Research Paper Proposal Instructions
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Philosophy
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Apr 3, 2024
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Philosophy 1360E: The Big Questions We All Ask: Final Research Paper Proposal due date: Friday, March 4
th
, 2022, 11:59 PM. Final paper due date: Monday, April 4
th
, 2022, 11:59 PM.
Please submit your assignment on OWL.
For the final research paper assignment, you will be required to develop and defend a thesis with respect to one or more of the topics and ideas we have examined throughout the course. The final assignment will be completed in two stages. In the first stage, you will be required to develop a paper topic in consultation with Dr. Tait, due March 4th. Collected below is a list of potential research questions (additional questions may be added to this list); your task for the proposal is to choose one of these research questions and outline how you intend to answer the question. Your research proposal should clearly state:
i)
Which question you intend to answer;
ii)
An outline of your thesis: how do you intend to answer the chosen question? Do you agree or disagree with the chosen author(s)/philosopher(s)? Which philosophical thesis do you intend to defend? iii)
A few sentences indicating what strategy you intend to adopt to defend your thesis. What will be the structure of your argument? Are there any supporting claims or ideas that will help you to defend your thesis? Are there any arguments
against your position, and if so, how do you intend to address them?
Note that if you wish to develop your own thesis topic different from any on the list provided, you may do so in consultation with Dr. Tait. Your chosen topic should relate in some fashion to one or more of the topics explicitly examined in the course. Examples of outstanding research proposals are provided below.
Your thesis proposal should be 150-250 words and is due on March 4
th
. Dr. Tait will then review and provide feedback on your proposals, which can then be used to complete your final essay due April 4
th
.
All proposals and final papers should be submitted in .doc or .pdf format and in 12-point font, with standard margins, and double-spaced. You are not
required to consult external references;
however, you may do so if you wish. Your answer should explain in your own words one of the ideas or arguments listed below. An excellent answer will demonstrate familiarity with the required readings, and a willingness to explain the required concepts to an imaginary reading audience unfamiliar with the ideas. The required readings may be found on the course website or through the links provided on the course syllabus.
While the goal of exposition is to explain ideas in your own words, sometimes you may feel it is useful or necessary to quote an author directly. Be sure to properly reference and cite any external materials consulted in APA format: https://www.lib.uwo.ca/files/styleguides/APA.pdf
. Cite my lectures with my last name, slide number, date, and URL. Choose one question to answer:
1)
Does the self exist? Why or why not? Answer with reference to at least two of the arguments from Hume, Descartes, and Skinner.
2)
Do you find the cosmological argument for the existence of God convincing? In making your case, be sure to carefully describe at least one of Aquinas’s formulations of the argument as
contained in his ‘Five Ways’. You may also wish to consult the counterarguments of Russell and Dawkins.
3)
Do you agree with Skinner that it is time to move beyond the concepts of ‘freedom’ and ‘dignity’? Why or why not?
4)
Is promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number the supreme moral principle? Why or why not? In making your argument, refer to the arguments of Mill and at least one of Kant and Aristotle.
5)
What is surveillance capitalism? Is the advent of surveillance capitalism bad for humanity because it threatens our autonomy? Reference the argument of Shoshana Zuboff and least one of Skinner’s Beyond Freedom and Dignity
and Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of
Morals. 6)
Is there a compelling rational argument for the existence of God? Why or why not? Refer to at least two arguments from Aquinas, Anselm, Dawkins, Russell and Paley.
7)
Should we always act ‘so as to at the same time will that our actions should become universal law’, as Kant claims? Why or why not? Refer to the reading from Kant and at least one other author we have examined in the course.
8)
Is it rational to be religious? Is religion a key component of the good life? Answer with reference to the arguments of William James and at least one other author we have examined in the course.
9)
What is the nature of friendship according to Seneca? Do you agree with his analysis of the importance of character in genuine friendship? Is friendship a key component of the good life? (could help answer #8)
10) What is Rawls’ veil of ignorance, and what is it intended to show? Do you agree with Rawls’ justification of the liberal society? You may wish to consult the readings from Hobbes, Arendt, and/or Berlin.
11) Should we strive to live in a post-identity world? Answer with reference to the arguments of
Longino, Crenshaw, and at least one of Rawls, Kant, Berlin, Arendt, and Degrasse Tyson.
12) Compare and contrast the Hobbesian and Rawlsian conceptions of the social contract. Which conception do you find most appealing, and why?
13) How does Berlin distinguish his two concepts of liberty? Which conception, if either, do you find most compelling? Do you agree with Berlin that the ‘positive’ conception of liberty may lead to totalitarianism?
14) Are there moral truths, or is morality purely subjective? Reference at least one of the Gorgias
and the Geneology of Morals
, and one of the writings of Mill, Kant, and Aristotle.
15) Do you believe that the enlightenment leads to human progress? In defending your answer,
critically evaluate the arguments of Steven Pinker in Enlightenment Now
and Kant’s What is Enlightenment
. You may also wish to discuss the writings of Arendt, Crenshaw, and Anscombe.
16) Does belief in science constitute a kind of religion? Answer with reference to the arguments
of William James, Bertrand Russell, and Richard Dawkins.
Examples of excellent research proposals
1)
My research paper will answer Question 13, ‘Are there moral truths, or is morality purely
subjective? Reference at least one of the Gorgias
and the Geneology of Morals
, and one of the writings of Mill, Kant and Aristotle.’ I will argue that there are moral truths, and therefore that morality is objective rather than subjective. I will support my thesis by means of two arguments. First, I will argue that Kantian ethics requires objective morality. The concept of a person as end in themselves, and the related concept of autonomy, both require that each of us respect persons regardless of our subjective beliefs. Respect for persons is therefore an objective moral requirement. Furthermore, I will argue that the position of Socrates in the Gorgias is correct: the purpose of argument
is to uncover truths, rather than merely to persuade. One of the objective truths that we should seek to defend by means of argument is the claim that we should always treat persons as ends, rather than as means to ends.
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2)
My research paper will answer Question 3, ‘Do you agree with Skinner that it is time to move beyond the concepts of ‘freedom’ and ‘dignity’? Why or why not?’ I will argue that Skinner’s argument, while fascinating and containing certain valid points, is nevertheless incorrect. To support my argument, I will first define the concepts of freedom and dignity. I will try to show that given the right definitions of these concepts, they can be defended even if it turns out, as Skinner claims, that many or most of our actions and behaviours are the product of operant conditioning, and even if our ‘minds’ and mental lives cannot be examined scientifically. I will argue that the correct definitions of freedom and dignity are political
definitions, rather than philosophical
ones. Freedom should mean the ability to do as we please, provided that we do not interfere with others. Dignity will be defined as having various kinds of rights that should be defended, rather than taken away, by the government. Hence these two concepts remain critically important. Rather than moving beyond them, we need to defend them at all costs.