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PHIL 1200 Assignment #1: Instructions

This document provides instructions for PHIL 1200 Assignment #1. It explains that the assignment consists of a short essay question and some short logic questions. It emphasizes that the essay question should receive most attention and has a 3-4 page limit. For the essay, students should analyze competing positions from the readings and argue in support of their own position. No external research is required. Students only need to use the provided course materials and readings. The document also provides the specific essay prompt and two logic questions to answer for the assignment.

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115 views

PHIL 1200 Assignment #1: Instructions

This document provides instructions for PHIL 1200 Assignment #1. It explains that the assignment consists of a short essay question and some short logic questions. It emphasizes that the essay question should receive most attention and has a 3-4 page limit. For the essay, students should analyze competing positions from the readings and argue in support of their own position. No external research is required. Students only need to use the provided course materials and readings. The document also provides the specific essay prompt and two logic questions to answer for the assignment.

Uploaded by

Maxmillian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHIL 1200 Assignment #1

INSTRUCTIONS:
This assignment consists of a short essay question, and some short logic questions. The
main intent of these questions is to ensure that you have a sound grasp of the
fundamentals of the material presented in this unit. The logic questions are intended to
draw on some important logical concepts that will be relevant throughout the course.
Although an understanding of basic logic terminology and argumentation is important in
this course, logic for its own sake is not the focus of this course. As such, the short essay
question should attract most of your attention with this assignment. There is a 3 to 4
page (1000 words) limit for the short essay question. As with all the short essay
questions you will address in this course, I’m not so concerned with whether you agree
with a particular author or not. The quality of your answer is based on your exposition of
the competing positions, your comparative analysis of those positions and, lastly, your
argument in support of the position you defend.

As with all the assignments in this course, the short essay question is not designed to be
a “research” question. There is no requirement to get material from external sources
such as other authors, or reference websites, who have summarized, or criticized, the
authors you are dealing with. In effect, including such material defeats your purpose in
completing your essay because you are essentially telling me what some other person
thought about the material you should be explaining and assessing. If you make
reference to sources external to the course readings it will be detrimental to your mark.
In some cases, I may ask you to re-work and submit your assignment. The point of your
essay is to formulate the course material and develop your critical response. You can do
this by working with the course material and developing your own ideas about the issue.
The essay is simply your opportunity to set that out in paper.

So, the material you need to successfully complete this assignment can be found in the
online course materials available through the UMLearn course site. There may also be
some reading material that is part of the hard copy course readings package. You can
find this information on the course materials section of our course UMLearn website.

QUESTIONS: (The total possible mark for this assignment


is 100 marks.)
Short Essay Question – The Nature of Philosophy (80 marks)

In Apology, Socrates refers to himself, metaphorically, as a gadfly to Athenian society.


He uses this metaphor, in part, in arguing for his assertion that “the unexamined life is
not worth living.” Explain how this metaphor is considered to be characteristic of the
discipline of philosophy. Specifically, explain how it justifies what our course readings
refer to as the conceptual analysis, and the constructive, tasks of contemporary
philosophy. Is Socrates’ conclusion that “the unexamined life is not worth living”
still relevant in today’s society? Provide an argument in support of your response.

Logic questions – You should try to limit yourself to two or three paragraphs
per answer for each of these questions. (10 marks each.)

1. Consider the following two arguments:

(A) 90% of observed crows are black. Therefore, 90% of all crows are black.
Furthermore, I conclude that the next crow I observe will be black.

(B) If 90% of observed crows are black, then the next crow I observe will be black. In
fact, 90% of observed crows are black. Therefore, the next crow I observe will be black.

Using the logic terminology presented in the course material, classify the two arguments.
Which argument is the better argument? [Hint: I realize the term “better” is vague in
this context. Part of your response should be to clear that up.]

2. The following argument is deductively invalid. Indicate the form, or structure, of the
argument, and provide your own counterexample (i.e., an example with all true premises
and a false conclusion) that clearly shows the invalidity.

All subjectivists are relativists. Some objectivists are subjectivists. Therefore, some
relativists are not objectivists.

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