English

PHI 2010                                          ASSIGNMENT #3  Please read the lecture notes entitled ‘Descartes’, ‘Descartes on the Existence of God’ and ‘Descartes on the Material World’, together with any relevant readings from your course book, ‘Philosophy Here and Now’ and any associated or recommended text before considering the following questions:   What was the aim and the proposed methodology of the Cartesian Projectand what factors persuaded Descartes to pursue it?   Explain and evaluate the ‘Evil Deceiver’ conjecture within the context of the project – why was it introduced, what problems did it raise and how were they overcome?   Explain and evaluate the ‘Ball of Wax’ scenario.   What do you understand by the term, ‘Cartesian Circularity’?   Where you have used additional reading or other research methods, you must acknowledge all your sources.

In the article “Freedom of Speech: Which Country has the Most?” Alex Gray states that “[S]aying what you like is more accepted in the United States than anywhere else.” However, as Johnathan Turley points out, many Western nations, including Canada, Great Britain, France, and even the United States, are becoming less tolerant of ideas that promote intolerance. Turley asserts that “The very right that laid the foundation for Western civilization is increasingly viewed as a nuisance, if not a threat. Whether speech is deemed inflammatory or hateful or discriminatory or simply false, society is denying speech rights in the name of tolerance, enforcing mutual respect through categorical censorship.” While the United States remains more tolerant of free speech rights than any other country in the world, globalization and our increasingly diverse culture have brought this freedom into conflict with many minority groups and even other countries. At some point in the near future, Americans will have to decide whether to doggedly defend our First Amendment rights against a growing ideology that Feldman says “value[s] the democratic collective and the capacity of all citizens to participate fully in it” over “the right of the individual to self-expression” or to adopt the more European philosophy of restricting freedom of speech in the name of social harmony. Statements & Questions Do you believe it is important that as Americans—as members of a “melting pot” society—we try to minimize offense to all groups? Should there be more restrictions to freedom of speech and expression of ideas, such as those described by Feldman and Turley? Why or why not? Support your Position/Research ?  Keeping in mind the questions above, clearly defines and understands the issue or problem by choosing a side on this issue and indicate your position in a clear thesis statement. ?  Accurately identify the core issues/key concepts/depth and breadth of problem (body) by supporting your thesis with credible research with valid resources. ?  State relevant and significant points of view with fair-mindedness toward the problem and all relevant points of view (text support). In order to use both required sources, you need to use one for support and one for rebuttal. Global Distinction Connection: ?  Research another country’s (or countries’) policy on PC language and freedom of speech and present your findings within your paper to compare/contrast and/or evaluate in order to support your argument. ?  Follow where evidence and reasoning lead to obtain defensible, thoughtful, logical conclusions or solutions (analysis). While supporting your position, keep in mind… ?  Make deep rather than superficial inferences that are consistent with one another. ?  Identify the most significant implications and consequences of the reasoning (positive or negative). ?  Distinguish probable from improbable implications/solutions. ?  Global Distinction Connection: to help understand different cultures’ treatment of this particular issue and to contrast that treatment to America’s treatment of PC language and freedom of speech. Overall, the purpose is to help understand the value of examining other cultures in order to gain new perspectives. Format ?  Using APA format, write a 4-5-page essay that uses summary, paraphrase, and direct quotations that support your argument. ?  Support your position with examples from at least two of the primary works listed and 2-3 secondary sources (proceeding page). ?  Cite and document your sources and include a References page. ?  For this essay, you are not permitted to seek help from anyone, including tutors in the Writing Center. Primary Sources ?  “Shut Up and Play Nice” by Jonathan Turley: Article or https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/shut-up-and-play-nice-how-the-western-world-is-limiting- free-speech/2012/10/12/e0573bd4-116d-11e2-a16b- 2c110031514a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d7057eea4bc9 ?  “Free Speech in Europe Isn’t What Americans Think” by Noah Feldman: Article orhttps://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-03-19/free-speech-in-europe-isn-t-what-americans- think ?  “Freedom of Speech: Which Country has the Most?” by Alex Gray: Article orhttps://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/freedom-of-speech-country-comparison/

1. How do African American authors challenge the institution of slavery in various genres? What aspects of enslavement do they most consistently challenge and why? How do these different genres (like oratory, poetry, memoir, and fiction) differently approach the institution of slavery and critique it? How do African American critiques of slavery differ when considering the author’s gender? How do the African American critiques of slavery compare to the white critiques of slavery? For this essay use the following texts: Frederick Douglass’s “What to a Slave Is the Fourth of July” and “The Heroic Slave,” Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “Bury Me in a Free Land,” Harriet Jacobs’s selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Slave Singing at Midnight.”

Make sure you address poverty’s impact on the economy. How does it affect economic growth and the nation’s output? What is the impact on the aggregate demand and supply curves? How does that affect the price level? Poverty Research Outline 1. Introduction: Poverty affects people in adverse ways. We must understand the current situation of poverty in the United States along with its effects, causes and solutions. Thesis Statement: Although poverty is certainty one of the biggest menaces that we have to tackle together as a nation, it remains important to see how it has become such an acute manifestation of social injustice. It is the apathy, indifference and contempt with which society obscures and marginalizes the poor that characterize the situation as one of the worst forms of social injustice. In this, we must look towards the golden principals of social equality in order to understand the responsible role that society has to play for uplifting the marginalized segments of society. 2. Understanding Poverty a. Defining poverty b. The current situation of Poverty in the United States 3. Effects of Poverty a. Low standards of living b. Lack of investment in human capital, education, and health c. Unrest, crime and militancy 4. Causes of Poverty a. Population b. Inflation c. Unemployment d. Illiteracy e. Wars f. Poor Governance 5. It is undeniable that the well-off people of our society look to their poor counterparts with apathy, indifference, disdain and contempt. It is this type of behavior and treatment that is what sets apart the less fortunate. This keeps the less fortunate within their cycle of abject misery.

Please select a question from the list below, and make sure to clearly state the question you are answering at the start of your essay.Questions:(1) What is the ‘Mary’ problem against physicalism, and how effective is it?(2) What are philosophical zombies, and what problem are they meant to pose for physicalism? How plausible is the zombie argument?(3) What is the argument from illusion, and how is it used to motivate indirect realism over direct realism? Is it effective?(4) What is the problem of fiction, and how do you think one should respond to it?(5) Can the B-series capture everything there is about the nature of time? If not, what does it leave out?6) What are abstract objects? Are there any?(7) What is the most persuasive mereological account of the relationship between parts and wholes? Defend your answer.(8) What is an indispensability argument? What problems do such arguments face?(9) How should we demarcate genuine science from pseudo-science?(10) Critically evaluate the merits of scientific realism by focusing on what you take to be either the strongest argument in its defense or the strongest argument against it.(11) Why is there something rather than nothing?(12) What is the problem of evil, and how compelling is it as an argument for God’s non-existence?(13) Is it ever rational to have faith in God?(14) Does immortality have any essential role to play in an account of the meaning of life?(15) Is death necessary for one’s life to be meaningful?(16) If all that exists is the natural world, then can life ever be meaningful?

INSTRUCTIONS: Write an outstanding 5-6 page essay on any of the novels we have covered in the course, or any combination thereof. You can write on any topic that interests you so long as you deal with our course readings, but some suggestions are below. You can modify them as you see fit. You need not use external sources, but if you do, cite them properly. Make use of evidence from the books in all cases. Double-spaced, any standard 12-point font. 1) Do you find 1984 a realistic prediction of the future from the standpoint of 1948? Is it still a possible future? What features of the totalitarian regime could still become a reality? What features are less likely?   2) Look up some of the political features of the Soviet Union in the Stalin era, particularly the 1930’s. Which of these does Orwell seem to be incorporating into the world of 1984? Are these still widely practiced in the world?   3) Brainwashing: look up this ideological technique of prisoner treatment, which became widespread by the 1950’s. What features of it appear in 1984? Is it possible to change human nature beliefs radically and permanently through such methods?   4) A common feature of the post-apocalyptic genre is a loner attempting to survive and find meaning in a destroyed world. Compare Tamura and Winston as apocalyptic survivors. What features of their characters distinguish them from others in their environment? How do they attempt to find a purpose or significance in horrible conditions?   5) Both 1984 and Fires in the Plain are, among other things, studies in the limitations of human nature. In what novels, what weaknesses of human behavior, both social and individual, are exposed under extreme stress? How do the characters attempt to compensate?   6) Consider Tamura’s account of his experiences, written in retrospect. Is this simply an insane attempt to find some order in horrible circumstances? Or has he experienced a genuine religious revelation? Or are both explanations valid?   7) Consider the theme of cannibalism in Fires in the Plain and Otared. How are they related to spiritual themes, such as Christian communion or the Feast of Sacrifice?   8) What social and political features of contemporary Egypt seem to be mirrored in Otared, and what is the author’s comment on his society?

TOPIC AND CONTEXTAccording to our authitors, Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, technology and various social media platforms have become “necessities, required not only for work, school, and play, but for existence itself (emphasis added 372). Furthermore, this cultural shift from a society centered on family and nearby friends to one that has become “a buzzing crowd of digitally connected Netizens…unable [though I say unwilling, not unable] to let go for a few minutes to concentrate on an actual here-and-now as they hook up with a virtual elsewhere” (Maasik and Solomon 373) has produced “a radical change in consciousness” (Maasik and Solomon 372), affecting the ways we attend to and understand the people and the world around us. So, for paper four, you will do a criteria-based evaluation of either your own or your sense of generic users’ interactions with technology and social media. As you read and review the selections I’ve assigned in chapter five of our text, “The Cloud: Semiotics and the New Media” (371-451), think about three criteria (the singular form is criterion) that you believe we should use to evaluate the quality and outcomes of our interactions with technology in general and social media in particular. Then, you will use your three criteria to evaluate the attitudes and behaviors of either yourself or others relative to technology and social media, leading to your overall judgment on our present culture’s interactions with technology and suggest, in your conclusion, some guidelines for moving forward.SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER (which I wrote in the first-person, my preferred point-of-view because______________________________________________________________________________)•    What does a healthy and productive relationship with technology, primarily social media, look like?•    What does an unhealthy one look like?•    In what specific ways does social media enhance my life, my growth in becoming the kind of person I want to be? (and the opposite as well—its harms)•    How and why do those above ways work to help me accomplish (or get in the way of) my personal-growth goals?•    How—really specifically and concretely—do I use social media and to what ends?•    Am I in anyway ‘addicted’ to social media?•    To what extent is my online persona authentic and, therefore, consistent with my meat-space being•    What are the effects of my answer to the above question on my sense of myself and my personal and professional relationshipsORGANIZATIONAL SUGGESTIONSI suggest an intro, six body paragraphs (which means YOU MUST MAKE separate paragraphs for your criteria parts, where you FIRST present and provide the rationale for choosing YOUR CRITERIA, and evaluation parts, where you examine attitudes, behaviors, and effects relative to your criteria), a counterargument, and a conclusion. So here are the nine paragraphs: 1) intro; 2) criterion (the singular form) one and your rationale for it; 3) evaluation relative to criterion one; 4) criterion two and your rationale for it;              5) evaluation relative to criterion two; 6) criterion three and your rationale for it; 7) evaluation relative to criterion three; 8) counterargument; 9) conclusion.Your intro must include the following: 1) an anecdote for a hook; 2) a statement of what’s at stake—ie, why establishing criteria to evaluate our cyber attitudes and behaviors matters (let’s look at the first full paragraph on 376); 3) a little background info (be sure to relate it to your anecdote in some way); then 4) end by stating your three criteria and overall evaluation of your (or “our” if you’re going to evaluate Netizens in general and if you’re okay with a first-person point of view) relationship with technology as, for example, one of the following: healthy and productive, relatively healthy and productive, or unhealthy and destructive.Next, your body paragraphs (see 2 through 7 above, where I outline the nine paragraphs total for the essay) through will first set out each criterion, explaining why it’s an important component of our cyber-behavior/thinking to examine (a logical place to integrate quotations from the SOL readings), and then present specific, concrete attitudes and behaviors as evidence of your evaluation of technology/social media use relative to the criterion under discussion.

You must have ONE full paragraph for each THREE answers below (that would be THREE full paragraphs total) typed directly into this discussion forum. Pull specific details from the poem to support your answers. Poem is attached  1. Gilbert lists examples of events that should be very discouraging, if not depressing, to anyone. However, he tells us, “I crank my heart even so and it turns over.” What idea is he expressing through this metaphorical language? What does Gilbert mean by “crank” and “turn over”? 2. In a single sentence, state a claim that poet seems to be making about the human spirit. What are your thoughts about this perspective? 3. Consider the last words of the poem: “taking the maimed with us, keeping the sad parts carefully.” What do these words mean to you? In what ways does a person’s past disappointment and heartaches positively develop his or her identity over time? Can you identify an experience in your past that taught you painful lessons that have ultimately made a positive impact upon who you have become?

Introduction to Philosophy, Fall 2020 Second Paper Assignment Use Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double-spaced. Use page numbers. Word Count: 800 – 1000 (include word count on first page) Due date: Dec. 1st (by 11:59 pm) Submit your paper via email to: daniel.giberman@uta.edu Lateness penalty: 2/3 grade per 24-hour period Note: As always, you are free to make a Teams (or Zoom or Skype, etc.) office hours appointment with me (schedule it via email). I will not read drafts of papers, but I will answer specific questions about papers via email. Additional Instructions/pointers: • If you make a claim, give an argument for it. • Quote the text you are discussing only very sparingly, if at all. I want to see that you can accurately reconstruct the relevant argument(s) in your own words. • Do not consult or incorporate any outside readings or sources (e.g. Wikipedia, Sparknotes, Youtube, secondary literature, etc.). • Say no more than what the prompt asks you to say. • Be creative in thinking of possible objections and responses. However, aside from the objections and responses you come up with, this is not an assignment that asks you to be creative. So don’t, for example, propose your own terminology or theory. • Don’t wait until the night before the deadline—or even the night before that—to start writing your first draft. That will not turn out well for you! Start early and keep revising. Write an essay in response to exactly one of the following prompts. Prompt 1 After explaining what Searle means by ‘strong AI’, explain his “Chinese Room” example and how it is supposed to work as an argument against strong AI. Of the objections to his argument that Searle addresses, which do you think is the most successful? Explain that objection, and what you think makes it the most successful of the objections that Searle considers. Next, explain and critically evaluate Searle’s response to the objection you have chosen. In order to critically evaluate it properly, you need to (a) be charitable to Searle, (b) come up with an interesting and plausible reason to doubt that Searle’s response is successful, and then (c) decide for yourself—via arguments/reasons that you yourself come up with and include in your paper—whether the reason you discuss in (b) ultimately defeats Searle’s response. Prompt 2 After introducing the problem of diachronic personal identity, explain both the body theory and the psychological continuity theory. In your (informed philosophical) opinion, which one of these two is best defended by philosophical argument(s)? What is the best objection to the theory you have chosen? What is the best response to that objection? In the end, do you believe that the theory of personal identity on which you have chosen to focus is true? Defend all your philosophical claims (including, of course, your answers to the questions in this prompt) with an argument. Choose one prompt 1 or two

check the photo that I uploaded, so you know what you should write about.  Also,  you need to write about, what are the problem that an unhealthy lifestyle can cause?  And how can you get people to follow a healthy lifestyle ?