please check file below and follow all details.
Complete all of the following tasks: (MLA FORMAT)
1. (10 points) Choose an ethical or moral topic.
Explain just a bit of background about your topic. Maybe even link to a relevant news article about the topic. I suggest looking in these places if you need inspiration:
2.
1. Check your social media feeds. There is almost always someone sharing a news article and making a moral judgment about something.
3. (20 points)
State a specific, prescriptive, moral position. A moral position should be a morally prescriptive statement that someone can either agree or disagree with.
1. Your moral position should be moral, specific, and prescriptive.
1. Moral: it should state a moral position, not a legal or religious position.
2. Specific: it should be a specific moral issue, not a general moral topic. General moral topics would be something like “racism” or “hate” or “greed.” Rather than stating a position about these general topics, state a position about a specific instance of these things, such as:
1. “It is morally bad to perform traffic stops based on racial profiling.”
2. “It is morally good to defend the free speech rights of hate groups.”
3. “It is morally bad for businesses to raise prices on essential goods during a natural disaster, such as a hurricane.”
3. Prescriptive: it should state that something is good, bad, or permissible, not just talk about a topic.
2. It could take something like the following form:
1. “It is morally [good/bad/permissible] to [fill-in-the-blank-action].”
2. “[Fill-in-the-blank-action] is morally [good/bad/permissible].”
3. Morally
good actions are actions that we want people to perform. For example, “It is morally good for individuals to donate money to charity.”
4. Morally
bad actions are actions we do not want people to perform. For example, “It is morally bad for a spouse to have an affair.”
5. Morally
permissible actions are actions that we think are acceptable, but that we don’t want to either encourage or discourage people from performing. For example, “It is morally permissible for individuals to drink reasonable levels of alcohol.”
6. Note: your moral position should be one that people disagree about. There should be people who both agree and disagree with your moral position.
4. (60 points) For your chosen moral position, try to construct two opposing valid arguments: one in agreement with and one in disagreement with your moral position. Lay out the arguments as I did in the lectures,
with a series of premises, and then a conclusion that follows from those premises.
5.
1. Note: you are not picking or defending which side you think is “right.” You are simply laying out both sides of the argument.
6. (10 points) Grammar and formatting. In general, your tone can be conversational (rather than rigid and academic), but you must use proper grammar. This assignment does not require specific academic formatting (such as MLA or APA), but you should use conventional formatting: black text, normal-size font, left-aligned text, and proper separation between sections.
Example Initial Post
(The following is an example submission that fulfills all of the above requirements of the assignment)
(1. Introduce the topic) 1. Abortion is a divisive topic, and many states are passing restrictive bans on abortion (”
State legislatures see flurry of activity on abortion billsLinks to an external site.
“). The heart of the debate revolves around whose rights deserve to be given the most weight: the mother or the fetus. It seems like you can’t have both.
(2. State a moral position) 2.
Position:
Abortion after six weeks of gestation is morally bad.
(3. Try to construct two valid arguments, one that agrees, and one that disagrees)
3. Agree
· Premise 1: A human fetus has a heartbeat at six weeks of gestation.
· Premise 2: Stopping a beating human heart is murder.
· Premise 3: Murder is morally bad.
· Conclusion: Therefore, abortion after six weeks of gestation is morally bad.
(note: the conclusion of your argument in agreement should be the same as your moral position in part 2)
Disagree
· Premise 1: It is morally bad to restrict an individual from making decisions relating to their own body.
· Premise 2: Getting an abortion is a decision relating to an individual’s own body.
· Conclusion: Therefore, it is morally bad to restrict an individual from getting an abortion.
View Rubric
2023-05 – Argument Analysis Initial Post
Criteria
Points
(1) Introduction – topic introduced prior to moral position and arguments
Complete
10 pts
Missing
0 pts
/10 pts
(2) Position is present
Complete
8 pts
Missing
0 pts
/8 pts
(2) Position is specific
Yes
4 pts
No
0 pts
/4 pts
(2) Position is prescriptive
Yes
4 pts
No
0 pts
/4 pts
(2) Position is moral, not legal or religious
Yes
4 pts
No
0 pts
/4 pts
(3) Agree argument is present
Yes
14 pts
No
0 pts
/14 pts
(3) Agree argument is laid out as a set of premises and a conclusion
Yes
8 pts
No
0 pts
/8 pts
(3) Agree argument agrees with position in (2)
Yes
8 pts
No
0 pts
/8 pts
(3) Disagree argument is present
Yes
14 pts
No
0 pts
/14 pts
(3) Disagree argument is laid out as a set of premises and a conclusion
Yes
8 pts
No
0 pts
/8 pts
(3) Disagree argument disagrees with position in (2)
Yes
8 pts
No
0 pts
/8 pts
Grammar & Formatting
Excellent
Almost no errors. Proper use of punctuation and paragraph structure. The post was easy to read.
10 pts
Very Good
Infrequent errors. Proper use of punctuation and paragraph structure. The post was easy to read.
9 pts
Acceptable
Mostly free of error, but errors were repeatedly noticed. The post was mostly easy to read.
7 pts
Needs improvement
Errors are common. The post was difficult to read.
5 pts
Poor
Frequent errors. The post was very difficult to read.
3 pts
/10 pts
Ethical and Moral Topics
Places online that discuss moral and ethical issues:
·
Tangle (click the “X” in the top-right corner to skip the subscription), readtangle.com
– This is a daily newsletter that focuses on the biggest political news stories of the day and tells you the best arguments both sides are making.
·
The Argument (New York Times), nytimes.com/column/the-argument
– A weekly ideas podcast, hosted by Jane Coaston, which invites two guests on opposing sides of an issue. This show ended at the end of 2022, though many of the topics are still relavant today.
·
The Stone, nytimes.com/column/the-stone
. A column by philosophers on contemporary issues. This page stopped being updated in 2021, but many of the topics discussed here transcend time.
·
Practical Ethics: Ethics in the News, blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk
·
Logic-Checker,logiccheck.net/my-blog/categories/fact-checker
. This entire website is about arguments and logic, and the specific page I linked to usually talks about newsworthy items. Not all the topics are moral or ethical, however.
· There are lots of great introductory philosophical essays on current topics available here:
1000wordphilosophy.com/teaching-units/#issues
These items below are simply suggested topics to stimulate your thinking. You are welcome to discuss any ethical issue.
·
Abortion – “Common Arguments about Abortion” and “Better (Philosophical) Arguments About Abortion” (philarchive.org/archive/NOBQAA)
– Easy-to-read introductory paper on the philosophical issues surrounding abortion. Download it at the link.
· Is abortion a valid form of birth control?
· When is it too late to get an abortion?
· If you want to dive deep into abortion, see
AbortionArguments.com
, which includes a
book-length treatment of abortion
from a philosophical perspective.
· Medical Ethics
· Organ Donation – Currently, you have to register to be an organ donor. If everyone was an organ donor, more lives would be saved. Should everyone be required to be an organ donor?
· “Pulling the plug” – Is it acceptable to remove someone from life support, resulting in their death?
· Treating criminals and lowlifes – Do criminals have a right to medical care? Does a person who was shot by police for killing someone else have a right to extraordinary life-saving measures in an emergency room?
· Birth Control and sterilization
· Psychosis (people not in their right mind) – At what point should we commit someone to a mental health institution against their will?
· Vaccinations: There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that vaccines do more good than harm. Should a parent be forced to give their child vaccines?
·
Article – The Last Children of Down Syndrome: Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn’t. This is just the beginning.
The Atlantic, December 2020. See me for a paper or PDF copy.
· Euthanasia (the painless killing, usually at the request of the patient, of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma) – Should someone have the right to choose to die?
· Genetic Engineering
· Cloning
· Selecting the sex of a future child
· Breeding superhumans (athletes, geniuses, soldiers)
·
Podcast: “Facing the Synthetic Age.”
For billions of years, natural selection has shaped our world; now, humans have the capability to design it. What problems might arise from this power? (Examining Ethics, episode 36).
· Artificial Reproduction (such as in-vitro fertilization)
· Physical Violence
· Self-defense
· Stand your ground laws – Almost everyone agrees that you should be allowed to defend yourself. However, should there be a limit to that defense? If someone makes a verbal threat, can you kill them? When does self-defense go too far?
· Charitable Giving
· Greed
· Power and manipulation
· Voting
· Lying and honesty
· Crime and theft
· Sexual ethics
· Homosexuality
· Polygamy (multiple committed, long-term partners)
· Polyamory (can you love more than one person at once?)
· Premarital sex
· Hooking up (multiple non-committed partners)
· Adultery
· Incest
· Prostitution
· Divorce
· Marriage
· Parenting
· Should some people not be allowed to have children?
· When should we take people’s children away from them?
· Where is the line between parental freedom and child abuse?
· Is it okay to physically punish a child through spankings, whippings, etc.?
· Drugs
· Illegal
· Prescription drugs
· Gambling
· Sexism
· Racism
· Affirmative Action
· Immigration
· Racial profiling
· Criminal justice: Racial bias and disproportionate outcomes for people of color
