), (2), (3), (4).  Conversely, if you found Reasons Against to be a weaker set, you must counter-argue against (I), (II), (III), (IV).  Each counterargument must be unpacked in a whole paragraph. This section of the paper is not the same as Reasons Agains the Claim section. In all, you should have twelve different arguments (including the Rebuttals).