Philosophy 1308 Paper #1

Due date: September 10, handed in electronically by midnight Central Time.  (I advise handing in by 10 pm, in case you have computer trouble.)

Instructions

• Papers should be handed in online at www.turnitin.com.  Microsoft Word format is strongly preferred to cutting and pasting.  I suggest that you look ahead of time at how turnitin.com works and register for it long before the paper is due, so you have no unpleasant technical surprises at the last minute. The TurnItIn.com class ID is 1951652 and the password is ethica.
• Paper should be well-organized and 2-4 pages long.  The first paragraph should contain a thesis sentence, emailed to the instructor a week in advance (or else you need to attach a one paragraph explanation of changes in the thesis statement), and at the end you should sum up how successful you were at defending the thesis statement.  Longer papers are also acceptable as long as they are no more verbose than their substance requires, but you will not be rewarded just for having an extra-long paper.
• Somewhere along the way, you should make sure that there are answers to all the questions in the topic.  Some questions may be handled very briefly, in a footnote or in a few words, while others you can go on at length about.  But your paper must not be merely a list of answers.  It needs to have its own thesis.
• Feel free to give the instructor or TA a draft for comments a five days in advance.
• Feel free to consistently use any citation style you like. Here is the MLA style if you want to use it. And here is the Chicago Manual of Style style.

Paper topics

Topic A. Socrates and the virtuous life

Why does Socrates think everyone should act morally no matter what the price (even death) to be paid is?  Is Socrates' reasoning plausible here?  Why or why not?  What additional arguments could one produce for the claim that we should lead a virtuous life no matter what the consequences?  What kinds of arguments could one give against this claim?  Is the claim true?

Topic B. Absolutism

What is C. S. Lewis's main argument for absolutism (the one about quarreling), and what is absolutism?  Now take the most plausible (to you) of the three discussed alternatives to absolutism (individual relativism, social relativism or the error theory), define it carefully, and try to show how someone who accepts this theory could argue for it and could try to refute C. S. Lewis's main argument.  Now, consider how an absolutism might respond to this argument.  Is absolutism true or is the alternative you chose true?  Why or why not?  When discussing alternatives to absolutism, you need to consider hard cases for anti-absolutism, such as what the anti-absolutist would say about Nazi Germany or pulling wings off flies if you feel like it.

Topic C. The Euthyphro problem

What is divine command metaethics?  How does the circularity argument in the Euthyphro challenge the theory?  Carefully state the circularity argument.  How might a theist who accepts a version of divine command metaethics attempt to defend her theory against this challenge?  If she is unable ultimately to defend the theory, is there a better account a theist could give of the relationship between God and ethics?  Explain.

Topic D. Idols, symbols and signs (hard to do well)

Tillich distinguishes signs, symbols and idols. Explain the distinction, giving examples that you think Tillich would approve of, and explain how this connects with the idea of one's ultimate concern. Is it true--and why or why not--that the same object could be a sign to one person, a symbol to another and an idol to a third? What would you and Tillich say to the following question: Are there some things that should not be anybody's ultimate concern? Why or why not?