FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY FOR FULL POINTS: A. KEY TERMS: In your post first define important terms in a section entitled "Key Terms". (i.e. any terms that you use with a special meaning. A meaning that is essential to your argument making sense.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOU MUST CITE your dictionary or other scholarly sources of your definitions. For example, “religious theories” means theories that talk about a personal God that intervenes in human and non-human affairs. (Oxford online dictionary) You definitions must mirror the following style: “religious theories” means theories that talk about a personal God that intervenes in human and non-human affairs. (Oxford online dictionary) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. CONCLUSION/THESIS: Choose one of the following writing prompts: After death, can the mind exist (that is, can the mind see things, touch things, taste things, smell things, hear things, and experience emotions like love and hate) without the body? Can we prove with 100% confidence, that is, without even 1% of doubt, that we are not a brain in a vat, or in some other simulation of this life? Was Socrates right to not allow Crito to help him escape? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion/Thesis:... Your conclusion/thesis here must be "close-ended". That is, figuratively speaking, you must give a "yes" or "no" answer. No compound, disjunctive, or hypothetical conclusions are allowed. Here are some acceptable example conclusion/thesis forms: (1) After death, the mind (choose one: can/cannot) exist (that is, can the mind see things, touch things, taste things, smell things, hear things, and experience emotions like love and hate) without the body? (2) We (choose one: can/cannot) prove with 100% confidence, that is, without even 1% of skepticism/doubt, that we are not a brain in a vat, or in some other simulation of this life. (3) Socrates (choose one: was/was not) right to not allow Crito to help him escape. *Do not deviate from the above variety of "close-ended" conclusions/theses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. PREMISES: For example: Premise 1:...First reason why your conclusion is true. Provide at least five sentences (i) explaining why this premise means that your conclusion is true, and (ii) explaining why this premise is actually true. You must say more than what your scholarly source says. For example, say why you agree with your source. Premise 2:...Second reason why your conclusion is true. Provide at least five sentences (i) explaining why this premise means that your conclusion is true, and (ii) explaining why this premise is actually true. You must say more than what your scholarly source says. For example, say why you agree with your source. Premise 3:...Third reason why your conclusion is true. Provide at least five sentences (i) explaining why this premise means that your conclusion is true, and (ii) explaining why this premise is actually true. You must say more than what your scholarly source says. For example, say why you agree with your source. You can either provide as little as one premise, or provide as many premises as you believe are necessary to prove the truth of your conclusion/thesis. Your premises must logically support your conclusion/thesis. And your premises must actually be true. You will not earn points if you merely paraphrase what the experts say. You must say why you agree with them. Or, why you disagree. Or, say more than what they say. You must add your own thinking. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. POSTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT: You must post your writing assignment by or before February 9th at 7:00 PM. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. PEER REVIEW: You must complete your peer review by or before February 12th at 11:59 PM. You must clearly indicate (i) whether you agree with their thesis/conclusion. Then you must clearly (ii) talk about their premises to explain why you agree or disagree with their thesis/conclusion by offering proof for your claims. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO RESEARCH AND STRUCTURE YOUR POST A. RESEARCH: You must read and cite ONLY writings that are themselves well researched. That means sources that themselves cite other scholarly sources. Read at least one scholarly (i.e. written by an expert in the field. The course reading material will satisfy this requirement.) article about the writing prompt that you choose. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. CITE YOUR SOURCES: In a Works Cited at the end of your post, YOU MUST CITE your sources like this: i. (Author First and Last Name, Name of Article or Book, edition, Year of publication, website address if available, page number). No footnotes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only cite at the end of quoted or paraphrased sentences or paragraphs like this when first citing an author's work: ii. (Author First and Last Name, Year of publication, page number if available, or website name if no page number available) YOU MUST PROVIDE BOTH (i) and (ii) ABOVE. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cite at the end of quoted or paraphrased sentences or paragraphs like this when subsequently citing an author's work that you've already cited: iii. (Author Last Name, page number if available, or website name if no page number available) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING IS AN INCOMPLETE EXAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENT: (Your premises need to have at least five sentences and needs to cite all works cited. This example is incomplete because it does not do those things.): Key Terms "all" means the only thing (Oxford online dictionary). "good" means (a) "moral". "moral" means human behavior that is consistent with rules that govern the "most important" of human behavior. "most important" human behavior is behavior that has the potential to either maintain or disrupt human peace and unity. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry for "The Definition of Morality" by Bernard Gert) (b) desired, or approved of. (Oxford online dictionary) Conclusion: If God is defined as all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing, and the creator of all that exists, then God does not exist. Premise 1: There was the European Dark Ages, Jewish Holocaust, the Congolese Holocaust, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Premise 2: God is not all-good. Because, if God were, there would not be so much suffering. (Peter Atterton, 2019, New York Times online) Premise 3: God is not all-powerful. Because even Saint Thomas Aquinas believed that God cannot do illogical things, like create a stone that cannot be lifted, and be all-powerful at the same time. (Atterton, New York Times) WORKS CITED 1. “A God Problem. Perfect. All-powerful. All-knowing. The idea of the deity most Westerners accept is actually not coherent.” By Peter Atterton, Ph.D. Philosophy. San Diego State University. For the New York Times online, March 25, 2019.