The following assignments comprise 80% of the final course grade.
The student examples appear courtesy of an MIT student and are used with permission. Student examples appear anonymously unless otherwise requested.
Short Writing Assignments
- Necessary and Sufficient Conditions (PDF)
- Analyzing Arguments (PDF)
- The Closure Principle (PDF)
- Sensitivity and Safety (PDF)
Papers
Midterm
Your midterm paper should address the following question:
Do we have justification to form beliefs on the basis of perception only if we have independent justification to believe that perception is reliable?
Midterm paper guidelines and instructions (PDF)
Student example: “Wright, skepticism and entitlement” (PDF)
Final
Your final paper should address the following question:
Does the lottery paradox show that we don’t know much about the external world?
Final paper guidelines and instructions(PDF)
Student example: “The Contexualist Solution to the Lottery Paradox” (PDF)
Writing References
Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper, jimpryor.net.
A Sample Philosophy Paper, prezi.com.
