Task: Write a 6-page thesis driven essay on any topic you found of particular interest the second half of the semester that you would like to present more formally as your culminating course paper. This paper requires you to identify a philosophical issue of importance to you and present a clear thesis on the topic. In addition to using your course readings, you must also minimally use one (1) outside source. This need not be from an academic journal, just an example of your topic in current events or a current application.
Your goal is to explain your philosophical topic to an audience (me) in a more academic tone as a thesis driven essay. You will use your readings to support your argument or to present a counterargument, depending on your topic. You are not starting from scratch! These topics have all been considered in our weekly discussion forums. While your discussion forums focused more on summary, your goal in this paper is to refine your thoughts on your previous work and to present the arguments with greater academic complexity. As such, focus on close analysis of the texts while providing direct evidence (through relevant quotes) to support your thesis.
While I hope that you chose a paper topic that you genuinely want to expand upon and is generated from your interests, I do believe as your professor that studying these thinkers and topics this semester has hopefully led you to reflect on the nature of the self, arguably the most important (and mysterious) philosophical question. In this way, I do think all of your final papers unavoidably will look at the question of what it means to be a person/self in relation to other questions studied, such as metaphysics, knowledge, free will, the mind, personal identity and ethics.
General Guidelines:
The essay should be roughly 6 pages. This is a page minimum; you may write as much as you like.
Size 12 font
1” margins on all sides
Follow MLA formatting for in-text citations
Full works cited page in MLA format
You must use at least 3 primary sources from your online textbook and at least 1 other outside source