In this paper, you will write an essay of at least 900 words (but no more than 1
In this paper, you will write an essay of at least 900 words (but no more than 1200 words) in response to one of the following prompts:
1. Anselm of Canterbury famously argued that the existence of God follows from the mere idea of God as the “most perfect being”. Explain Anselm’s argument, then explain one possible objection to it. (This should be an objection that your think has some plausibility.) Do you think the objection succeeds in showing that Anselm’s argument fails? Why or why not?
2. In “No Good Reason – Exploring the Problem of Evil” Louise Antony argues that the existence of suffering provides good evidence for the claim that God does not exist. Explain Antony’s argument, including why she thinks the “logical argument from suffering” fails. Do you think Antony’s argument succeeds in establishing that God probably does not exist? In the course of your argument, be sure to consider one objection to Antony’s argument. (If you think Antony’s argument succeeds, you will want to show why the objection fails; if you think her argument fails, you will want to explain why the objection succeeds.)
3. Rather than providing an argument for the existence of God, Blaise Pascal provides an argument for the claim that it is in our best interests to believe in God. Explain Pascal’s argument as well as the distinction between practical and epistemic reasons for belief. Do you think Pascal’s argument succeeds in showing that it is practically rational (i.e., in our best interests) to believe in God? In the course of your argument, be sure to consider one objection to Pascal’s argument. (If you think Pascal’s argument succeeds, you will want to show why the objection fails; if you think his argument fails, you will want to explain why the objection succeeds.)
4. In “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” Peter Singer argues – by appeal to a hypothetical case involving a drowning child – that we are obligated to donate all of our disposable income to charity. Explain Singer’s argument, then explain a possible objection to it. Do you think the objection succeeds? Why or why not?
NB: Whenever you make a claim about an author’s views you are required to cite a page number (or a range of pages) to substantiate your claim.
This paper is due Thursday February 15th, at 11.59PM.
This paper is worth 15% of your final grade.
Writing requirement
This class qualifies for 4000 words of credit for the university writing requirement. Note that there is a separate grade for the writing component. To receive a satisfactory grade for the writing component of this class, you must earn an average grade of C or higher for your papers.
Academic Honesty
Please review the following guidelines on academic honesty:
All sources and assistance used in preparing your papers and presentations must be precisely and explicitly acknowledged. The web creates special risks here. Cutting and pasting even a few words from a web page or paraphrasing material without a reference constitutes plagiarism. If you are not sure how to refer to something you find on the internet, you can always give the URL.
Please note: “self-plagiarism”, in which you submit work for one class that you completed for another, is still plagiarism, and will be treated as such.
Students are not permitted to use large language models (such as ChatGPT) or other AI-based text generation tools to complete written assignments for this course. Submitting work produced using one of these tools without prior written authorization constitutes academic dishonesty.
You should expect the minimum penalty for academic dishonesty to be a grade of E for the class (not just the assignment). All incidents of academic dishonesty will be reported to Student Judicial Affairs. Repeat offenders may be penalized by suspension or expulsion from the university.