PHL 125 Fall 2000 Dowling College

Christian Perring

Paper Topics

Paper Draft Due October 31

~8 pages, or 2000 words

Final paper due December 7

~16 pages, or 4000 words

You should either choose one of the paper topics below, or else you can choose your own topic.If you do want to choose your own topic, you need to write it down and get it approved by me by October 17.

It is important that your paper focus on the fundamental basis of moral judgment.It should include substantial discussion of some of the philosophers on the reading list for this course.I encourage you also to read the work of other twentieth century philosophers, (such as the other texts included in the class book).While you may need to address and discuss facts of psychology, biology, anthropology, sociology, economics or history, it is essential that these do not dominate your paper.

You must use at least 3 written references (journal article or book chapter, not including web sites) for your draft.You can use the Internet in addition; if you do so, be careful in selecting your sources of information.

You can use any standard method of referring to work by others (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago)

Please see my guidelines for writing papers and avoiding plagiarism.I will deal with all plagiarizing severely.Serious cases of intentional plagiarizing will result in you failing the course and you being reported to Dowling’s Chief Academic Officer.

NB: Your final paper does not need to be on the same topic as your draft: you can switch topic if you want.

1)Compare the ideas of either Kierkegaard or Nietzsche with those of either Sartre or Camus.Discuss whether the existentialism of these philosophers comes as a coherent package or whether it is possible to separate the plausible and attractive elements from the implausible or unattractive elements.

2)Explain what the pragmatism of William James and John Dewey aimed to achieve.Discuss whether the history of philosophy in the last hundred years has made the pragmatist project seem more or less achievable.

3)Discuss whether any non-human animals have rights.You need to include in your discussion careful consideration of different theories of the nature of rights.

4)Discuss whether the analysis of language and our linguistic practices is sufficient to resolve the debates over the morality of the death penalty or euthanasia.You need to include discussion of the views of G.E. Moore or W.D. Ross.

5)Discuss whether Utilitarianism can give a plausible account of our responsibilities to those we love and people in other countries that we will never meet.

6)Discuss whether we in the West should publicly morally condemn practices in other cultures that we find repellent or even horrific.You can choose your own examples, but possibilities include female genital mutilation, infanticide, arranged marriages for children, foot binding of children, initiation ceremonies for adolescents involving pain and humiliation, or the expectation that a wife should throw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.