Course Paper Assignment
HU2700 – Fall 2008
Instructions and Guidelines
1) Choose one of the 5 topics below for your paper.
2) Read your topic carefully and do exactly what it says. Do no more and no less than you are directed to do.
3) Your paper will be graded mainly on how well your dialogue shows that you recognize and understand the
relevant issues and arguments relating to your topic. You will also be rewarded for your originality and
creativity in advancing toward a resolution of the issue you are addressing.
4) Your paper should be long enough to discuss your topic sufficiently—and no longer. Do not pad your paper to
reach some predetermined length. If you find that your paper is getting too long, consider narrowing your topic
by focusing on a significant part or aspect of it. Ask the instructor for help in doing so.
5) Your paper must be written clearly using correct diction, punctuation, and spelling. However, since you are
writing a dialogue, you may take liberties appropriate to writing in a conversational style. Points will be
deducted from your grade for numerous and/or serious writing errors.
6) You are responsible for eliminating grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors from your paper. The
instructor will not proofread your paper for you. However, he will help you with the content of your paper if
you so request.
7) If your paper contains any material directly quoted from your textbook or any outside source, be sure to use
quotation marks and to endnote each quotation.
8) Your paper must be typed, double-spaced with 1-inch margins – top, bottom, and sides. Use Times New Roman
size 12 font or equivalent.
9) Consider going to the Writing Center (107 Walker) for help in writing your paper. (Walk-in hours are 12 noon
to 3 PM, Monday–Friday.)
10) Carefully proofread your paper before turning it in to be graded.
11) Keep a copy of your paper for yourself.
12) You must submit a paper copy of your paper. Electronic (including email) submissions will not be accepted.
13) Completed papers are due at classtime on Thursday, December 11, 2008.
Topics for HU2700 Course Papers
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Write a fictional dialogue between Ann, who is a determinist, and Bob, who is a compatibilist. Assume that Ann
and Bob are familiar with the most important arguments for and against their views, and try to predict how a
real face-to-face debate between them would go. It is up to you to decide whether the debate has a “winner.”
Write a fictional dialogue between Carla, who believes that the self is determined by the continuity of a person’s
memories, and Don, who believes that there is no self, that the “self” is an illusion. Assume that Carla and Don
are familiar with the most important arguments for and against their views, and try to predict how a real face-toface debate between them would go. It is up to you to decide whether the debate has a “winner.”
Write a fictional dialogue between Evelyn, who believes that mathematical knowledge gives important
information about the world that is entirely a priori knowledge, and Fred, who believes that mathematical
knowledge is entirely a posteriori knowledge. Assume that Evelyn and Fred are familiar with the most
important arguments for and against their views, and try to predict how a real face-to-face debate between them
would go. It is up to you to decide whether the debate has a “winner.”
Write a fictional dialogue between Gina, who believes that individuals who live in the United States and other
industrialized countries should be doing much more to relieve poverty and hunger in the Third World, and Hal,
who thinks we are already doing enough. Assume that Gina and Hal are familiar with the most important
arguments for and against their views, and try to predict how a real face-to-face debate between them would go.
It is up to you whether the debate has a “winner.”
Topic of your choice: Your paper must be a dialogue between two people who are debating some significant
philosophical issue(s) related to a topic we have discussed in class since the first exam. Assume that the two
debaters are familiar with the most important arguments for and against their views, and try to predict how a
real face-to-face debate would go. It is up to you to decide whether the debate has a “winner.” Your topic must
be approved in advance by the course instructor.