choosing a system of ethics
Topic: Choosing a System of Ethics
In this course so far we’ve studied three philosophers that are often used to represent different systems of ethics*: Mill, Kant, and Aristotle. Which of the three philosophers has the most defensible position and why?
All of the papers for this course must contain an argument or, if you’d prefer a different label, be “position-based papers.” This means you should clearly state what your position is in the beginning and then develop and support the reasons you hold this position over the course of the paper.
For example, if I wanted to argue that strawberry is the best flavor of milkshake, which it is, I would support my claim with reasons like “strawberries have excellent health benefits,” “they blend well with ice cream,” and “people who like strawberry milkshakes tend to be happier than those who don’t.” I would then develop each of those reasons and provide evidence for them to support my claim. To make this more relevant for our purposes: if you’re being asked to argue that a particular philosopher’s argument is more tenable than another’s, you would give your reasons this is so and then develop each of those reasons in the body of the paper.
This means your paper should not:
Merely be a comparison and contrast.
taking up lots of space discussing chocolate or vanilla milkshakes doesn’t directly support my claim that strawberry milkshakes are the best.
Get bogged-down in summarizing background information. This is not an informative paper, so we don’t need to see much summary, unless doing so helps you directly support your argument.
taking up space discussing the history and development of the milkshake isn’t relevant to my overall claim.
sometimes we might have to say one thing in other to say another, though keep the focus on your actual argument first and foremost.
Unnecessarily use examples…especially long ones.
If you have to illustrate a point using a lengthy example, you should reconsider how clearly you’ve made the point in the first place–especially given how these papers usually end up being around 3 pages long.
- In other words, avoid using different scenarios, examples, thought experiments, etc. if they’re getting in the way of making the actual argument.
To summarize: if your argument is “Aristotle is the most tenable for Reasons X, Y, and Z,” you would then develop Reasons X, Y, and Z in their own parts, taking the above suggestions into consideration. In addition, I should give this piece of advice: if you’re not sure whether what you’re saying directly supports your argument, you should consider taking it out of the paper. I’ve said more about this in the Writing Guide within the “Paper Topics and Submissions” folder, as well.
- All papers must be submitted in a Word (.doc) file format and uploaded to SafeAssign. Google Docs submissions are not accepted. If I cannot open your file attachment, I cannot grade your paper which means it will earn a zero.
- All sources you use for these papers should be scholarly. The following is a non-exhaustive list of sources are not acceptable for use: Wikipedia, YouTube, Diffen.com, Quora, SparkNotes, Philosophy Now. If you have a question about whether or not to use a source, a good rule of thumb is to either ask or not use it.
- Topic: Choosing a System of Ethics
In this course so far we’ve studied three philosophers that are often used to represent different systems of ethics*: Mill, Kant, and Aristotle. Which of the three philosophers has the most defensible position and why?
Miscellaneous Caveats:
- Merely having an opinion does not make said opinion justifiable, defensible, or even good. As such, your paper would need to advance reasons you hold your position.
Do NOT give personal examples and other anecdotal evidence when writing argumentative papers. I do not mean to suggest your relationships or experiences are trivial, only that we’ll need to keep the papers focused on the prompts.
In academic writing it is generally advisable to write from a position of near-certainty regarding one’s own position; meaning you should avoid language that implies hesitancy on your part. In other words write, “I assert…” “It is my position…”; NOT “I hope in/feel/believe.” The latter implies you aren’t sure what you’re arguing, or that your position is too wishy-washy.
Finally, because this is a formal assignment, please use formal language throughout the course of your paper. Do not use contractions and Internet lingo.
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