Description
Engage in an extended argument (for or against) with one of Descartes’s claims.
For instance: engage his claim that I can doubt all sensory impressions; his claim that the ideas I have of things greater than me prove that there are things greater than me (or the more specific version, that the idea I have of God proves that God must exist); his claim that without God, no knowledge is certain; his claim that error results from the fact that my will is greater than my intellect; his claim that mind and body are separate substances; his claim that clear and distinct ideas cannot be false; etc.
How? Please write in one of three ways:
1. Compose a meditation of your own. “Meditate,” that is, here, go back and forth building toward a distinct conclusion, entertaining ideas and objections to them in a sequence that mounts toward your conclusion.
2. Compose a series of “objections and replies” to one of Descartes’s claims. Write as someone objecting to Descartes, write what you imagine Descartes’s reply would be, and then object to the reply.
3. Compose a standard (if very short) college essay, with an introduction that states what claim of Descartes’s you will take up and how (that is, will you defend it? attack it? modify it? be specific), a body that does this (defend, attack, etc.), both offering considerations in favor of your view and entertaining and defeating one important objection, and a conclusion that briefly restates what the paper accomplished and how.
FIRST SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Key information:
Due:
Sun., Feb. 21, 11:59pm, via Moodle.
Format:
Microsoft Word Doc. Please do not use other formats (pages, Google
docs, pdfs, etc.). If you must compose in another program, save as a
Microsoft Word doc (.doc or .docx).
Length:
Very short, that is 2-3 pages, or 500-750 words (rely on word count).
Citations:
Yes, regardless of the kind of writing (see below). Cite all quotations and
references. A handy guide can be found in “Paper Writing Resources.”
Assignment
Engage in an extended argument (for or against) with one of Descartes’s claims.
For instance: engage his claim that I can doubt all sensory impressions; his claim that the
ideas I have of things greater than me prove that there are things greater than me (or the
more specific version, that the idea I have of God proves that God must exist); his claim
that without God, no knowledge is certain; his claim that error results from the fact that
my will is greater than my intellect; his claim that mind and body are separate substances;
his claim that clear and distinct ideas cannot be false; etc.
How? Please write in one of three ways:
1. Compose a meditation of your own. “Meditate,” that is, here, go back and forth
building toward a distinct conclusion, entertaining ideas and objections to them in a
sequence that mounts toward your conclusion.
2. Compose a series of “objections and replies” to one of Descartes’s claims. Write as
someone objecting to Descartes, write what you imagine Descartes’s reply would be, and
then object to the reply.
3. Compose a standard (if very short) college essay, with an introduction that states what
claim of Descartes’s you will take up and how (that is, will you defend it? attack it?
modify it? be specific), a body that does this (defend, attack, etc.), both offering
considerations in favor of your view and entertaining and defeating one important
objection, and a conclusion that briefly restates what the paper accomplished and how.
Tips
Pick an issue that intrigues you. Make an appointment with JU or NM to talk about your
idea(s). Sketch/outline ahead, or in reverse, to check flow of ideas. Write intro last.
Check list for papers
Before you turn in your paper, go over this list carefully. You
should be able to fill in “Yes!” in the blank before each
question. If you can’t, go back and make changes. Cut and paste
the completed checklist and make it the last page of your paper.
___ 1.
Does your paper have a title that reveals the topic?
___ 2. Have you opened with a paragraph that describes your
topic and the main points you will make in the paper? (Or, if
using an alternate format (dialogue, diary, letter), found a way
to clearly announce the central topic right away?)
___ 3. Is the paper organized in a way that permits the reader
to follow the flow of ideas and to understand why you’ve come to
your conclusion? (Or, why your thinkers come to their
conclusions?)
___ 4. Have you provided, following my handout, or using CMS,
MLA, APA, or any other standard form, complete citations for
every source you quote or otherwise rely on?
___ 5.
Have you numbered the pages of your paper?
___ 6. Is your paper formatted in a reasonable font (11-12
point, preferably serif) and double-spaced?
___ 7. Do you have a brief concluding paragraph that restates
the paper’s major conclusion and names the considerations that
supported it? (Or, if using an alternate format (dialogue,
diary, letter), found a way to sum up and reiterate at the end?)
___ 8. Have you carefully proofread your paper for
typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors?
___ 9.
end?
Have you completed and attached this checklist at the
Name:_____________________________________________
Some Common Grammatical and Word Choice Mistakes
;
Semi-colon: separates what could be complete sentences, or multiword items on a list. Be sure the phrases separated by your
semi-colon could stand on their own as sentences.
‘s
indicates possession
YES: The dog’s bowl is over there.
NO: The dog’s are howling.
There is one exception: ‘it’s’ always means ‘it is’
(‘its’ is the possessive of ‘it’; other pronominal possessives
likewise have no apostrophe: hers, theirs, yours, ours).
YES: It’s raining.
YES: I like its color.
‘base off of’ and ‘base off’
Don’t use either. Prefer “base on.”
NO: Descartes bases his argument for the existence of God off [of]
ontology.
YES: Descartes bases his argument for the existence of God on
ontology.
number/amount
Use ‘number’ if you are talking about something that can be counted,
‘amount’ if you are talking about something that can be measured but
not counted.
YES: A large number of people gathered in the street.
YES: A small amount of salt is usally enough.
NO:
A large amount of people gathered in the street.
less/fewer
Use ‘fewer’ if you are talking about something that can be counted,
‘less’ if you are talking about something that can be measured but
not counted.
YES: There are fewer people on the streets these days.
YES: There is less milk in my bowl.
NO: There are less people on the streets these days.
NO: “Express Lane: 12 items or less.” (Should read “or fewer.”)
literally
‘Literally’ means ‘according to the strict usage of the words,’ and is
opposed to ‘figuratively.’
If I say that someone is literally dead
with fatigue, I mean that she really is dead, and from fatigue. Don’t
use ‘literally’ unless you mean it!
different than
One thing differs from another.
used to
YES: I used to live in Miami.
NO: I use to live in Miami.
therefore/consequently
Don’t use ‘different than.’
These words alert the reader that an inference or implication is being
drawn — that what you are about to say follows from what you have
just said. Do not use them unless it does.
though/although/however
These are quite different words, and cannot be substituted for each
other – if you are not sure about them, look usages up.
affect/effect
an
an
to
to
affect
effect
affect
effect
(n.):
(n.):
(v.):
(v.):
a feeling, an emotion
a result, that which issues from a cause
to influence or make some impression on
to bring into being
Too many words
ORIGINAL: There are an infinite number of objects we experience every
day that provide us with pleasure.
BETTER: An infinite number of everyday objects provide us with
pleasure.
Failure to correctly format long quotations
If quoted material takes up more than three lines of your text, you
should remove quotation marks and simply indent all of the quoted
material. This indicates that it is quoted.
Comma splices
Comma splices connect complete sentences (which is bad).
NO: It was the most compelling because we as humans tend to think a
lot, it is in our nature to do so.
YES: It was the most compelling because we as humans tend to think a
lot; it is in our nature to do so.
NO: Clearly and distinctly understanding something takes time, the
intellect needs time to catch up with the will’s many judgments.
YES: Clearly and distinctly understanding something takes time. The
intellect needs time to catch up with the will’s many judgments.
Sentence fragments
NO: It is our mind, thoughts and opinions that make us who we are.
That allows us to exist. [Try fixing yourself.]
Imprecision:
NO: To my understanding, Descartes’s problem lies in the idea that
mathematics exists to express reality, not the reverse. [Again, try
fixing.]
Contractions
Don’t use ’em! Ditto ‘wanna’ and colloquial language in general. Do
not, for instance, start sentences with “Well,…” Your paper is not
a note to a friend or a blog post, or even a list of common mistakes.
This rule does not apply to a dialogue or other non-standard essay
format, for (I hope) obvious reasons. But still be judicious.
A handy citation style for short papers (where you use few sources):
In this style, you give author and page information in parentheses immediately following
quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise cite-worthy material. If you are only using one source,
page information is enough; if more than one, give author name too. At the end of the
paper, you list ‘works cited’ – this way, the reader can easily see which work(s) you have
given page numbers for. You can also put works consulted in this list (call is ‘Works
Cited and Consulted’).
Here is a (silly, but correct) example:
As Descartes writes, “I know by experience that there is in me a
faculty of judgment” (Descartes, 37). And as Hume observes, “a man in a
fit of anger, is actuated in a very different manner from one who only
thinks of that emotion” (Hume, 10; emphasis added).
So what? I don’t know. These are just random examples of
quotes, so I could cite them! Maybe later we’ll talk about Locke’s views
on the abuse of words (Locke, 208-15). Who knows?
Works cited
René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, trans. John
Cottingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding ed. Eric
Steinberg (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1993).
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. and
abridged by Kenneth Winkler (Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing, 1996).
(Note that works appear in alphabetical order, and that they are not double-spaced, and
that I’ve used a smaller font, to save room. The last is just a hint for fitting references
onto response papers – normally, references appear in the same size font as text.)
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