these are the instructions
Read this Review Essay: (I WILL SHARE THE GIVEN ESSAY)
Topic: Should any definition of “technology” always point us towards some specific “material” artifact so as to omit “prayers, spoken language and swimming strokes” from being called technologies?
Writing a Good Research Paper
In a research paper you must locate and examine information from relevant authorities with contrasting viewpoints on a specific topic question. I might sometimes indicate specific sources to be used in the wording of the assignment. More commonly, though, I will not do this; you must find relevant resources on your own. Librarians can help with this process.
An important part of the Socratic approach is not simply to argue for your own view, but to actively seek out and understand the views of others who might disagree with you. So, unlike an essay, a research paper does not involve defending your own position (yet), rather, it is an opportunity to prepare to do such by seeking potentially contending views to your own. The main purpose of the paper, therefore, is to show that you have found leading authorities that anyone wishing to develop a position should consider. Finding and explaining the main arguments of (at least) two contending authorities will ensure that you find at least one good source with a contrasting view to any preliminary view you might have. The quality of your paper, therefore, will rest on your description of the issue (ISSUE component) and explanation of the signficance of the authorities and their arguments (the ARGS component). Comparing and contrasting the main contentions of your authorities is a good way to accomplish this task. Finally, you must be meticulous about presenting the details of your sources (the REFS component). I use the following mark scheme to grade research papers:
Introduction of the issue: /2 (ISS)
Discussion of authorities and their arguments: /3 (ARGS)
Presentation of references and citations: /3 (REFS)
Writing, grammar and style: /2 (WRIT)
Participation in class discussion: /3 (ORAL, if assigned)
Total: /13 or 10 (See Course Outline for actual weight)
How many citations should you provide? There is no simple answer to that question.
However, a basic minimum might be 3. In brief, one of the citations might provide some help in understanding the issue, such as providing information about key concepts, or an overview of major viewpoints, and the other two should provide details about those viewpoints.
A research paper normally sandwiches the body of the paper between an introduction and a closing paragraph, as most papers do. However, there is an additional mandatory part of a research paper. You must have a final page or set of pages that is titled “Works Cited” or “Bibliography.” A bibliography displays citation information for each source to which you refer in your paper. One may use any widely recognized standard (APA, MLA, etc.) that one likes, but be consistent. One widely used method for recording such information for different kinds of documents is explained in my citations examples page. Never include references from materials for which you cannot at least supply an author (or organization as “author”), title, and date of publication. For electronic sources the date of publication is not equivalent to the date that you accessed the information, but must refer to a date included within the accessed material itself that indicates when it was posted or last updated. Similarly, electronic documents must have titles internal to the document itself. A web address (URL) is not acceptable as a title.
The research paper will provide an opportunity to find and critically engage with the arguments of two authorities with opposing points of view on an issue relating to theoretical discussions in the field of the Philosophy of Technology. It should be 1200 words in length.
